Trace metal contamination by phosphogypsum discharge in surface and core sediments of the Gabes coast area (SE of Tunisi
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Trace metal contamination by phosphogypsum discharge in surface and core sediments of the Gabes coast area (SE of Tunisia) Rim Ben Amor 1 & Myriam Abidi 1 & Moncef Gueddari 1 Received: 3 October 2017 / Accepted: 1 April 2018 # Saudi Society for Geosciences 2018
Abstract The purpose of the present study is to ascertain the extent of the effect that phosphate fertilizer industrial waste has on the surface and bottom sediments of the Ghannouch-Gabes coast, off the Tunisian Mediterranean Sea. To achieve this, 44 surface sediments and 3 core sediments were studied for mineralogy, trace metals (Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn), F, CaO, and SO3. For all the analyzed elements, the spatial distribution in surface sediments showed that the area located between the commercial and the fishing port of Gabes is the most polluted zone. The ranking of metal contents was found to be Zn > Cd > Cu > Pb. The vertical distribution of trace metals indicated that the highest levels were found in the uppermost segment of the sediment cores compared to the lower depth subsurface due to a continuous input of phosphogypsum (PG) release and confirmed that the area between the two harbors suffered from several types of pollutants compared to reference core C1, collected from other non-industrialized areas. This spatial and vertical distribution is probably due to the harbor piers which acted as barriers and limited the dispersion of PG discharge. The contamination factor, the geoaccumulation index, and the pollution load index were determined. The results obtained confirm the anthropogenic impact on the levels of metal, on the fluorine, calcium, and sulfate concentrations in the area, located between the commercial harbor of Ghannouch and the fishing harbor of Gabes, whereas the concentrations of elements analyzed tends to decrease on both sides of this sector. Statistical analyses (principal component analysis) showed trace metals, fluoride, sulfate, and a large amount of calcium resulting from the same anthropogenic source. Keywords Metals . Surface sediment . Core sediment . Geoaccumulation index . Contamination factor . Statistical analyses . Phosphogypsum
Introduction In recent decades, urban and industrial activities located in coastal areas have often been considered a factor in the pollution of marine environments (Varol 2011; Gonzalez-Fernandez et al. 2011; Jiang et al. 2014; Gao and Chen 2012; ArmstrongAltrin et al. 2015a). Trace metals in marine sediments may have a natural (physical and chemical weathering of parent rocks) and anthropogenic sources such as wastewater discharges, urban, and industrial effluents. The distribution and the
* Rim Ben Amor magba–[email protected] 1
R.U. Geochemistry and Environmental Geology, Department of Geology, Faculty of Sciences of Tunis, Université Tunis El Manar, 2092 Tunis, Tunisia
accumulation of heavy metals is influenced by mineralogical composition, sediment texture, reduction/oxidation state, hydrolysis and co-precipitation of metal ions, and adsorption and desorption process (Buccolie
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