Kennedy & Matthews--Trace elements in coastal sediments

New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research abstracts

Environmental monitoring of trace element concentrations in volcanogenic sediments, North Taranaki, New Zealand

PAUL C. KENNEDY

Botany Department
Victoria University of Wellington
Private Bag, Wellington, New Zealand

Present address: Kingett Mitchell & Associates Ltd., P.O. Box 177, Albany, Auckland, New Zealand

ROGER S. MATHEWS

Taranaki Catchment Commission P.O. Box 159, Stratford, New Zealand

Abstract Examinationofthetraceelementcontent of sediment samples from the Waitara river and coastal embayment around the Waitara Borough sewer outfall using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry has shown that the trace element concentrations are aproductof sediments from two different geological sources. Multiple regression analyses provided expressions that accounted for much of the variance associated with the concentration of the trace elements lead, copper, vanadium, and zinc in the sediments. Expressions of this type could in the future be used to identify increases in trace element concentrations in the sediment above background concentrations as a result of waste discharges. The distribution of sediments in this coastal environment show that high wave energy in the area maintains a constantcyclingof the bottom sediments, eliminating much of the fine sediment which is deposited by the Waitara river. These findings are significant for proposed and existing waste water discharges in ihe area.

Keywords sediments; trace elements; Taranaki; New Zealand

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