Heavy metal contents and mineralogy of beach sediment at Penang Island

Abstract

Twenty two sediment samples were collected from beach sediment of Penang Island and analyzed for heavy metals, mineral contents and textural classes of the sediment. Fe, Cr, Mn, and Pb concentration were analyzed by using Teflon bomb digestion and measured by ICPMS. Result on the heavy metal analysis showed that Chromium (Cr) concentration is high in the study area which exceeds the earth's crust value (140 ppm). The statistical analysis revealed that there is a show the relation significant differences (p < 0.05), and no significant differences (p > 0.05) between sampling periods. Results on the mineral contents showed that quartz is the dominant mineral found in the study area followed by kaolinite and few hematites. Texture analysis shows that the dominant textural class of the sediment is sandy clay loam. Other texture classes found were silt loam and sandy loam. This indicated that the sediments in the study area is quite sandy.