Evaluation of the Quality for the Egyptian Red Sea Coastal Waters during 2011-2013

Abstract

To assess the quality of the Egyptian Red Sea coastal waters for the sustainable use and development, due to its importance for the national income, four field campaigns were annually carried out during the period from 2011-2013 to investigate the hydrography, nutrient salts, heavy metals and petroleum hydrocarbons. Except for the area of Bir Shalatein, the results of beach litter cleared out that the shoreline of the studied area is not affected by man-made litter. No sewage could be observed. The results of the present study showed that water temperature followed seasonal changes in air temperature. Red Sea water is more saline than adjacent Arabian Sea. DO revealed high values and presence of well oxygenated waters. Minor changes in the distribution of pH, BOD, DOM and COD, revealed that limited effects of human impacts and depend mainly on the dynamics of its water as well as on the geographical location. Low Chl-a and TSM concentrations and high transparency revealed that also the effect of human impacts is almost negligible. Significantly higher sea water temperatures, TSM, pH, DO, BOD, DOM, and COD were observed in summer season compared to their corresponding values in winter season. Dissolved inorganic nitrogen concentrations were quite low because there is little nutrient input from soil, agriculture and pollution on land. Based on the annual mean values, the pattern concentrations of dissolved inorganic nitrogen forms followed the order: NO 3 > NH 4 > NO 2. The Red Sea coastal waters are classified as oligotrophic to mesotrophic state. A remarkable increase of PO 4 concentration was observed in the middle Red Sea stations due to huge amounts of effluents enriched with phosphate from the main shipping and industry of Phosphate Companies. SiO 4 displayed a large variability due to the supply of SiO 4 , which flows in the Red Sea through the strait of Bab El-Mandab, biological consumption, organic matter decomposition and the partial dissolution of quartz particle transported to the sea from the surrounding desert during How to cite this paper:

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