Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Geochemical and foraminiferal analyses of the bottom sediments of Dammam coast, Arabian Gulf, Saudi Arabia

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Arabian Journal of Geosciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Bottom sediment samples were collected from 17 locations of the Dammam coast, Dammam city, Saudi Arabia in April 2014. The concentrations of iron, chromium, manganese, nickel, zinc, cadmium, lead, and copper in the bottom sediments were measured by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). The mean metal concentrations are Fe (372.4 μg/g), Mn (5.9 μg g−1), Zn (5.1 μg g−1), Cu (6.3 μg g−1), Pb (2.1 μg g−1), Ni (4.4 μg g−1), Cr (6.5 μg g−1), and Cd (0.1 μg g−1). The distribution of benthic foraminifera in the collected samples was investigated. Twenty-nine species of 12 genera under nine families and three suborders were recorded. The most common genera are Peneroplis and Quinqueloculina which attain 39 and 38 % of the recorded fauna, respectively. The other common genera which were recorded in the study area are as follows: Ammonia (9 %), Spiroloculina (6 %), Triloculina (5 %), Sorites (1.1 %), and Textularaia (1 %). The other genera that have been recorded represent minor constituents. Some species exhibit abnormal test morphologies that may indicate environmental stress.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Plate 1
Plate 2
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abou El-Enein M (1979) Sedimentological and foraminiferal distribution in some shallow bays of the coast of Alexandria. M. Sc. Thesis, Ain Shams Univ. Cairo, Egypt, 299 pp

  • Abou-Ouf, A (1981) Distribution and ecology of recent benthic foraminifera from Tarut Bay, Arabian Gulf, Saudi Arabia. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow, 204 pp

  • Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) (1990) Toxicological profile for hexachlorobenzene. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Puplic Health Services, Washington, D.C.

  • Al Hitmi H (2000) Recent benthic foraminifera from the local water of Qatar, Arabian Gulf. Qatar Univ Sci J 20:167–179

    Google Scholar 

  • Al-Arfaj A, Alam I (1993) Chemical characterization of sediments from the Gulf area after the 1991 oil spill. Mar Pollut Bull 27:97–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Al-Ghadban AN, Jacob PG, Abdali F (1994) Total organic carbon in the sediments of the Arabian Gulf and need for biological productivity investigations. Mar Pollut Bull 28:356–362

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Al-Sayed H, Mahasneh A, Al-Saad J (1994) Variations of trace metal concentrations in seawater and pearl oyster Pinctada radiate from Bahrain (Arabian Gulf). Mar Pollut Bull 28(6):370–374

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anber S (1974) Foraminifera from offshore area of Kuwait (North Western Arabian Gulf). Kuwait University, M. Sc. Thesis, 466 pp

  • Attia O, Abu Khadra A, Nawwar A, Radwan G (2012) Impacts of human activities on the sedimentological and geochemical characteristics of Mabahiss Bay, North Hurghada, Red Sea, Egypt. Arab J Geosci 5:481–499

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Badr N, El-Fiky A, Mostafa A, Al-Mur B (2009) Metal pollution records in core sediments of some Red Sea coastal reas, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Environ Monit Assess 155:509–526

  • Basaham A (2010) Distribution and partitioning of heavy metals in subtidal sediments of the Arabian Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia. JKAU: Earth Sci 21(1):201–222

    Google Scholar 

  • Basaham A, Al-Lihabi S (1993) Trace elements in sediments of the western Gulf. Mar Pollut Bull 27:103–107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Basaham A, El-Sayed M (1998) Distribution and phase association of some major and trace metals in the Arabian Gulf sediment. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 46:185–194

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beus A, Grigorian C (1975) Geochemical methods of prospecting for ore deposits (in Russian). Nedra Publ, Moscow 278pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Biati A, Nikoomaram H, Karbassi A (2012) Study of metals concentrations in surface sediments of the Persian Gulf coastal area (Bushehr Province). Int J Mar Sci Eng 2(1):75–80

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark RB, Frid C, Attrill M (1997) Marine pollution 161 pp. Oxford University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Closs D, Maderia M (1968) Seasonal variations of brackish foraminifera in the Patos Lagoon, southern Brazil. Univ. Rio Grande do Sul. Escola Geol 15:1–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Darmoian S, Al-Rubaee K (1989) Estuarine benthonic foraminifera from Iraq, the Arabian Gulf. J Geol Soc Iraq 22(2):56–76

    Google Scholar 

  • Elewi A, Safawe N (1989) On the distribution of recent foraminifera from southern Iraq. Mar Mesopotamica 2(1):41–56

    Google Scholar 

  • Elhabab A, Adsani I (2013) Geochemical and mineralogical characters of the coastal plain sediments of the Arabian Gulf, Kuwait. J Geol Geosci 3:137. doi:10.4172/2329-6755.1000137

    Google Scholar 

  • El Sayed M, Basaham A, Gheith A (2002) Distribution and geochemistry of trace elements in central Red Sea coastal sediments. Int J Environ Stud 59:1–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans D, Cutshall N, Cross F, Wolfe D (1977) Manganese cycling in the Newport river estuary, North Carolina. Estuar Coast Mar Sci 5(1):71–80

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farahani S (1998) Geologic, microfaunistic and ecologic studies of the Qeshm Island coastal belt, 1st edn. Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran 337 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Fichtel L, Moll J (1798) Testacea microscopica aliaque minuta ex generibus argonauta et nautilus_ad naturam delineata et descripta. camesinap, Vienna 124 pp

  • Frignani M, Bellucci L, Langone L, Muntau H (1997) Metal fluxes to the sediments of the Northern Vince Lagoon. Mar Chem 58(3–4):275–292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaillard JF, Pauwells H, Michard G (1989) Chemical diagenesis of coastalmarine sediments. Oceanol Acta 12:175–187

    Google Scholar 

  • Haake F (1975) Miliolinen (Foram) in oberflachensedimenten des Persischen Golfes. “MeteoT” Forsch-Ergeb C 21:15–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Henson F (1950) Middle eastern tertiary peneroplidae (foraminifera) with remarks on the phylogeny and taxonomy of the family. West Yorkshire Press Co., Wakefield 70 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Houbolt J (1957) Surface sediments of the Persian Gulf near the Qater Peninsula. State University of Utrecht, Ph. D. Thesis, 113 pp

  • Issa B, Albadran B, Al-Shahwan M (2009) Sedimentological and paleontological study of the tidal flat Recent sediments of Khor Al-Zubair and Khor Abdullah, Northwest Arabian Gulf. Mesop J Mar Sci 24(2):86–97

    Google Scholar 

  • Janaki-Raman D, Jonathan Srinivasalu S, Armstrong-Altrin J, Mohan S, Ram-Mohan V (2007) Trace metal enrichments in core sediments in Muthupet mangroves, SE coast of India: application of acid leachable technique. Environ Pollut 145(1):245–257

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins D (1981) Biological monitoring of toxic trace elements (pp. 1–9). EPA Report 600/S3-80–090

  • Kennish M (1996) Practical handbook of estuarine and marine pollution. CRC, Boca Raton 524 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Loeblich A, Tappan H (1987) Foraminiferal genera and their classification. Van Nostrand Reinhold. 970 pp, 847 pl

  • Loeblich A, Tappan H (1988) Foraminiferal evolution, diversification, and extinction. J Paleontol 62:695–714

    Google Scholar 

  • Madkour H (2013) Recent benthic foraminifera of shallow marine environment from the Egyptian Red Sea coast. Glob Adv Res J Geol Min Res 2:5–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Maeda M, Akitake H, Kamiya I, Shibata F, and Kamatani A (1998) Trace metals in the finest fraction of surface sediments from the inner part of ROPME Sea Area. Offshore environment of the ROPME Sea area after the war-related oil spill, Eds. A. Otsuki et al., pp 160–180

  • Mohamed M, Madkour H, El-Taher A (2013) Recent benthic foraminifera in the saline pool and its surrounding areas at Ras Shukier and Gulf of Suez, Egypt. Indian J Geo-Mar Sci 42(3):293–299

    Google Scholar 

  • Mooraki N, Moghadasi B, Manoochehri H, Changizy R (2012) Spatial distribution and assemblage structure of foraminifera in Nayband Bay and Haleh Estuary, North-West of the Persian Gulf. Iran J Fish Sci 12(3):654–668

    Google Scholar 

  • Murray J (1970a) The Foraminiferida of the Persian Gulf, Living forms in the Abu Dhabi region. J Nat Hist 49:55–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murry J (1970b) The Foraminiferida of the hypersaline Abu Dhabi Lagoont Persian Gulf. Lethaia 3:51–68

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murray J (1973) Distribution and ecology of the living Benthonic Foraminiferids. Heinemanng, London 273 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Pattan J, Rao C, Higgs N, Colley S, Parthiban G (1995) Distribution of major, trace and rare-earth elements in surface sediments of the Wharton Basin, Indian Ocean. Chem Geol 121(1–4):201–215

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pokorny V (1965) International series. Monograph on Earth Science. 652 pp

  • Sadiq M, Zaidi TH (1985) Metal concentrations in the sediments from the Arabian Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 34:565–571

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prego R, Belzunce Segarra MJ, Helios-Rybicka E, Barciela MC (1999) Cadmium, manganese, nickel and lead contents in surface sediments of the lower Ulla River and its estuary (northwest Spain). Bull Inst Oceanogr 15:495–500

    Google Scholar 

  • Samir A, El-Din A (2001) Benthic foraminiferal assemblages and morphological abnormalities as pollution proxies in two Egyptian bays. Mar Micropaleontol 41:193–227

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Samir M, Mohamed A, Shaif M (2006) Environmental assessment of heavy metal pollution in bottom sediments of Aden Port, Yemen. Int J Oceans Oceanogr 1:99–109

    Google Scholar 

  • Wedepohl K (1963) Beitrage zur Geochemie des Kupfers. Geol Rundsch (Stuttgart) 52:492–504

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yanko V, Ahmad M, Kaminski M (1998) Morphological deformities of benthic foraminiferal tests in response to pollution by heavy metals: implications for pollution monitoring. J Foraminifer Res 28:177–200

    Google Scholar 

  • Zaninetti L (1982) Le foraminiferes des marais salats de salindeGiraud (Sud de la France: milieu de vie et transport das le salin, comparaison avec les icrofaunes marines. Géol Mediterr 9:447–470

    Google Scholar 

  • Zyadah M, Almoteiry M (2013) Evaluation of environmental pollution in the Arabian Gulf coast at the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. Asian Trans Basic Appl Sci 2:14–21

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Authors would like to extend their sincere appereciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King saud University for its funding this research group No. (RG-1435-33).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology and Geophysics, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Khaled AlKahtany, Mohamed Youssef & Abdelbaset El-Sorogy

  2. Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt

    Mohamed Youssef

  3. Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt

    Abdelbaset El-Sorogy

Authors
  1. Khaled AlKahtany
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mohamed Youssef
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Abdelbaset El-Sorogy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohamed Youssef.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

AlKahtany, K., Youssef, M. & El-Sorogy, A. Geochemical and foraminiferal analyses of the bottom sediments of Dammam coast, Arabian Gulf, Saudi Arabia. Arab J Geosci 8, 11121–11133 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-015-2000-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-015-2000-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation