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Metal transfer budgets in a Mediterranean marine environment subjected to natural and anthropogenic inputs: case of the Mejerda River Delta (Gulf of Tunis, northern Tunisia)

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Abstract

Deltaic sediments are important for biogeochemical metal cycling since they are hotspots for metal inputs. In addition, they are potential sites for diagenetic processes leading to either the burial of inorganic contaminants or their release. Diffusive fluxes of certain metals (Fe, Mn, Pb, Zn, Cu and Cd) in the sediments of the Mejerda River Delta (MRD) (Gulf of Tunis, Tunisia) were quantified by modeling the available concentration profiles in the pore water. The metals’ burial and sedimentation fluxes were also calculated using both the asymptotic concentrations of available metal profiles and sediment trap results. These fluxes were assembled with the exchange fluxes at the sediment-water interface in order to develop complete metal transfer budgets. The results showed that budgets of Cu and Zn are almost neutral. The sediment appears to be a good trap for iron since its average burial flux at the three studied stations is about 332.6 g m−2 year−1. Organic matter degradation, carbonate dissolution, and oxyhydroxide reduction are the main mechanisms which accelerate the release of metals associated with the suspended particle matter once they reach the pore water in the seabed.

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Acknowledgements

This study was made possible by a Franco-Tunisian cooperation project (Chrono-Environment Laboratory, Besançon, France, UMR CNRS 6249; Laboratory of Geosciences, Mineral, Energetic Resources and Environment, Faculty of Sciences of Tunis, Tunisia). We would like to thank all concerned for their participation and contributions. We acknowledge the analytical support provided by the following laboratories: Mineral Resources and Environment, Faculty of Sciences of Tunis; and Laboratory of Oceanography and Sedimentology, National Institute of Marine Sciences and Technology, Tunis. We especially thank Professor Filip Meysman of Antwerp University, Belgium, whose fruitful discussions of our results were of great help.

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  1. Laboratoire des Ressources Minérales et Environnement, Département de Géologie, Faculté des Sciences de Tunis, Université de Tunis El Manar, 2092, Tunis, Tunisia

    Walid Oueslati, Mohamed Amine Helali & Ayed Added

  2. Institut des Sciences et Technologies de la Mer, Salammbô, Tunis, Tunisia

    Noureddine Zaaboub

  3. Laboratoire de Chrono-Environnement, Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté, UMR CNRS 6249, La Bouloie, F-25030, Besançon Cedex, France

    Lotfi Aleya

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  1. Walid Oueslati
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Oueslati, W., Helali, M.A., Zaaboub, N. et al. Metal transfer budgets in a Mediterranean marine environment subjected to natural and anthropogenic inputs: case of the Mejerda River Delta (Gulf of Tunis, northern Tunisia). Environ Monit Assess 191, 386 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-019-7521-1

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