Oceanologia (Dec 2008)
Mineralogical and chemical composition of the mud fraction from the surface sediments of Sharm Al-Kharrar, a Red Sea coastal lagoon
Abstract
Interaction between continental and marine end-members gives rise to thenatural biogeochemical processes in Sharm Al-Kharrar, a lagoon in the arid RedSea region. Twenty-nine surface sediment samples were collected from the areaand their mud fraction analysed for grain size, OC, CaCO$_3$, mineralogy andelemental composition. The mud fraction consisted of a mixture ofsiliciclastic/calcareous materials, dominated by silt size materials andcharacterised by low OC (average 0.71% $pm$0.13); CaCO$_3$ varied widely,with anaverage of 45\% $pm$18. Concentrations of Al, Fe, Mn, Cu, Ni, Cr, V and Bashoweda wide range of variation throughout the Sharm. The results were normalised toAl and subjected to cluster analysis in order to examine the relations betweenthe mineralogy and the elemental composition. The contents of Al, Fe, Mn, Cu,Ni, Cr, V and Ba appeared to be influenced by the mixing of the twoend-members in addition to the physiochemical processes associated with themixing between episodic freshwater flooding and seawater. Zn was the singleelement that showed a slight departure from the mixing model.
