Heavy Metal Concentrations in Water and Sediment from the Gokova Bay, Turkey

Abstract

The contents of heavy metals (Fe, Mn, Pb, Cu, Cd and Hg) dissolved in the water and suspended solids were quite higher than the average value of the uncontaminated sea waters in the Gokova Bay. The high concentrations were connected with the terrestrial inputs from the mining zones and anthropohogenic (domestic + industrial) sources. Moreover the distribution of Fe and Cu was affected by primary production because they functioned as nutrients in the biological activities. The surface sediments Cr, Ni and Fe concentrations were above the shale average. The high values were caused by the the terrestiral inputs from anthropohogenic sources and the mining zones of the southeast part of the bay. The Al, Mn, Pb, Cu, Zn and Hg contents were below the shale average. The low values were originated from the coarse-grained sediments. There were no clear differences in the heavy metal distributions between the years 2005-2006 in the bay.