A baseline record of trace elements concentration along the beach placer mining areas of Kanyakumari coast, South India.
Trace element concentration in the beach placer mining areas of Kanyakumari coast, South India was assessed. Sewage and contaminated sediments from mining sites has contaminated the surface sediments. Enrichment factor indicates moderately severe enrichment for Pb, minor enrichment for Mn, Zn, Ni, Fe and no enrichment for Cr and Cu. The Igeo values show higher concentration of Pb ranging in the scale of 3-4, which shows strong contamination due to high anthropogenic activity such as mining and terrestrial influences into the coastal regions. Correlation coefficient shows that most of the elements are associated with each other except Ni and Pb. Factor analysis reveals that Mn, Zn, Fe, Cr, Pb and Cu are having a significant loading and it indicates that these elements are mainly derived from similar origin. The cluster analysis clearly indicated that the mining areas are grouped under cluster 2 and non-mining areas are clustered under group 1.
Centre for Geotechnology, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu 627 012, India. Electronic address: tnoblesimon@gmail.com.
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Simon Peter
Centre for Geotechnology, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu 627 012, India.
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Chandrasekar
Centre for Geotechnology, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu 627 012, India.
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John Wilson
Centre for Geotechnology, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu 627 012, India.
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Selvakumar
Department of Geology, University of Madras, Guindy campus, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600 025, India.
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Krishnakumar
Centre for Geotechnology, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu 627 012, India.
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Magesh
D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D019015:Geologic Sediments; D007194:India; D019216:Metals, Heavy; D008906:Mining; D014131:Trace Elements / Q000032:analysis*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
D019216:Metals, Heavy; D014131:Trace Elements; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
Baseline study; Beach placer mining areas; Element concentration; Kanyakumari coast, South India; Surface sediments