A baseline study of trace metals in a coral reef sedimentary environment, Lakshadweep Archipelago

Abstract

Surficial and core samples collected from the sedimentary microenvironments of Lakshadweep Archipelago were analysed for their trace metal contents. The synoptical relations in spatial distributions with respect to environmental conditions such as pH, organic carbon and sediment texture were inter-correlated. Some of the metals exhibited good correlations with Fe/Mn, which reflect their similarity in distribution rather than anthropogenic enrichment. Inter-relating the variations in metal-pH relationships with metal-organic carbon, in general, those which exhibited positive correlations with pH, displayed negative interactions with organic carbon content and vice versa. Comparatively, higher values of Fe in the mangrove area of one of the islands highlight the possibility of precipitation of Fe as iron sulphides, which are common in mangrove ecosystem. Based on the contamination factors for Pb, Zn and Cd, as well as the geo-accumulation index of Cd, it can be generalised that some of the islands remain polluted with respect to these elements. An evaluation based on pollution load index shows that none of the islands surveyed for this study posed a serious threat in trace metal pollution. Bray Curtis similarity index was computed to find out the similarity among metals/islands, using non-transformed data of metal concentrations. Group linkage clustering technique was used for drawing dendrograms to show the similarity among them.

Effects of sediment geochemical properties on heavy metal bioavailability

“…In sediment, total metals concentration can indirectly reflect both logical mineralogy and even the beginning or nature of sediments (Alagarsamy, 2006;Gopinath et al, 2009;Nobi et al, 2010). In general, metal accumulation in aquatic biotas has a significantly correlation with total metal concentrations in the sediment, which appear to be the most important variable parameter in environment.…”

“…Toxic metals pollution in sediment have been proved to be an increasingly global problem (Fernandes et al, 2008;Kucuksezgin et al, 2008) and is considered to pose a serious threat to the aquatic environment result from their toxicity, non-biodegradable and persistent nature, and the bio-enrichment ability in food chain (Gopinath et al, 2009;Nobi et al, 2010). Heavy metals in aquatic system are increasingly identified as important intermediate sources for subsequent the occurrence of pollution in aquatic ecosystems, even public health, due to rapid urbanization and industrialization (Alonso Castillo et al, 2013).…”

Geochemistry of Core Sediments from Tropical Mangrove Region of Tamil Nadu: Implications on Trace Metals

“…In sediment, total metals concentration can indirectly reflect both logical mineralogy and even the beginning or nature of sediments [61][62][63]. In general, metal accumulation in aquatic biota has a significant correlation with total metal concentrations in the sediment, which appear to be the most important variable parameter in environment.…”

Analysis of Trace Metal Contamination in Pahang River and Kelantan River, Malaysia

“…The toxicity from trace metal contamination is dangerous for the environment mainly marine organisms. The trace metals will accumulate in tissues and organs of aquatic organisms which will then sold for human consumption [12,13,14]. These toxic metals with hazardous concentrations may cause long-term health risks to human because the water meant for domestic, agricultural and industrial needs.…”