International Journal of Marine Science, 2017, Vol.7, No.22, 205-213
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Sinop Peninsula is located in the southern part of the Black Sea. Previous results showed showed that metals were
not seriously polluted in Sinop coasts compared with levels observed in different region of the southern Black Sea
(Bat et al., 2015; Bat and Özkan, 2015). However the rapid development of coastal cities in the Black Sea,
increased quantities of chemicals draining into the rivers and the sea. Research on Sinop coasts sediments showed
that As, Cr and Hg concentrations were estimated relatively higher enrichment values than other metals (Bat et al.,
2015). It is suggested that this situation is alarming and needs urgent action (Bat et al., 2015).
In the present study, the content and distribution of heavy metals in surface sediments of Sinop Peninsula of the
Black Sea were investigated. The main objectives of this study were: (1) to characterize the distribution and
concentration of metals; (2) to assess the degree of pollution with these metals; and (3) to analyze the main factors
affecting the concentration of the metals in sediments.
1 Materials and Methods
1.1 Study area
Sinop is the sharpest point toward the north, on the shore of the Black Sea coast of Turkey and extends between
latitude of 41
o
59'40.51''N and longitude of 35
o
6'47.17''E. The sediment samples were collected four times between
June and September in 2013 from three stations namely Karakum, Inner Harbor and Akliman. The sampling
stations are shown in Figure 1. The water depth was 10 meters for all stations. The stations were chosen in ways to
include hotspots of pollution around Sinop city such as domestic wastewater discharge points (Bat et al., 2001;
Bat and Baki, 2014), touristic and fishing activities in coastal zone of Sinop Peninsula (Bat et al., 1999).
Figure 1 Sampling area
1.2 Sample collection
Sample surface sediments (< 10 cm) were collected using core sampler with 10 cm in length with a diameter of 4
cm. After the collection of the cores, they were sliced at 2 cm intervals by using sediment extruding device. The
sediment slices were stored in cleaned polyethylene bottles with ice to keep cold and transferred to the laboratory.
They were frozen at -21ºC in a deep freezer until analyses for metals (Bat et al., 2015).
1.3 Analytical procedure
The heavy metal analysis (except for Hg) in all subsamples was performed using the 4 acid digestion and
ultra-trace ICP-MS method by the ACME Analytical Laboratories Ltd. (Vancouver, Canada). Two stages of
preparation, consisting of drying and screening, were performed on the sediment samples. Samples were dried at
60°C and were then 85% pulverized and passed through a 200 mesh sieve. Two 0.25 g subsamples were taken for
digestion and were heated in HNO
3
-HClO
4
-HF to dryness. The residues were then dissolved in HCl and the
