Abstract
Concentrations of mercury, lead, copper, zinc, cadmium, iron and aluminium were recorded in coastal and river mouths surficial sediments, collected along the Mediterranean coast of Israel, during 1988-1991. The levels of trace metal concentrations when normalized against Fe concentration (trace metal/iron ratios) indicated no contamination at most of the stations along the coast. Enrichment of Hg, Cu, Zn and Cd attributed to land-based point sources of pollution, was found in the estuaries of the Kishon and Yarkon rivers. The normalized Pb, Cu and Zn data showed a trend of increasing values from the south toward the north. This S-N trend could be a result of three processes which may be occurring simultaneously: progressive mixing between sediment with a low trace metal/iron ratio in the south, which probably represents a single source derived from the Nile region with (a) non-point source input of pollutants by atmospheric transport, or (b) with point sources of pollutants introduced by rivers and streams, or (c) a natural change in the mineralogy of the sediments along the coast with a relative increase in the trace metals or a decrease in iron as one progresses further north. The relative importance of these three possible processes remains to be established.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 675-682 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Marine Pollution Bulletin |
Volume | 26 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 1993 |
Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Oceanography
- Aquatic Science
- Pollution