Major, Minor and Trace Elements Existence in Surface Sediments from Gwadar to Jiwani Coastal Areasof Pakistan

Abstract

This study was carried out alongthewestern coastal parts of Balochistan from Gwadar east Bay to Jiwani. The local anomaly of major, minor and trace elements were studied in this area. Zone-I (Gwadar east and west Bay) indicates that calcium oxide, potassium oxide and titanium dioxide havehigher or average concentrations, while Zone-II indicates higher or average concentrations of calcium oxide, titanium dioxide and ferric oxide. Trace elements zirconium, chromium, europium, strontium, and copper are in higher or average concentrations in both zones. Gwadar west Bay and Jiwani are intermediate in carbonate, which show a high degree of maturity, suggesting the high rate of weathering in the source area. Sediment samples from Ganz, Jiwani, and Gwadar east Bay represent the quartz-rich fieldsin this region. Gwadar east Bay has a positive correlation between aluminium oxideand potassium oxidewhich suggests that abundance of potassium oxideis controlled by variation in K-feldspar contents. A positive correlation between strontiumand calciumoxide suggests that strontiumis associated with calcium oxidein biogenic carbonate material in Gwadar west Bay. The positive correlation between aluminium oxide, copper,andzincin Pishukan indicates that the abundance of these elements is due to limited silt and clay fractions present in sediments. Enrichment factor shows that chromiumandstrontiumare probably of anthropogenic origin in this region

Keywords

• makran coastal area
• x-ray fluorescence
• major elements
• trace elements