Assessment of Metals Concentration and Ecotoxicology of the Sediment Core of Rehri Creek, Karachi Coast, Pakistan

作     者：Muhammad Z. CHAUDHARY Nasir AHMAD Azhar MASHIATULLAH Sajjad MUNIR Tariq JAVED 

作者机构：Isotope Application Division Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (PINSTECH) Institute of Geology University of the Punjab Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences Bahria University Islamanad 

出 版 物：《Acta Geologica Sinica(English Edition)》 (地质学报（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2013年第87卷第5期

页      面：1434-1443页

核心收录：

学科分类：070704[理学-海洋地质] 0709[理学-地质学] 07[理学] 0707[理学-海洋科学] 

基　　金：supported by International Atomic Energy Agency through its Projects Pak-13930 and RAS 7/016 

主　　题：trace elements lake sedimentation sediment quality guidelines pollution shale values 

摘      要：Trace metal concentrations were investigated in a recent sediment core collected from the Rehri Creek area of the Karachi coast, Sindh - Pakistan. The core was sliced horizontally at 2.5-cm intervals to determine grain size, sediment composition, pH, organic matter, and acid-leachable trace metals： cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, and zinc. The trace metals were analyzed by ICP. To separate anthropogenic from geogenic input, several approaches were made, including comparison with sediment quality guidelines--ecotoxicological sense of heavy metal contamination and classification by quantitative indexes. Grain-size analysis and sediment composition of core sample show a sandy nature with neutral pH. Elemental sequence （ES） of the trace metals is in the order of Zn （19.2-109.56 ppm） 〉 Si （66.46-101.71 ppm） 〉 Ba （12.05-26.86 ppm） 〉 As （8.18-17.36 ppm） 〉 Ni （4.2- 14.69 ppm） 〉 Cr （3.02-9.62 ppm） 〉 Pb （2.79-6.83 ppm） 〉 Cu （2.2-5.29 ppm） 〉 Co （0.9-2.05 ppm）. Thus it is likely that the area may face a serious threat of metal pollution with the present deposition rates unless stringent pollution control norms are adopted. The Sediment Geo-accumulation Index shows that there is no Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, or Fe pollution; however, the former index and the Pollution Load Index indicate arsenic pollution in the sediments.