Speciation of Some Heavy Metals in Surface and Core Sediments of Kyeonggi Bay, West Coast of Korea

Chemical speciation of five heavy metals (Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn) has been analyzed from 37 surface and 2 core sediments of Kyeonggi Bay, using the modified sequential extraction method based on Tessier et at. (1979). The results show that heavy metals in the Kyeonggi Bay surface sediments are associated dominantly with the crystal lattice fraction. But in the polluted sediments of the Incheon North Harbor, the importance of the labile fractions increased while that of the lattice fraction decreased. In particular, the adsorbed and the easily reducible fractions showed a noticeable increase. In the core samples emerged a speciation pattern which differed significantly from that of the surface sediments. A sharp increase in the percentage of the reducible and organic/sulfide fractions and a decrease in the lattice fraction were observed. Throughout the vertical column, however, the metal contents in the lattice fraction showed stability while those of the labile fractions showed an upward increase. The strong association of heavy metals with the organic/sulfide fraction could be attributed in part to the sulfate reduction prevailing in the polluted harbor sediments.