Illegal pollution loading accelerate the oxygen deficiency along the coastal lagoons of eastern Red Sea

Abstract

The current study attempts to show how the two coastal lagoons near the eastern Red Sea lose oxygen when there is a significant input of organic waste. The strain caused by this problem is being increased by the expanding internal population migration trend toward the coastline region. The two main environmental factors that control when the marine environment changes from oxic to suboxic and eventually to anoxic conditions are the quantity of organic matter and the mixing of the water column. The samples were taken between the years of 2017 and 2018 in both the summer and the winter from the lagoons of Al-Shabab and Al-Arbaeen. Both places were situated on the Red Sea’s eastern shore. The quantity of DO along both lagoons was extremely important since it frequently indicates hypoxic to anoxic conditions. In the current study, the Al-Arbaeen lagoon’s peak anoxia was noted in both the summers of 2017 and 2018. In the Al-Arbaeen lagoon, the maximum concentration of H2S was recorded at 48.21 μM in 2017 and 45.67 μM in 2018, respectively. The current work unequivocally demonstrates how NO3 and NO2 are lost as ammonia builds up. As is obvious, the Al-Arbaeen lagoon recorded the highest level of TOC during the 2017 summer, with a concentration of 329 μM. The distribution of DO and TOC at both lagoons shows a clear correlation between the high level of TOC and oxygen consumption.