A Study on the Distribution of Heavy Metal Concentrations in Marine Surface Sediments around Samcheonpo Power Plant

삼천포화력발전소 주변해역 표층퇴적물중의 중금속원소함량 분포 연구

An environmental geochemical survey of heavy metal distribution in marine surface sediments around the ocean of Samcheonpo coal-fired power plant was conducted to investigate the possibility of coal-ash leakage from ash pond and the associated heavy metal pollution in sedimental deposits due to the operation of the coal-fired power plant. The X-Ray Diffractometry (XRD) analysis showed that the main leakage point of coal-ash was limited to a single site of the first ash pond. It also appeared that the amounts of organic carbon and metal elements were positively correlated to the grain size distribution, and that Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, and Zn were bounded to organic ligands. However, the distributions of Cd, Hg, and Mn did not have any significant correlation with the sediment grain size and organic matters. In particular, the distribution of Cd appeared to be affected by the concentration of the carbonate materials in the study area.