Heavy metal content and potential ecological risk assessment of sediments from Khnifiss Lagoon National Park (Morocco).

ABSTRACT: Coastal lagoons are important but sensitive environments, being transitional zones between land and sea. The Khnifiss lagoon is the most important desert wetland in Morocco, but little data have been produced concerning heavy metal geochemistry and enrichments in the sediments. Therefore, 26 surface sediments (15 intertidal and 11 subtidal) and 2 sediment cores were collected in 2016 and analyzed for a selection of heavy metals. The data were processed to assess the degree of contamination and the corresponding potential ecological risk, using several accumulation/enrichment indices, and the singular and multi-metal risk indices. Mean concentrations in the bottom layers of the two cores, dating from a pre-industrial age according to geochronological analysis, were used as the local geochem

SUBMITTER: Tnoumi A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9001557 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature