INVESTIGATION OF CONTAMINATION REASONS OF BEACH SANDS

Abstract

Black sooty-like materials were observed in the sands of beach of the Waterfront areas of the Royal Commission at Yanbu – facing the Red Sea. Two kinds of samples of beach sands were collected. One sample was the blackish sooty-Like material marked as “contaminated sample” and the other was the clean or normal or uncontaminated sand and it was marked as “controlled sample”. The samples of both types of beach sands were investigated to determining the content of oil and the amount of organic matter in them. The oil content in the “contaminated sample” was determined to be about 20 times higher than the value in uncontaminated or the “controlled sample” of the beach sands. The organic matter content value in the “contaminated sample” although determined to be on a little higher side – as compared to those found in the “controlled sample” – however this value was determined to be less than 4 to 6% by weight of dry sample as is usually observed in a typical beach sand. Based on the physical and chemical analysis of the “contaminated” beach sands and comparing them with the “controlled sample”, it was safe to infer that these blackish sooty-like materials found in beach sites were due to some leaked or spilt oil in the Red Sea that were washed ashore during the high tide periods.