ENIVRONMENT ASIA

Volume 15, No. 03, Month SEPTEMBER, Year 2022, Pages 58 - 69

Geochemical assessment and spatial distributions of trace elements in the surface sediments of the strait of malacca

Mohamad Arif Che Abd Rahim, Shengfa Liu, Xuefa Shi, Che Abd Rahim Mohamed

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The Strait of Malacca is one of the major shipping routes in naval logistics linking Indian and Pacific Oceans, which later these activities contributed to the trace metal accumulation in the Strait of Malacca. To assess the source of geochemical elements along with several factors affecting the concentrations in the surface sediments, five surface sediments were collected for physiochemical studies along the Strait of Malacca. The study revealed that the average of the clay, silt, and sand fraction was 10.93, 37.99, and 51.08 % respectively. The average concentrations of Al, Fe, Cr, Mn, and Mg, which were incorporated into seabed sediments through primary deposition from several sources were 5.88 ± 0.63 %, 2.78 ± 0.41 %, 5.73 × 10-3 ± 1.02 × 10-4 %, 9.32 × 10-3 ± 5.83 × 10-4 %, 4.72 × 10-2 ± 4.61 × 10-3 %, and 2.19 ± 0.21 % respectively. According to the results, the comparison of these elements with sediment quality guideline revealed that Cr contents were higher than the low range of the interim sediment quality guidelines (ISQG), suggesting that Cr may pose an environmental hazard. The average enrichment factor (EF) showed as minor and moderate enrichment for all elements while the contamination factor revealed that seabed sediments were affected by moderate level of Cr and Mg contamination.Etc...

Keywords

Strait of Malacca; Heavy metal; Sediment; Pollutant; Enrichment factor

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