Eutrophication and chlorophyll-A in a severely polluted coastal water of Jeddah, Red Sea

Abstract EN

Eutrophication becomes the future hazard as a consequence of irrational development around coastal areas of Jeddah.

This area receives variable types of anthropogenic pollutants such as, oil, heavy metals and discharge effluents from the different sources of refinery, manufactures, and various discharge effluents.

Micronutrients as a fuel for phytoplankton and hence standing crop were determined in very polluted lakes (Al-Salam and Al-Shabab mostly with sewage) from four stations for 12 months and compared with previous few studies of the Red Sea.

High levels of nutrient loadings especially in stations 1 and 4 showed good signs of eutrophication.

Salinity and temperature averaged 34.5 and 39.6 PSU and 29 to 30 °C, respectively.

Nitrate averaged 1.2 to 14.13 and 1.3 to 3.99 μg at.l-1 respectively, for surface and sub-surface layers.

Nitrite averaged 0.4 to 4.06 μg at.l-1 for surface and 0.34 to 0.64 for sub-surface layers.

Ammonia showed averages of 4.14 to 39.52 and 3.93 to 9.35 μg at.l-1 for surface and sub-surface water.

Surface phosphate averaged 0.86 to 21.93 μg at.l-1, while subsurface averaged 0.45 to 2.19 μg at.l-1.

Silicate averaged 4.73 to 27.11 and 6.54 to 10.25 μg at.l-1, in surface and sub-surface layers.

Standing crop as Chl-a averaged between 7.24 and 71.64 and 2.78 to 16.38 for surface and sub-surface layers, respectively.

Statistical analysis to reveal correlations between physio-bio-chemical parameters did not show good correlation.