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Natural and anthropogenic controls on sediment composition of an arid coastal environment: Sharm Obhur, Red Sea, Saudi Arabia

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An Erratum to this article was published on 21 November 2013

Abstract

The present study investigated the natural and anthropogenic processes that control the composition of the bottom sediments of Sharm Obhur, Red Sea. Mineralogical analysis using XRD indicated that the sediments consist of carbonate and non-carbonate minerals. Elemental interrelationships allowed differentiating two groups of elements of different sources and origin. Elements that are in the same group are positively correlated, while they correlate negatively with elements of the other group. The first group includes silicon, Al, Fe, Mn, Mg, vanadium (V), chromium (Cr), Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn, whereas the other group includes Ca, Sr, and CaCO3. The highest concentration levels of the first group and the highest content of non-carbonate minerals were obtained from the sediments near the head of the sharm (zone A), whereas the sediments near the mouth of the sharm (zone B) yielded high concentrations of second group and carbonate minerals. Metal enrichment and contamination factors and pollution load index were calculated. The values of these indices differentiate two groups of metals: lithogenic and non-lithogenic. Except for lead (Pb) at one sampling site, metals in zone A sediments are of lithogenic source, supplied to the sharm either naturally by aeolian transportation and through Wadi Al-Kuraa'a during rare but major floods or by human activities such as dumping and shore protection. Non-lithogenic Cr, Pb, V, and Mn were documented from some sampling sites in zone B, and their occurrences are related to waste disposal and fossil fuel combustion.

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Acknowledgments

This project was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research (DSR), King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, under the grant no. 282/150/1431. The authors, therefore, acknowledge and thank the DSR technical and financial support. The authors are indebted to the anonymous reviewer and the editor for their constructive comments that improved the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Geology Department, Faculty of Marine Science, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80207, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia

    I. M. Ghandour, S. Basaham & A. Al-Washmi

  2. Department of Geosciences, Graduate School of Science, Osaka City University, 3-3-138, Sugimoto, Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka, 558-8585, Japan

    H. Masuda

  3. Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, Tanta, 31527, Egypt

    I. M. Ghandour

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  1. I. M. Ghandour
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  2. S. Basaham
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  3. A. Al-Washmi
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  4. H. Masuda
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Correspondence to I. M. Ghandour.

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Ghandour, I.M., Basaham, S., Al-Washmi, A. et al. Natural and anthropogenic controls on sediment composition of an arid coastal environment: Sharm Obhur, Red Sea, Saudi Arabia. Environ Monit Assess 186, 1465–1484 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-013-3467-x

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