Assessment of heavy metal pollution in surficial sediments from a tropical river-estuary-shelf system: A case study of Kelantan River, Malaysia
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2017
Abstract
To understand the source-to-sink of pollutants in the Kelantan River estuary and the adjacent shelf area in Malaysia, a total of 42 surface sediment samples were collected in the Kelantan River-estuary-shelf system to analyze for grain size, total organic carbon (TOC) content, Al and heavy metals (Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb). The surficial sediments were mainly composed of clayey silt and the TOC content in sediments decreased from the river to the shelf. The surficial sediments experienced Pb pollution; Cr only showed a certain level of pollution in the coastal area of the estuary but not in other areas, and Ni, Cu, Zn, and Cd showed no pollution. The heavy metals mainly originated from natural weathering and erosion of rocks and soils in the catchment and enriched near the river mouth. Total organic carbon can promote the enrichment of heavy metals in sediments.
Keywords
Heavy metal pollution, Grain size, Total organic carbon, Source-to-sink, Kelantan river-estuary-shelf system
Divisions
InstituteofBiologicalSciences,ocean
Funders
Bilateral Cooperation of Maritime Affairs (Contract No.: HC140502 ),Natural Science Foundation of China (Contract No.: 41376070)
Publication Title
Marine Pollution Bulletin
Volume
125
Issue
1-2
Publisher
Elsevier