Characteristics and quality of reservoir sediments, Mujib Dam, Central Jordan, as a case study

Abstract

This paper focuses on characterizing the current status of physiochemical properties of Mujib Dam sediments. Five types of granulometric textural facies were observed for the bottom sediments of Mujib reservoir bed; these are clayey facies, clayey-silt facies, sand-silt-clay facies, sand facies, and granule facies. This average grain size will likely play a vital role in adsorption-desorption of the majority trace metals to the reservoir lake. Other sediment parameters including the total averages were 5.9% (total organic matter (TOM)), 7.5 (pH), 25.8% (CaCO), and 88.0 meq/100 g (cation exchange capacity), with dominant mineralogical constituents of quartz, calcite, dolomite, and minor feldspar and with variability in clay mineral types. The vast majority of trace metals in sediment exhibited values in the range or near the upper limit of the normal worldwide soil ranges. TOM and grain size of sediment are major factors governing the trace metal concentrations. The calculated geoaccumulation index (I ) and enrichment factor (EF) of metals in sediments of Mujib Dam were ranked as follows: cadmium (Cd)> copper (Cu) > zinc (Zn) > lead (Pb) > cobalt (Co) > iron (Fe) > chromium (Cr) > nickel (Ni) > manganese (Mn) > Sr based on the I and Cd> Zn > Pb > Co > Cr > Cu > Sr > Ni > Mn according to the EF values. The estimated percentage loss in volumetric capacity of the reservoir due to sedimentation was 1.55% per year, indicating that the sediment currently occupied 18.63% of the original reservoir storage capacity. The maximum life span of reservoir is about 64.46 years.

Contamination Assessment of Heavy Metals in Agricultural Soil, in the Liwa Area (UAE)

“…While they are naturally occurring elements in the earth's crust, human activities can increase their levels and distribution in the environment and accelerate their release from natural sources. Anthropogenic sources such as industrial emissions, fuel combustion, waste management, and transport are the most important [22,[24][25][26]. Different authors pointed out the contribution of mining activities to the soil pollution, especially with heavy metals [27][28][29][30].…”

Assessment of the Chemical State of Bottom Sediments in the Eutrophied Dam Reservoir in Poland

“…Low concentrations of sedimentary organic carbon in the southern part of the reservoir may be ascribed then to the lower depth and higher water dynamics than other areas. Weaker accumulation of organic matter in the shallow water zone and in the zone of higher water dynamics were confirmed by a number of authors [14,20,22,25,27,36].…”

“…The annual weight of sediments carried by rivers (dragged and lifted debris) is estimated at around 24-30 billion tons with flow volumes of 40,000 km 3 . Taking into account the variable content of sediments at various flows and assuming an average amount of approximately 0.6-0.7 t/1000 m 3 , it is estimated that only in reservoirs created by dams operated for 30-40 years, approximately 1400 million m 3 of debris is being deposited [20]. Due to the importance of the subject, which is silting up of water reservoirs, monitoring and analysis of the composition of bottom sediments should be an important aspect of managing water reservoirs that are particularly vulnerable to accumulation of sediments.…”

Evaluation of the Gulf of Aqaba Coastal Water, Jordan

“…In addition to human impacts, the GoA is subject to regular dust storm events that contribute metals and other chemicals to the GoA coastal water [8,9]. Aeolian dust flux to GoA is likely to influence seawater chemistry [13], where atmospheric dry deposition in the GoA is considered an important external source of trace metals [8,9,[14][15][16]. The mineral dust rate on GoA region is one of the highest on Earth [8,9,13,17].…”