The textural, geochemical and mineralogical characteristics of mangrove sediments, South of Quseir City, Red Sea, Egypt

الملخص EN

The characteristics of the sediments from a mangrove stand along the Red Sea coast have been studied and discussed.

The sediments are characterized by the abundance of fine and very fine sands.

The heavy metals contents in the mangrove sediments show close similarities to those of normal Red Sea sediments.

The concentrations of metals in the mangrove sediments are controlled by four factors namely, coral debris-detrital sand factor, sorting factor, feldspar factor and textural factor.

The calcareous constituent of sediment affects greatly the concentrations of total carbonate, calcium, barium, strontium, and cadmium.

The effect of sorting of sediment particles is prominent and led to concentrate the fines in the southern part of the area.

Iron, copper, zinc, potassium and manganese are associated with those fine sediments.

The concentrations of sodium, potassium, chromium and magnesium are related to the feldspar content of the sediments.

The grain size analysis of sediment samples showed that sediments of the mangrove area are finer than those of the surrounding substrate.

The slightly higher concentrations of heavy metals in the mangrove sediments indicate their unique chemical behaviour and the existence of trapping mechanisms.

Therefore, the mangrove areas prevent shore erosion by acting as buffers and catch finer materials, thus stabilizing the land elevation by sediment accretion that balance the sediment loss.

A special attention should be devoted to the protection of the mangrove swamps by laying out balanced development policies.