Abstract
Copper distribution, natural background and contamination levels in sediments of the Galician rias were assessed from 389 surface sediment samples and five sediment cores. The natural reference concentration of copper can be estimated using the Cu-Fe relationship obtained from preindustrial sediments of rias: [Cu (mg kg –1 )] / [Fe (g kg –1 )] = 0.55. Severe copper contamination was mainly observed in the harbour, fishing ports and shipyards near shore areas of the Galician coast. Therefore, the rias of Ferrol and Vigo were the most environmentally disturbed, while the northern Galician rias were the least disturbed. The Galician case can be seen as the type of copper contamination due to maritime activities observed in other world harbours.
Highlights
Copper is a ubiquitous element in the earth’s crust, from which it is moved by weathering to coastal sediments
SUMMARY: Copper distribution, natural background and contamination levels in sediments of the Galician rias were assessed from 389 surface sediment samples and five sediment cores
The natural reference concentration of copper can be estimated using the Cu-Fe relationship obtained from preindustrial sediments of rias: [Cu] / [Fe (g kg–1)] = 0.55
Summary
Copper is a ubiquitous element in the earth’s crust, from which it is moved by weathering to coastal sediments. Copper is an essential micronutrient for living organisms (Scheinberg 1991), it can become poisonous to marine life when its concentration increases in the surroundings (Long et al 1995). (a) The natural presence of copper in the ria could be defined from its average level in the continental crust (Wedepohl 1991) or from its level in pristine sediments (Bryan and Langston 1992). This is not the most suitable approach because it does not take into account that the background concentration of copper in sediments varies according to the local geochemical composition. This was done in the rias (vg. Carballeira et al 2000); copper richness depends on the geochemical sources and a metal-copper normalization equation based on local samples is desirable
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