Heavy metal concentrations in surficial and core sediments from Izmir Bay: an assessment of contamination and comparison against sediment quality benchmarks.

The levels of heavy metals were determined in surface and core sediments from the Izmir Bay in 2009. The highest concentrations of As, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn were found in the inner bay due to industrial activities. In contrast, maximum levels of Mn, Co, Fe and Al were observed in the outer bay, due to geochemical structure. Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni, As, Cr and Co levels in the upper layer of core sediments were higher than the mean background values of bottom sediments. The enrichment of Cr, Mn, Pb, Zn, Cu and As in the bay seems to be driven by anthropogenic sources. It was found that the sediments in Izmir Inner Bay were generally polluted heavily with Cu, As, Ni, Cr, Pb and moderately with Zn according to the numerical Sediment quality guidelines of the USEPA.

Geochemistry of the northern Cyprus (NE Mediterranean) shelf sediments: Implications for anthropogenic and lithogenic impact.

The concentrations of heavy metals and organic carbon in sediment were determined to evaluate spatial distributions from the three different regions of Cilician basin (Eastern Mediterranean) in 2011. The ranges of Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni, Co, Mn, Cr, As, Fe and organic carbon contents of sediments from the study area were 1.6-74, 1.6-9.2, 5.0-78, 6.6-114, 1.6-17, 141-1241, 9.0-46, 3.3-55.4, 1800-84400mg kg(-1) and 0.99-1.66%, respectively. The concentrations of Pb, Zn, Co, Cr, Al were lower than those average crustal values, which indicated that there were no major sources of pollution for these elements. The results showed that the sediments of northern, eastern and western shelf were polluted with As, Ni and Mn, As and Cu, Fe, respectively. The contamination factor of Cu in the western and As were found to be of moderate contamination in the eastern and northern parts of the study area. Metal levels were evaluated in sediments in accordance with the numerical SQG of the USEPA.