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Environmental characteristics of the United Arab Emirates waters along the Arabian Gulf : Hydrographical survey and nutrient salts

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Title Environmental characteristics of the United Arab Emirates waters along the Arabian Gulf : Hydrographical survey and nutrient salts
 
Creator Shriadah, Mohammed M A
Al-Ghais, Saif M.
 
Description 225-232
Surface and bottom seawater samples were collected monthly from October 1993
to September 1994 at twenty-four stations. The levels of different parameters
were in the range of : temperature (16.90-34.60°C), salinity (35.2-44.0×10-3
),transparency (0.5- 13.0 m), pH (7.91-8.60), dissolved oxygen
(3.63-9.02 mg/l), biological oxygen demand (0.05-6.11mg/l), ammonia (ND-
15.32μg-at N/l), nitrite (ND-5.18μg-at N/l), nitrate (0.07-14.32μg-at N/l),
phosphate (0.01- 10.2 μg-at P/l), and silicate (0.4-26.5μg-at Si/l). The
patterns of distribution indicated insignificant differences between surface
and bottom layers due to the shallowness of the area, turbulence of the water
column, and effects of sewage wastewaters. Water temperatures exhibited their
lowest average value in the winter season and the highest in the summer season.
The lowest averages of salinity, transparency, pH, and dissolved oxygen
were measured in the summer season. Whereas, the highest averages for these
parameters were observed in the winter season. Except for nitrate and
phosphate, insignificant differences between average values of other nutrient
salts in the summer and winter seasons were observed. Nitrate and phosphate
showed lower average values in the summer season compared to the winter season
due to the increase in the rate of uptake by phytoplankton which was more abundant
in the summer season. Horizontal patterns of distributions for hydrographic
parameters revealed only an increase for transparency and a decrease for
biological oxygen demand in a seaward direction. Except for Sharjah creek, no
distinct horizontal patterns of distributions for nutrient salts were observed.
At Sharjah, most of the nutrient salts decreased in a seaward direction due to
the presence of effective sewage pollution sources inside the creek. The atomic
ratio of the elements N: P: Si were similar in Abu-Dhabi, Umm al-Quwain, and
Ras al-Khaimah areas, but with lower values in Sharjah. It is concluded that
the discharge of sewage and industrial wastes has affected the quality of  seawater inside some semi-enclosed areas,
especially Sharjah creek, as indicated by the increase in the levels of
biological  oxygen demand and the
elevation in the concentrations of the nutrient salts.
 
Date 2014-01-13T06:04:52Z
2014-01-13T06:04:52Z
1999-09
 
Type Article
 
Identifier 0975-1033 (Online); 0379-5136 (Print)
http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/25541
 
Language en_US
 
Rights CC Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India
 
Publisher NISCAIR-CSIR, India
 
Source IJMS Vol.28(3) [September 1999]