TITLE:
Distribution of Heavy Metals and Rare Earth Elements in the Surface Sediments of Penang River Estuary, Malaysia
AUTHORS:
M. C. Ong, F. M. Fok, K. Sultan, B. Joseph
KEYWORDS:
Heavy Metals, REE, Tropical River, Sediment, Pollution, Penang, Malaysia
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Marine Science,
Vol.6 No.1,
January
25,
2016
ABSTRACT: Geochemical sediment of
the tropical Pinang River, Malaysia was carried out with the aim at documenting
elemental concentrations and pollution level assessment. Concentration of
selected heavy metals (Cu, Cd, Cr, Pb, Zn and Mn), rare earth elements, TOC and
grain size distribution of sediments were determined at 100 m sampling interval
along the river. Sediment size showed a positive correlation with ∑REE and Mn
and medium correlations with TOC, Zn, Cu, Cr and Pb contents showing enrichment
in the clay size fraction. Results of enrichment factor and geoaccumulation
index showed that most of the elemental sources were natural (especially REE)
and mostly likely represented background values. However, pollution load index
revealed the higher levels of Cr, Cd, Zn and Pb, and, therefore, indicating to
the anthropogenic sources (i.e. fishing
activities) especially in the downstream locations. Thus, the Pinang River is
classified as moderately to highly polluted.