Chemical speciation of Fe, Mn, Pb, Zn, Cd, Cu, Co, Ni and Cr in the suspended particulate matter off the Mejerda River Delta (Gulf of Tunis, Tunisia)

International audienceFluxes of suspended particulate matter (SPM) and their associated metals were performed off the Mejerda River Delta during both the wet (March) and the dry (July) seasons in 2012, using sediment traps at study stations at depths of 10, 20 and 40 m. Fluxes nearest to the Mejerda outlet were more significant, especially during winter (36 g m−2 day−1), but dissipated further offshore, 24.5–6 g m−2 day−1 at the 20 m and 21.8–4.8 g m−2 day−1 at the 40 m stations. Many variations observed in seasonal and spatial metal fluxes are similar to those of SPM, in particular Pb and Zn, probably because they are associated with the mining activity characteristic of the Mejerda catchment. Chemical speciation reveals that most of the metals (20–100%) are bound to the residual fraction. The most toxic metals (Pb, Zn) are bound in part to the exchangeable fraction (20–50% for Pb and 5–15% for Zn) making them relatively bioavailable and therefore potentially toxic. While Cu and Cd fluxes are not always clearly established according to season, both metals are apparently sequestered deep in the sediment, bound especially to clays (40–80% for Cd and up to 100% for Cu)