Abstract
We measured various geochemical parameters, including the grain size, loss on ignition(LOI), total organic carbon(TOC), total nitrogen(TN), total sulfur(TS) and metallic elements, in surface sediment collected from 19 stations in Gamak Bay in April 2010 in order to understand the sedimentary types, the origin of organic matters, and the distribution patterns of alkali(Li, Na, K, Rb) and alkaline earth(Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba) elements. The surface sediments were mainly composed of mud. The concentrations of Chlorophyll-a, TOC, TN, TS and LOI in sediment were the highest at the cultivation areas of fish and shellfish in the northern and southern parts of the bay. The redox potential(or oxidation-reduction potential) showed the positive value in the middle part of the bay, indicating that the surface sediment is under oxidized condition. The organic materials in sediment at almost all of stations were characterized by the autochthonous origin. Based on the overall distributions of metallic elements, it appears that the concentrations of alkali and alkaline earth elements except Ba in sediment are mainly influenced by the dilution effect of quartz. The concentrations of Sr and Ba are also dependent on the secondary factors such as the effect of calcium carbonate and the redox potential.
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