Assessment of Oil Pollution Situation in Sharm El-Maiya Bay, Sharm El-Sheikh South Sinai, Egypt | ||||
| Catrina: The International Journal of Environmental Sciences | ||||
| Article 5, Volume 1, Issue 1, 2006, Page 33-40 PDF (349.96 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
 View on SCiNiTO | ||||
| Authors | ||||
Rafat Khattab  ; Tarek Temraz; Mohamed Kotb; Mahmoud Hanafy
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| Marine Science Department, Faculty of Science, Suez Canal University, 41522 Ismailia, Egypt | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| Sharm El-Maiya bay is bounded by multi million pounds tourism investments in Sharm El-Sheikh area. The key stone for investments in this area is the water sports and amenities. All of this was hindered by the presence of a persistent oil film covering the sea surface as well as an oily smell especially noticeable in hot and windy days. The purpose of this work was to identify sources and level of petroleum hydrocarbons as well as to establish a data-base for future monitoring and defining mitigation measures for rehabilitation program. In total, 17 sites plus a control site were investigated. Water and sediment samples were collected, extracted, purified and analyzed using spectro-fluorometry and Gas chromatography (GC). Results indicated that chronic oil pollution was prevalent in the surface sediments (0-20 cm depth) in confined areas of the western and south-western sites of the bay. The average hydrocarbons concentrations recorded in deep (> 20 cm depth) and surface sediment varied between (20.3 to 1263.5 μg/g), the most contaminated sediments were restricted to the intertidal flat just outside the place of an old Power Plant. The spilled oil was found to be originated from different sources such as fuel leakage and dumping of oil wastes as well as other types of hydrocarbons from the disembarked power plant, creating the existing problem of permanent oil pollution. However, the GC analysis has indicated that oil degradation was processing very well. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| Marine pollution; Red Sea; Hydrocarbons; Gas chromatography; spectroflurometery | ||||
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