Mineralogy and Geochemistry of Sediments in Light of Environmental and Climate Changes

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Mineralogy and Biogeochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2024) | Viewed by 1419

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Geological Survey of Slovenia, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Interests: environmental mineralogy and geochemistry; environmental forensics; identification of pollution sources and source contribution; individual particle analysis; micromineralogy and micromorphology of solid inorganic pollutants; fate of metallic pollutants
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Guest Editor
Georudeko, D.O.O., Anhovo 1, 5210 Deskle, Slovenia
Interests: sedimentological and structural processes affecting heterogeneous units of mass transport deposits; industrial mineral deposits; environmental mineralogy and geochemistry; hydraulic binders for eco-remediation of contaminated sediments
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Information on past environment and climate is generally well recorded in sedimentary rocks. In sediments in various environments, however, this information could be obscured by various and constant processes dictated by naturally or anthropogenically induced changes in natural conditions. These changes can significantly alter the physico-chemical conditions in sediments and, consequently, their mineralogy and geochemistry. The mineral and chemical composition of sediments can thus serve as a good tool to observe the impacts of environmental and climate changes. Furthermore, minerals in sediments are commonly carriers of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) of natural or anthropogenic origin. Thus, they also enable insights into the fate of PTEs and their solid carriers, as well as the assessment of their environmental impact.

This Special issue aims to gain detailed insight into the mineralogical and geochemical characteristics of sediments in aquatic and terrestrial environments, including stream, suspended, lacustrine and marine sediments, and sediments in soils, bogs and caves. Important objectives are to assess the sources of sediments and the fate of naturally and anthropogenically formed minerals and chemical elements in the changing environment. It will provide a baseline for detailed studies and modeling of the long-term impacts of environmental and climate changes on the mineralogy and geochemistry of sediments, but also for planning climate adaptation measures.

Dr. Miloš Miler
Dr. Željko Pogačnik
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • climate change impact
  • environmental mineralogy
  • chemical elements
  • environmental fate
  • source apportionment

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

13 pages, 1642 KiB  
Article
Ecological Health Hazards and Multivariate Assessment of Contamination Sources of Potentially Toxic Elements from Al-Lith Coastal Sediments, Saudi Arabia
by Talal Alharbi, Abdelbaset S. El-Sorogy, Khaled Al-Katany and Suhail S. S. Alhejji
Minerals 2024, 14(11), 1150; https://doi.org/10.3390/min14111150 - 13 Nov 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 772
Abstract
To assess the contamination levels, sources, and ecological health risks of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in the sediments of Al Lith on the Saudi Red Sea coast, 25 samples were collected and analyzed for Zn, V, Cr, Cu, Ni, As, Pb, and Fe [...] Read more.
To assess the contamination levels, sources, and ecological health risks of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in the sediments of Al Lith on the Saudi Red Sea coast, 25 samples were collected and analyzed for Zn, V, Cr, Cu, Ni, As, Pb, and Fe using inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry. The average concentrations of PTEs (μg/g) were obtained in the following order: Fe (14,259) > V (28.30) > Zn (22.74) > Cr (16.81) > Cu (12.41) > Ni (10.63) > As (2.66) > Pb (2.46). The average values of enrichment factor were in the following order: As (1.12) > Zn (0.75) > V (0.70) > Cr (0.69) > Cu (0.69) > Pb (0.67) > Ni (0.46). This indicated that the Al Lith sediments exhibited either no or minimal enrichment of PTEs, with concentrations below the low effect range. This suggests that the primary source of these PTEs is the minerals associated with the basement rocks of the Arabian Shield (sphalerite, vanadiferous magnetite, chromite, pentlandite, arsenopyrite, and galena) and that they are unlikely to pose a substantial risk to benthic communities. The hazard index (HI) values for the PTEs in both adults and children were below 1.0, indicating no significant non-carcinogenic risk. The lifetime cancer risk (LCR) values for Pb, As, and Cr in both adults and children were within acceptable or tolerable levels, posing no significant health threats. However, a few samples showed LCR values exceeding 1 × 10−4, which may indicate potential risks. Full article
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