Abstract:
This study was conducted to determine the mineral contents and sediment types of
Kemaman river estuarine sediments. The sediment samples were collected using Ekman
Grab from 10 stations at Kemaman river estuarine, Terengganu. Identification of mineral
contents in the sediment and its elemental composition were determined using X-ray
Powder Diffractometer (XRD) and Scanning electron Microscope-Energy Dispersive X
ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) respectively. The texture of the sediments was determined
using hydrometer method. Results in the mineral analysis using XRD and SEM-EDS
showed that quartz is the most dominant mineral found in the study area, which indicates
that quartz is present in large amount. Besides that, kaolinite, mica and ilmenite are also
present frequently, few and possible occurrence respectively at this study area. In
addition, trace amount of other mineral such as feldspar, gibbsite and pyrite are also
present in trace amount in this study. For SEM-EDS analysis also shows that silicon
oxide (Si02) also known as quartz is most dominant in the study area, followed by
aluminium oxide (Al203), iron oxide (Fe203), potassium oxide (K20), magnesium oxide
(MgO) and calcium oxide (CaO). For texture analysis, indicated that most of the
sediments from the texture analysis showed that most of the textural classes in the
sediment are sandy loam followed by sandy clay loam, loamy sand and loam. Many
factors that are influence the texture of the sediment such as river transport of sediment,
river inflow, waves and wind action, meteorological forces and also environment
activities.