BibTeX:

@article{IJIRSTV2I9078,
     title={Study on Sequential Analysis of Trace Elements in the Sediments of Karaikal Coast. East Coast of India},
     author={G.Ramesh, T.Ramkumar, M.V.Mukesh and T.Immanuvel David},
     journal={International Journal for Innovative Research in Science & Technology},
     volume={2},
     number={9},
     pages={178--185},
     year={},
     url={http://www.ijirst.org/articles/IJIRSTV2I9078.pdf},
     publisher={IJIRST (International Journal for Innovative Research in Science & Technology)},
}

The present work measures the concentration of different solid species of the trace elements Fe, Mn, Zn, Pb, Cu, Cr, Co and Ni in the surface sediments of Arasalar river estuary at different stations & seasons (2011-2012). Analysis of sediments for trace element concentration gives history of accumulation of metals in environments. Estuarine and marine sediments are very important accumulation site of metals in the coastal areas; therefore analyses of these metals are important to assess the degree of pollution in the marine environment. The trace elements were extracted from sediment samples into five chemical phases (I-exchangeable, phase II-bound to carbonate, phase III-bound to Fe-Mn oxides, phase IV-bound to organic matter and phase V-residual). The results obtained from sequential extraction procedure showed that among all the five phases, residual phases (phase-V) was found to have much more metal concentrations for all the eight metals compared to other phases irrespective of seasons. The concentration of the metals at various phases are as follows,Fe – Phase V>III>IV>II>I, Mn – Phase V> III>IV>II>I, Cu – Phase V> III>IV>II>I, Zn - Phase V> III>IV>II>I, Pb- Phase IV>V>III>II>I, Cr - Phase V> III>IV>II>I, Co- Phase V> III>IV>II>I, Ni - Phase V> III>IV>II>I. The high proportion of metals in the residual phase generally related to low levels of extractable metals indicates that the sediments of Arasalar river estuary and adjacent beach environments were relatively unpolluted.

Sequential extraction, Trace element concentration, metal origin, mode of occurrence