Study on the geochemistry and mineralogy of Merang coastal sediments

Abstract

The study was conducted to determine elemental contents, mineral contents and sedimentological characteristics of Merang coastal sediments. The sediments were collected from 17 stations by using Smith McIntyre grab. The sediments were analyzed by using three methods; Scanning Electron Microscope - Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) for elemental contents analysis, X-ray Power Diffraction (XRD) for mineral contents and dry sieve method for sedimentological characteristics analysis. The result of SEM-EDS analysis showed that quartz is the dominant mineral in all stations (62.32 %). Besides, the result of XRD peaks also showed that quartz is the dominant mineral in every station. Based on the result of hydrometer analysis, there were two textures of sediment that were identified which are sand and loamy sand. The group of sand texture was mostly found at nearshore area (Stations 2, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 14 and 15). However, loamy sand texture was found at offshore area (Stations 1, 3, 4, 5, 9, 12, 13, 16 and 17).