Changing tropical estuarine sedimentary environments with time and metals contamination, West Coast of India

Abstract

Estuaries are one of the major sub-environments of the coastal zone wherein freshwaters interact and mix with saline waters, and facilitate deposition of finer sediments, organic matter, and metals. Intertidal mudflat and mangrove sediment cores collected from estuaries along the central west coast of India were investigated for various sedimentological and geochemical parameters to understand the changes in the sedimentary depositional environments and various factors influencing the processes. Additionally, estuarine biota was examined to understand the bioaccumulation of metals with respect to bioavailability. The results indicated considerable changes in the depositional environments with time owing to sea-level changes; geomorphology of the estuaries; rainfall and river runoff; anthropogenic activities including construction of dams and bridges. The sediments in the estuaries are considerably polluted by metals and pose toxicity risks to the estuarine biota due to high metal bioavailability. Marine gastropods and mangrove plants act as prospective bio-indicators, and the bioremediation potential of mangroves for contaminated sediments was identified. Metal bioaccumulation in edible benthic biota can be harmful to the human health.