Application of new technologies and methods to the study of sediment dynamics and pollution in ports

Project leaders

Lucagiorgio Bellucci, Bouchta El Moumni

Agreement

MAROCCO - CNRST - Centre National pour la Recherche Scientifique et Technique

Call

CNR/CNRST 2012-2013

Department

Earth and Environment

Thematic area

Earth system science and environmental technologies

Status of the project

New

Research proposal

The north-western coast is by far the most inhabited area of Morocco, where the biggest cities are to be found, and where many industrial activities and tourist attractions are located. It is then reasonable to foresee that future development will interest this area, in particular its commercial and industrial ports that will then sustain the largest environmental impact and present the biggest management problems (Bellucci et al., 2003; Piazza et al., 2009). Indeed, managing highly human impacted areas as ports and harbours raises various management issues (focused to the preservation of full operative conditions), principally dealing with the continuous infilling by sediments and environmental pollution.
Infilling is a serious problem in the Mediterranean zone, especially in the Maghreb countries where the erosion of the continental watershed seriously threatens the potential use of water and soil. Aggressive rainfalls coupled with the lack of plant protection, the alternation of wet and dry periods, the fragility of the geological formations and human actions, cause huge amounts of sediments to be transported by rivers to the sea, in ports and harbours where the progressive siltation can stop ship transits (thus producing an economic damage).
Environmental pollution is the other big problem when dealing with urbanized areas. Morocco, as contracting party to the regional conventions, is committed to identify the major sources of pollutants from the mainland (resulting from urban and industrial activities) to the sea, and to design and carry out suitable monitoring plans to keep under control the coastal areas where ports are located: as much attention as possible must be paid to avoid environmental damage, thus obtaining that the exploitation of resources and the creation of wealth is associated to the safeguard of environmental quality.
The present research will focus on the study of sediment dynamics and pollution in the port of Larache, with the purpose to evaluate the degree of siltation and sediment contamination. An Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) will be used to operate on the water surface and to perform geophysical and geochemical surveys for the periodical monitoring of physical-chemical parameters (e.g. bathymetry, solid transport, water pollution). We developed an innovative Subbottom Profiling system and the data collected are processed and interpreted using the open-source package SeisPrho (Gasperini and Stanghellini, 2009).
The study of appropriately collected cores (i.e. with an undisturbed sediment-water interface) will allow the definition of pollutant levels in sediments and the reconstruction of contaminant chronologies and trends in the area (Bellucci et al., 2007; Giuliani et al., 2011). These actions will be the starting point for the definition of appropriate prevention, intervention or reclamation strategies.
The results of this research will provide the basic information to implement a mass balance model which will link the behaviour of pollutants (inputs, outputs, speciation, transport, bioaccumulation, biomagnification, toxicity) to the principal environmental characteristics (Sommerfreund et al., 2010). This could be the object of a future project.
 

 
 
References
Bellucci L.G., El Moumni B., Collavini F., Frignani M., Albertazzi S., 2003. Heavy metals in Morocco Lagoon and river sediments. Journal de Physique IV, 107, 139-142.
Bellucci L.G., Frignani M., Cochran J.K., Albertazzi S., Collavini F., Cecconi R., Hopkins H., 2007. 210Pb and 137Cs as chronometers for salt marsh accretion in the Venice Lagoon-Links to flooding frequency and climate change. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 97(2-3), 85-102.
Gasperini L., Stanghellini G., 2009. SEISPRHO: An interactive computer program for processing and interpretation of high-resolution seismic reflection profiles. Computers & Geosciences, 35(7), 1497-1507.
Giuliani S., Romano S., Turetta C., Cu N.H., Bellucci L.G., Capodaglio G., Mugnai C., Nhonc D.H. and Frignani M, 2011. Soils and sediments of the Thua Thien-Hue Province (central Vietnam): recognizing trace element sources and the likely influence of natural events. Journal of Environmental Monitoring, 13, 1383-1392.
Piazza R., El Moumni B., Bellucci L.G., Frignani M., Vecchiato M., Giuliani S., Romano S., Zangrando R., Gambaro A., 2009. Polychlorinated biphenyls in sediments of selected coastal environments in northern Morocco. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 58(3), 431-438.
Sommerfreund J., Gandhi N., Diamond M., Mugnai C., Frignani M., Capodaglio G., Gerino M., Bellucci, L.G., Giuliani S., 2010. Contaminant fate and transport in the Venice Lagoon: results from a multi-segment multimedia model. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 73: 222-230.
 

Research goals

The purpose of the project is the evaluation of the siltation degree and of the contamination level in sediments of the Larache port.
This project can be intended as a case study, and can be easily adapted to other ports and artificial basins (dams) in Morocco. Indeed, the proposed USV, named SWAP (Shallow-WAter Prospector), is a highly flexible instrument, manoeuvrable under various monitoring conditions or prescriptions, and thus used for general purposes as well. It can be equipped with geophysical sensors such as vertical and lateral echo sounders, magnetometers, sub-bottom profilers, together with chemical-physical sensors and current meters for a comprehensive characterization of the water column.
The analyses of contaminants, such as trace elements, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), heavy hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), together with radiotracers (210Pb and 137Cs), in sediment cores will provide the necessary information on pollutant levels and distribution caused by human activities in the port.
The most important expected results are:
1)   The estimation of the infilling degree in the port of Larache and the identification of those areas most subject to siltation. This result will provide sound scientific knowledge to improve the effectiveness of draining activities in the port;
2)   The evaluation of contamination levels and trends in sediments of the port. This result will help decision makers when dealing with issues relative to environmental risk and human health, including the disposal of dredged contaminated sediments.

Last update: 07/10/2024