Determination of Metal Concentrations in Değirmendere Stream Drainage Area of Southeastern Black Sea Coast of Turkey

Abstract

This study aims to determine the metal concentrations and enrichment levels in the drainage area of the Değirmendere Stream located Southeastern Black Sea coast of Turkey. Sediment samples were collected with Ekman grab from five stations in three periods. Aluminum (Al), Vanadium (V), Chrome (Cr), Manganese (Mn), Iron (Fe), Cobalt (Co), Nickel (Ni), Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Arsenic (As), Cadmium (Cd) and Lead (Pb) concentrations in the sediment samples were measured with ICP-MS after digestion with a microwave system. Differences in metal concentrations between the stations were not statistically significant (p>0.05). However, the concentration of many metals (Fe, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, V) in station 1 at the river mouth was relatively higher than the others. The enrichment factor (EF) by normalized with aluminium were 1.5-2.1 for V; 0.6-1.0 for Cr; 0.8-1.7 for Mn; 1.1-1.7 for Fe; 1.1-2.0 for Co; 0.4-0.9 for Ni; 1.3-2,3 for Cu; 1.4-3.9 for Zn; 0.8-1.4 for As; 0.5-4.1 for Cd and 0.9-4.2 for Pb. Moderate enrichments were observed for Cu Zn, Pb in the some stations.