Pollution Characteristics of Soils and Sediments of Thoothukudi City
Sanghita Sen1, Christopher Samuel2, Lydia Ajith3, Udaiya Bhaskar G4
1Sanghita Sen, Post Graduate Student, Department of Civil Engineering, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai (Tamil Nadu), India.
2Christopher Samuel, Associate professor, Department of Civil Engineering, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai (Tamil Nadu), India.
3Lydia Ajith, Research Scholar, Department of Civil Engineering, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai (Tamil Nadu), India.
4Udaiya Bhaskar G, Post Graduate Student, Department of Civil Engineering, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai (Tamil Nadu), India.
Manuscript received on 18 June 2019 | Revised Manuscript received on 25 June 2019 | Manuscript published on 30 June 2019 | PP: 699-702 | Volume-8 Issue-5, June 2019 | Retrieval Number: E7211068519/19©BEIESP
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© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: Thoothukudi city in the state of Tamil Nadu situated in southern India has drawn widespread attention in the recent past because of concerns over deteriorating environmental conditions. As a step towards addressing this issue, a scientific study of soils, and both lake and marine sediments was conducted. Concentrations of Si, Al, Fe, Ca, K, S, Ti, Mn, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Pb were analysed in the collected samples. Geoaccumulation indices and enrichment factors were computed for individual samples. Pollution load indices were computed for each site, component and as a composite whole for the region. Enhanced quantities of Pb and Cu were found in soils and lake sediments. Highest geo-accumulation was evidenced for the elements S and Pb in all the components. Pollution load indices based on heavy metals indicate that each of the components and the region can be classified as unpolluted to moderately polluted
Keywords: Contamination of Soils And Sediments, Enrichment Factors, Geo-Accumulation, Pollution Load Index, Thoothukudi City.
Scope of the Article: Environmental Engineering