CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DEAD SEA BLACK MUD, JORDAN
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- Category: Chemistry
- Published: Sunday, 06 May 2012 03:00
- Written by Samer AL-Auaideh
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Abstract
Chemical Characteristics of the Dead Sea Black Mud, Jordan.
Samer AL-Auaideh
Mu’tah University 2007
This study was concern on the chemical characteristics and distribution of the heavy metals in the black mud from the northern basin of the Dead Sea. Therefore, 30 offshore samples from the eastern shore of the Dead Sea (from Swiemah in the north to Lisan Island in the south). Beside 4 freshwater samples from the main freshwater tributaries (Swiemah, Zarqa-Ma’en and Al-Mujeb) were collected. The saltwater mud samples are black in color, while the freshwater samples are white, but all have a bad odor.
The pH and EC of seawater were measured on the site; also the pH of mud was measured in the laboratory. The pH of seawater was around 6, while it little above 8 in the mud samples . The black mud when compared with other types of mud and sediments is relatively depleted in the most of heavy metals content. This might be due to the effect of pH of the seawater (mild acidic), which enhances the metals solubility rather than precipitation. The enrichment series of the heavy metals in the black mud samples are Pb > Ni> Co >Cr >Cu > Mn >Fe.
The t-test and one-way ANOVA techniques were used to investigate the effect of mixing with freshwater in heavy metal content of the black mud. The results showed that there is no significance effect of mixing on the heavy metal concentration