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

مقال فى مجلة

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. Twentynine

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.