Geochemical, Sedimentological and Mineralogical Characterization of Surficial Sediments in Eynak Marsh (North of Iran)

Abstract

A multidisciplinary study of the sedimentology, geochemistry and mineralogy has been conducted to understand the linkage between marsh and alluvial sediments and also their potential sources in Eynak marsh, North of Iran. The influence of the upstream potential sources on recent sediment geochemistry has been discussed based on geochemical, sedimentological and mineralogical results. A spatial grain size distribution study was carried out to investigate the hydrodynamic and deposition system of the marsh. So, the surficial sediment sampling was carried out to describe the sedimentological parameters and elemental geochemistry of sediments in Eynak marsh. Mineralogical complexes are mainly made up of felsic minerals such as quartz, calcite, feldspar, pyrite, mica, and clay minerals (in very low values) indicated by high amounts of Al, Ca, and Ni. As expected, the mineralogy of sediments is controlled mainly by the rock formations. Also sediment textures are controlled by the hydrodynamic condition in the marsh. So its distribution has been influenced by distance from the entrance sediments to Eynak marsh. The results showed that there are no enrichments related to fine grain sediment distributions. An association of Al with the trace elements such as Sc, Y, La, Ce, and Zr indicates that their distributions are mainly controlled by the felsic rocks in the upstream. On the other side, due to the waste water entrance to the marsh, Ni and Pb concentration could be under the effects of anthropogenic activities around the marsh. Results represented high values for Mn concentration (min 462, max 1784 and average 1037 ppm) and it showed a significant correlation with Ca, Sr, and Mg. A redox habitat and constantly calm hydrodynamic circumstance in the study area, likely cause high concentration of Ca, Sr, and Mg, and Mn. And they are representing negative correlations with some elements such as Al, Be, Fe, K, and Na.

An Integration of Numerical Modeling and Paleoenvironmental Analysis Reveals the Effects of Embankment Construction on Long‐Term Salt Marsh Accretion

“…Geochemistry is widely used as a proxy to reconstruct the provenance of marshland sediments (i.e., marine or riverine). For instance, it was employed by Plater et al (2000) in the attempt to reconstruct sediment provenance in the Tees estuary, North-West England and by Hazermoshar et al (2016) to characterize surficial sediments in Eynak Marsh, North of Iran. To investigate the provenance of the marsh sediments, the geochemistry of the salt marsh sediment was compared to that obtained for samples in the likely sediment source areas in the Ribble catchment and the eastern Irish Sea (Liverpool Bay -Sefton Coast).…”

“…Plater et al (2007) used changes in the geochemical composition of the sediments as a proxy for stratigraphical changes to reconstruct the evolution of Romney Marsh/Dungeness Foreland depositional complex. Kolditz et al (2012) implemented the same approach to study the environmental transitions in a marshland setting during sea-level rise in North-West Germany, and Hazermoshar et al (2016) used it in a multi-proxy study that aimed to characterize surficial sediments in Eynak Marsh in North of Iran. The X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) measurements for all HOM19-1 samples were used to produce the profiles of the following geochemical proxies: Si/K (silicates normalized toward mineral matter as sand indicator), Ca/K (calcium normalized toward mineral matter as shell content indicator), Fe/Mn (redox indicator), Rb (silt/clay mineral indicator); LOI was added to the list of geochemical proxies as organic content indicator (Plater et al, 2007).…”

Sedimentological and Geochemical Characterization of Surficial Sediment of a Meander Section of Mbaa River at Nneise–Ugiri Community in Imo State of Nigeria

“…The mineralogy of the sediment depends on the catchment petrology or regional geology [1]. The chemical composition of sediments depends on the elemental composition of the sediment matrix and the anthropogenic activities in the environment [2]. Before attempting sand mining or dredging, it is necessary to critically examine these aforementioned sedimentological and geochemical parameters.…”