Land use effects on heavy metal pollution of river sediments in Guilan, southwest of the Caspian Sea

Abstract

Studies have showed the River Siahroud is the main contributor to the present pollution of Anzali Wetland in Guilan. Therefore, this study was initiated to evaluate the spatial distribution of metals pollution on the River Siahroud sediments in Guilan.Surfacial river sediment samples along this river were taken during five consecutive seasons at eight sampling stations and analyzed for availability of Fe, Mn, Pb, Zn, Cu, Cr, Cd metals. Canonical correlation demonstrated that the total organic carbon (TOC) was of great importance in co-precipitation of Zn while Cu and Pb were mainly related to hydrous iron oxides. Also, in the interest of pollutant finger printing, factor analysis showed that extractable Zn, Cu, Fe, Cd and Mn were attributed to the present agricultural fields while industrial site of Rasht City was the major contributing factor for the extended levels of Cr in the study area. Moreover, Pb level was mainly relevant to urban landuse in Rasht. Cluster analysis demonstrated that there was a rising metal pollution level in the River Siahroud from upstream to downstream suggesting that Anzali Wetland pollution could be highly related to loading of heavy metals by the River Siahroud sediment. REFERENCES Bai, R. and Kumar, P. S. (1997) Lead in the coastal environment of Madras, Ind. J. Environ. Protect. 3, 177-180. Basilevsky, A. (1994) Statistical Factor Analysis and Related Methods: Theory and Applications. New York: Wiley-Interscience. Bormann, F.H. and Likens, G.E. (1979). Pattern and Proccesses in a Forested Ecosystem. Springer-Verlag, New York, pp. 253. Das, J. (2003) Geochemistry of trace elements in the ground water of Cuttack city in India. Water, Air, and Soil Pollut. 147, 129- 140. Das, J. and Acharya, B.C. (2003) Hydrology and asssessment of lotic water quality in Cuttack city. Water, Air and Soil Pollut. 150, 163-175. Forstner, U. (2002) Environmental monitorring handbook, McGraw-Hill Companies, pp. 116-118. Forstner, U., and Patchineelam, S.R. (1980) Chemical associations of heavy metals in polluted sediments from the Lower Rhine river in Kavanaugh, M. C., and Leckie, J. O. (Eds), Particulates in Water; Characterisation, fate, effects and Removal. Adv. Chem. Ser., 189, American Chemical Society, Washington. pp. 177-193. Foster. I.D.L., Charlesworth, S.M. and Proffitt, S.B. (1994) Sediment associated heavy metal distribution in urban fluvial and limnic systems; a case study of the River Sowe, UK, in Int. symp. Particulate matter in Rivers and Estuaries (preprints) (Reinbek near Hamburg, 21-25 March, 1994). University of Hamburg. pp. 91-100. Kerner, M. and Wallmann, K. (1992) Remobilization events involving Cd and Zn from intertidal flat sediments in the Elbe estuary during the tidal cycle. Estuarine Coastal Shelf Sci. 35, 371-393. Kinniburgh, D.G., and Jackson, M.L. (1982) Concentration and pH dependence of Calcium and Zinc absorption by iron hydrous oxide gel, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 46, 56-61. Loux, N.T., Brown, D.S., Chafin, C.R., Allison, J.D., and Hassan, S.M. (1989) Chemical speciation and competitive cationic partitioning on a sandy aquifer material. J. Chem. Speciation and Bioavailability. 1, 11-25. Mansouri, J. (2000) An extensive plan for conservation and management of wetlandds in Iran. University of Tehran. Meiggs, T.O. (1980) The use of sediment analysis in forensic investigations and procedural requirements for such studies. In R. A. Baker (ed.), Contaminations and sediments, pp. 297-308. Ann Arbor Science, Ann Arbor, MI. Page, A.L., Miller, R.H., Keeney, D.R. (1982) Methods of soils analysis. Part 2. Chemical and Microbiological Properties. Madison, Wisconsin. USA. Keeney and Nelson. pp. 643-693. Peters, N., Bricker, O., Kennedy M. (1997) Water quality trends and geochemical mass balance, John Willy & Sons, New york. pp. 103-170. Rahnamai, M.T. (1995) Examination of pollution and pollution sourcing in Guilan province water resources, Environmental organization of Guilan province. Sharma, S. (1996) Applied multivariate techniques. John Wiley & Sons, New York. pp. 144-181.