Affiliations: Wetland Research Center, Chilika Development Authority
Bhubaneswar-751 001, India | Department of Chemistry, Kalinga Institute of
Industrial Technology (Deemed University), Bhubaneswar-751 024, India | Department of Marine Sciences, Berhampur University
Berhampur-760007, Orissa, India | S.D. Marine Biological Research Institute Sagar
Island, West Bengal, India | Department of Chemistry, S.C.S (Autonomous) College
Puri-752 001, India
Abstract: Concentration of heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Hg, Cu, Ni, Co, Cr, Mn and
Fe) in the sediments was measured from the river, estuarine and coastal
environment off Subarnarekha River, Bay of Bengal. The degree of contamination
of the sediments was evaluated through enrichment factor (EF), geo-accumulation
index (Igeo) and pollution load index (PLI). The high ER's and Igeo values
for Cu and Cr were due to the chromite and copper mines, and Cu ore processing
plants situated on the upstream catchments of the river. PLI for Subarnarekha
estuary and coastal environments were calculated with respect to world surface
rock average, where the site indices are greater than unity. Multivariate
statistical analysis like factor and cluster analysis were performed in order
to assess the geochemical processes responsible for heavy metal distributions
and relationship between stations respectively.
Keywords: Subarnarekha river, estuary, offshore, PLI, Igeo, ER, multivariate statistics, India
