ECOLOGICAL FATE AND SOURCE OF ORGANIC MATTER IN BOTTOM SEDIMENT OF SHATT AL-BASRAH CANAL
ZAHRAA ZAHRAW *
Environmental Research Center, University of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq
EMAN S. AWAD
Environmental Research Center, University of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq
L. M. ABDUL KAREEM
Technical Institute of Basrah, Southern Technical University, Basrah, Iraq
M. A. AL-KHATEEB
Environmental Research Center, University of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq
SHAHAD RIYADH ZAKI
Department of Biology, College of Science for Women, Baghdad University, Baghdad, Iraq
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The present study investigates the sources and spatial distribution of organic matter in sediment 5 selected sites at Shatt Al-Basrah Canal. In addition a set of parameter has been tested; Total Organic Carbon, total nitrogen (TN) and sulfur. The Organic Matter content ranged between 0.7910-3.7872% where station 2 recorded the highest value in addition to high Total Organic Carbon (1.35 %) and high ratio for C/N (3.26) and C/S (0.065) which may be due to the nature of this site. Generally, the study area is known of its soil fertility and breeding cattle. The result of this study revealed that the source of OC content could be due to algal bloom and anthropogenic activity that can introduce organic matter to the aquatic environment.
Keywords: Organic matter, organic carbon, Shatt Al-Basrah