Impacts of human activities on the sedimentological and geochemical characteristics of

Mabahiss Bay, North Hurghada, Red Sea, Egypt

Abstract

In Mabahiss Bay, north Hurghada City, Red Sea, Egypt, the bathymetric measurements show
the irregular topography of the bottom. The bottom sediments are mainly composed of sand
fractions (average 73.5%). Gravel and sand contents decrease with depth. On the other
hand, silt and clay percents show indirect relation with depth. Abnormally, there are some
spots found near the coast where the percent of both silt and clay increases. They also show
carbonate sediments (average 90.15%) increasing toward the bay center. The narrow belt
adjacent to the shore area has lower carbonate content reflecting the effect of clastic
sediments input into the area. The sediments in the study area have more than one source
as indicated from the results of the mechanical analysis. Wide range of grain size
distributions, clay spots and low carbonate content near the shore indicate change in the
nature of sedimentary environment (i.e., pollution) which may be caused by land filling
accompanied with urbanization and building of touristic resorts and centers. The organic
matter content in the sediments is much higher than that of the other areas in the Red sea
(average 4.8%) with considerable accumulation in the inner most parts of the bay. This may
be due to relative abundance of organic productivity, direct discharge of domestic waste in
some spots along the coast of the study area, and/or local contamination of hydrocarbons
(i.e., tar balls thrown out on shore by weak waves through the few inlets of the study area).
The average concentrations of lead, nickel, copper, and cadmium are 44, 34, 51, and 3.1
ppm, respectively. The suggested origin of these metals is either organic (localized oil
pollution), or using of antifouling and anticorrosive paints from fishing and tourist boats.
Other metals, particularly manganese (average 77 ppm), cobalt (average 51 ppm), and zinc
(average 16 ppm) as well as sodium (average 0.32%) and potassium (av. 0.10%) show a
common trend of increasing concentration toward the outermost parts of the bay. Some
parts along shoreline have increasing concentrations, even if these parameters having a
common trend of increase towards the center of the bay. This may be either due to sewage
and wastewaters discharges from many outlets of tourist centers and fishermen and cargo
boats, and/or terrestrial sediments input. Direct comparison of the present levels of heavy
metals in Mabahiss Bay with other published data along the Red Sea and Gulf of Suez shows
that the study area has higher concentrations. Dredging, land filling, localized oil pollution,
using of antifouling and anticorrosive paints from fishing and tourist boats (where the bay is
used as harbor for many of fishermen and cargo boats), sewage, variable amounts of
municipal wastewater from many outlets of tourist centers considered to be the sources of
pollution within Mabahiss bay. There are many effects of pollution on Mabahiss Bay
environment among which: (1) death of fishes, seaweeds, birds, marine O. E. A. Attia : A. M.
A. Khadra Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt A. H.
Nawwar : G. E. Radwan National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries Suez and Aqaba
Gulfs Branch, Hurgada, Egypt Present Address: O. E. A. Attia (*) Geology Department, College
of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia e-mail: osamaattia@[Link] O. E. A.
Attia e-mail: oattis@[Link] Arab J Geosci (2012) 5:481–499 DOI 10.1007/s12517-010-
0193-3 mammals, etc., (2) damage of beaches and other recreational areas, (3) damage of
marine ecosystem by eliminating or decreasing population of certain species, (4) hazard to
human from ingesting contaminated food, and more. Keywords Red Sea . Heavy metals.
Bottom sediments. Pollution Introduction Fringing reefs, barrier reefs, atolls, faros, table
reefs and patch reefs are widespread and well developed in the Red Sea (Shepard 1973). The
study area covers about 35 km2 and it lies near to the southern extreme of the Gulf of Suez
at Hurghada between latitude 27° 15′ 36″ (27.26°) and 27° 19 ′ 12″ (27.32°) N, and longitude
33° 45′ 00″ (33.75°) and 33° 49′ 48″ (33.83°) E (Fig. 1).The reefs in the vicinity of Hurghada
have developed along roughly parallel ridges oriented in a NNW–SSE direction (Hodgson
1983), similar to the echelon arrangement exhibited by Mesozoic and Eocene rocks forming
the nearest mountains on land, aligned approximately parallel to the Gulf of Suez. In the
study area, the fringing and barrier reefs are the most common. It appears as an elongated
semi-closed basin of a triangle shape and bounded by extensive growth of coral reefs
(Shaabs) from north (Shaab Saad and Shaab Abu Qalawa), east (Shaab El-Fanadir), west and
south (Shaab Abu Sadaf; Fig. 1). The coral reef patches are present in two forms; one is
attached either to the mainland or to the insular roots and forms a circular shape (fringing),
while the other is independent reef and surrounded by water. A conspicuous example of the
reef line structure is about three nautical miles off shore from Hurghada marine biological
station, beginning with Shaab Abu Qalawa, the southeastern extension of which is a shoal
connected with Shaab El Fanadir (Fig. 1). There are great changes happened to Shaab Saad
reef, closest to the marine biological station, due to unmonitored effects of dynamiting,
which was most common during military operations in the area (Hodgson 1983). Also
extensive collecting of corals by local residents who sell them, greatly affects these reefs. El-
Fanadir islands, Shaab El-Fanadir, and associated scattered patch reefs lie to the east of
Mabahiss Bay (Fig. 1). The main fringing reef of the islands drops spectacularly to 75 m
depth in places, but elsewhere drops vertically to 40 m wide ledge at 15 m depth and then
to 75 m depth with a plateau at 10–20 m depth (Barratt 1982) where the reef flat is close to
the sea surface. An attractive patch reef, rising from about 20 m depth to within
approximately 2 m of the surface is found in the bay, about 200 m land ward of Shaab El
Fanadir. Another patch reef (150×150 m) is separated from the main reef by a 7 m deep, 25
m wide sandy channel dotted with coral knolls, coral rubbles, and live coral stands. There are
reef flats to the south of the islands (Edwards et al. 1981; Gubby and Rosenthal 1982). Most
of the reefs are shallow and sandy with limited coral growth. Visibility is poor due to the
sandy conditions and the high concentration of inorganic suspended matter of clayey size.
With the exception of other areas of the Red Sea coast, the upper part of the continental
shelf between Ras Gharib and Hurghada is largely deteriorated by oil pollution and human
interface. The increasing rate of oil exploration, urbanization, building of touristic resorts
along the Red Sea coast since 1980 and their accompanying increase in land filling lead to
many changes in the physicochemical characteristics of the biological habitats, sedimentary
environment, and marine ecosystems as a whole. Several studies were carried out
concerning recent sediments and human impacts on the Red Sea coast (Mansour 1999;
Mansour et al. 2000) Our target is to study the grain size parameters of the collected bottom
sediments and to throw more light on the sedimentological character of the bay. This will
help to understand the distribution, composition, and dispersal patterns of the bottom
sediments in the shallow water areas within the development area along the Gulf of Suez.
Also, this study aims to evaluate the concentrations of some major and heavy metals in the
bottom sediments of the bay in order to deduce the effect of the human activities and their
environmental impacts. This will help to determine changes in the characters of the bottom
sediments in Mabahiss Bay. This also will help identifying the anthropogenic impacts and
better assess of the needs for remediation. Materials and methods Ninety-three
representative bottom sediment samples were collected from Mabahiss Bay (Fig. 1) by using
Grab sampler. To overcome some difficulties due to the presence of coral reefs, diving was
used to collect some of the samples. Then, the collected samples were poured in a plastic
dishes with their associated water, to preserved the suspended fine grains, and then put in a
big-labeled plastic bags. Longitude and latitude for each station were determined by using
Magellan 500 {NAVIGATION GPS 5000 PRO} system. Also, temperature of the associated
water is detected by using thermometer. About 100 g of each collected sample was splitted
as representative sub-sample for grain size analysis. The subsample was treated with a
sodium hypochlorite solution for oxidation of organic matter followed by washes with a
sodium carbonate–bicarbonate solution for final reduction of salt content and sodium
saturation. This would give complete removal of organic matter. 482 Arab J Geosci (2012)
5:481–499 Grain-size distribution of the representative sub-sample sediments was
determined using a standard set of sieves The collected sieves fractions were accurately
weighted. Each pan fraction, which represents more than 20% of original analyzed sample,
was analyzed for silt and clay using the pipette technique (Folk 1974). The analyses were
carried out in the Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Hurghada, Egypt. For chemical
analysis, 39 representative samples were selected from the collected bottom sediments
(Table 3). Ten grams of each sample were pulverized using agate mortar, passed through 80
mesh sieves and kept in dry and clean bag. Accuracy of chemical analysis was checked by
duplicating some random samples. Carbonate content of the bottom sediments was
determined by treating 2 g of each prepared powdered sub-sample by dilute acetic acid,
then filtered and washed several times with distilled water. The insoluble residue was dried
and weighed in order to calculate the percentage of carbonate contents. Total organic
content of each sample was determined by using wet sieving. Then the sediments were
washed into porcelain crucible before drying in an oven at 60°C until no further weight loss
was recorded. Sub-samples of 50 gm (W1 ) were taken and dried at 60°C for 24 h. The
calcareous materials were removed from the sample by adding 10% HCl. The treated sample
was put again in the oven for 48 h at 60°C and weighed (W2 ). After complete dryness, the
sample was put in the muffle furnace at 600–650°C for 12 h to burn all organic matter, then
it was weighed again (W3 ). The organic matter percentage was calculated from the
equation: Organicmatterpercent ¼ ð Þ W2 W3 100 (Jorgensen 1977). Heavy metals
concentrations were determined by using the method described by Oregioni and Aston
(1984) where a ratio 3:2:1 of concentrated acids (nitric, perchloric and hydrofluric,
respectively) was added to 0.3 gm of prepared dried sub-sample in teflon crucible and left
over night before heating. The crucible transmitted to hot plate for about 2 h. The samples
were cooled, filtered, and made up to a volume of 25 ml. for determining the trace metals
and then diluted 50 times for determining the major metals. The metals concentrations
were determined by spectroscopic techniques involved: Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy
Buck Sci., Model 200A with its associated equipments. Oceanographic and climatic data
Factors affecting water circulation (winds, currents, and tides) will help to deduce the
distribution of the bottom sediments in the study area. Water circulation is an important
factor to determine how sediments, contaminants, and other water-borne material are
transported. In the study area, reefs and Shaabs form semi-closed basin where the effect of
water circulation only limited to the entrance between Shaabs (Fig. 2). NW–SE winds
predominate all over the year with an average velocity of 22.04 and Fig. 1 Location map of
the study area shows sites of samples collection Arab J Geosci (2012) 5:481–499 483 with 1ϕ
interval, shaken in a Ro-Tap shaker for 20 min. 19.26 km/h in summer and winter,
respectively (Meteorological Station Institute Oceanography and Fisheries, Red Sea branch,
Hurghada).Winds also create a NE–SW oriented wave motion which derives longshore
currents in summer southwards and vice versa in winter where pushing water into Red Sea
from the Gulf of Aden (Meteorological Station Institute Oceanography and Fisheries, Red sea
branch, Hurghada).The currents in the Red Sea are predominantly weak where the coastal
current along the Egyptian side is generally toward south direction (ElMamony 1995). Tide is
one of the important forces influencing on the coastal zone. During spring, the tide is about
0.6 m near Hurghada (Moussa et al. 1986; Mansour et al. 2000). Due to the very high
evaporation of the warm water of the Red Sea, the area has the ability to be hot and moist.
Humidity along the coast is usually rather low than over the sea and generally increases
from north to south. In winter, humidity fluctuates around 44%. The monthly mean values of
humidity along the Red Sea coast are around 50% throughout the year for morning
observations and some five to ten higher in the afternoons (Edwards and Head 1987). The
average air temperature fluctuate around 17.38°C in winter and varies between 27.50°C and
30.60°C in summer (Meteorological Station Institute Oceanography and Fisheries, Red sea
branch, Hurghada). In the study area, the temperature of water associated with collected
samples in summer season (September) ranges from 20°C to 27°C with an average of
24.95°C (Table 1). The bathymetric data collected by using an echo sounder. The depth
ranges from 0.7 m to 38 m averaging 10.29 m (Table 1). The wide range of depths in the
study area reflects the irregularity in the bottom topography (Fig. 2). The bottom irregularity
at the entrance of the Gulf of Suez is relatively lesser than that of the areas surrounding
islands and reefs (El-Askary et al. 1988). Haphazard distribution of reefal patches contributes
in disturbing the flatness of the bottom under consideration. In addition, the nature of the
structural set-up of the Red Sea coast due to faulting exaggerates the shape slopes of the
insular and reefal roots. Generally, pH values are higher in winter than in summer for the
surface water, while it shows a little decrease with depth (El-Mamony 1995). In the study
area, pH values of the water associated with the collected samples range from 7.34 to 8.5
with an average 7.87 (Table 1). This is in agreement more or less with the results of El-
Mamony (1995) and Mansour et al. (2000) where they measured pH values between 8.6 and
8.71. Analytical results Grain size distribution