Abstract
Hypersaline environments are among the most vulnerable coastal ecosystems and are extremely noteworthy for a variety of ecological reasons. Comprehensive assessment of metal(oid) contamination in hypersaline sediments from Sečovlje (Northern Adriatic, Slovenia) was addressed by introducing the detrital and diagenetic mineralogy and geochemical properties within the solid sediment material. Close associations between Fe/Mn oxides and oxyhydroxides with As, Cr, Ni, Pb and Zn, and between organic matter with Cu, Pb and Zn were confirmed using X-ray powder diffraction, SEM-EDS and ICP emission spectrometry analysis. Possible incorporation or adsorption on the crystal lattices of clay minerals (As, Cr, Pb, Sn and Zn), halite (As) and aragonite/calcite (Cd, Cu, Pb, Sr and Zn) were also detected. All presented correlations were highlighted by various statistical analyses. The enrichment factor (EF) values showed a low degree of anthropogenic burden for As, Bi, Hg and Zn, while Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Sn and Sr originated from the geological background. These results emphasise that a detailed mineralogical and geochemical characterisation of solid (especially detrital and diagenetic) sediment particles is crucial in further understanding the metal(oid) translocation within the hypersaline ecosystems.
Highlights
Accepted: 19 October 2021Metal(oid)s are pervasive in all earthly environments, some (e.g., Fe, Ni, Cu and Zn) are essential for plant growth and human and animal health
The geological background with the associated flysch rocks represents the primary source for the sediments and the detrital particles trapped within the sedimentary material represents the particles of the background rocks
This study demonstrates that understanding the origin and incorporation of metal(oid)s within different solid sediment particles is critical to identify their distribution, accumulation, retention and further transfer into a vulnerable and ecologically important ecosystem such as salt marshes
Summary
Accepted: 19 October 2021Metal(oid)s are pervasive in all earthly environments, some (e.g., Fe, Ni, Cu and Zn) are essential for plant growth and human and animal health. Metal(oid)s can enter into various surface and subsurface environments from both natural (via dissolution of metal(oid)-bearing minerals) and anthropogenic sources (waste materials, dredged materials, biosolids, fly ash, and atmospheric deposits) [1,4,5,6]. They are marked as serious ecological pollutants due to their persistence and non-degradability in the environment [1,2,7,8,9,10,11,12]. They represent a sink, but Published: 22 October 2021
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