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Chemical speciation and spatial distribution of heavy metals and their adsorption onto sediments of the Berg River, Western Cape, South Africa
Includes bibliographical references.
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| Main Author: | |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Department of Chemistry
2015
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| _version_ | 1867613286354124801 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Benamer, Mustafa Alarabi |
| author2 | Jackson, Graham Ellis |
| author_browse | Benamer, Mustafa Alarabi Jackson, Graham Ellis |
| author_facet | Jackson, Graham Ellis Benamer, Mustafa Alarabi |
| author_sort | Benamer, Mustafa Alarabi |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Includes bibliographical references. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/13167 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:33:43.673Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publishDateRange | 2015 |
| publishDateSort | 2015 |
| publisher | Department of Chemistry |
| publisherStr | Department of Chemistry |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/13167 Chemical speciation and spatial distribution of heavy metals and their adsorption onto sediments of the Berg River, Western Cape, South Africa Benamer, Mustafa Alarabi Jackson, Graham Ellis Winter,Kevin Chemistry Includes bibliographical references. The Berg River, Western Cape, South Africa, is an example of a catchment region where human pressures and conservation of natural resources collide. The river receives effluents from two large settlements and several smaller adjacent villages, including that of industrial and extensive agricultural activity. The estuary is one of the largest in South Africa and rated as the third most important conservation zone in the country. In this study, the chemical speciation of heavy metals in the river sediment was determined in order to evaluate the extent of pollution. Chemical speciation using sequential chemical extraction of sediment samples was used to measure the mobility and bioavailability of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), arsenic (As), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), iron (Fe), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn) and manganese (Mn). The metals Cd and Zn were found to be the most mobile and bioavailable. The study also examined the vertical distribution of heavy metals in estuarine sediment cores to evaluate the extent of heavy metal contamination with time and the degree to which heavy metals are influenced by other sedimentological parameters such as grain size, sediment composition and organic matter. Three sediment cores, ranging from 160 to 240 em long, were collected using a mechanical vibrating corer. The vertical distribution of metals in the cores showed that the metal concentration was higher at the top and middle of the cores. Based on the enrichment factor (EF) and anthropogenic factor (AF) values, it is suggested that the sediments of the estuary are not polluted with Co, Mn, Cu, Ni, Zn and Fe but moderately to highly polluted with Pb, As, Cd and Cr. The data reported provide a useful baseline for establishing heavy metal concentrations in the estuary and will be an important consideration in future sediment quality studies. The spatial distribution of the metals was also studied to understand how location is linked to metal concentration. The average concentration of metals in the core sediment increased with increasing distance from the mouth of the river. The adsorption behaviour of the estuary sediment with micro-pollutants has a significant influence on the environmental quality of estuary waters. For this reason, the absorption of Pb, Cr, Cu, Ni, and Zn onto sediment was study. It was found that the sediments of the Berg River estuary have a low potential for absorption of Ni and Zn making these metals more mobile and bioavailable. 2015-06-29T07:53:03Z 2015-06-29T07:53:03Z 2014 Doctoral Thesis Doctoral PhD http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13167 eng application/pdf Department of Chemistry Faculty of Science University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Chemistry Benamer, Mustafa Alarabi Chemical speciation and spatial distribution of heavy metals and their adsorption onto sediments of the Berg River, Western Cape, South Africa |
| thesis_degree_str | Doctoral |
| title | Chemical speciation and spatial distribution of heavy metals and their adsorption onto sediments of the Berg River, Western Cape, South Africa |
| title_full | Chemical speciation and spatial distribution of heavy metals and their adsorption onto sediments of the Berg River, Western Cape, South Africa |
| title_fullStr | Chemical speciation and spatial distribution of heavy metals and their adsorption onto sediments of the Berg River, Western Cape, South Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Chemical speciation and spatial distribution of heavy metals and their adsorption onto sediments of the Berg River, Western Cape, South Africa |
| title_short | Chemical speciation and spatial distribution of heavy metals and their adsorption onto sediments of the Berg River, Western Cape, South Africa |
| title_sort | chemical speciation and spatial distribution of heavy metals and their adsorption onto sediments of the berg river western cape south africa |
| topic | Chemistry |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13167 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT benamermustafaalarabi chemicalspeciationandspatialdistributionofheavymetalsandtheiradsorptionontosedimentsofthebergriverwesterncapesouthafrica |