Relationship Between Sediment Characteristics and Contaminant Concentrations on Oʻahu and Kauaʻi
Date
2022
Authors
Contributor
Advisor
Department
Instructor
Depositor
Speaker
Researcher
Consultant
Interviewer
Narrator
Transcriber
Annotator
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Volume
Number/Issue
Starting Page
Ending Page
Alternative Title
Abstract
Land-based pollution in coastal ecosystems occurs when harmful substances
originating from activities occurring on the land are transported, along with water and
sediments, through watersheds into the nearshore environment. Heavy metals are found
in the coastal ecosystem of Hawaiʻi, often associated with land-based sediment. Sediment
characteristics can provide insight to better understand metal contamination, because
sediments can retain pollutants from the surrounding water via processes such as
hydrolysis and absorption. Percent organic matter (POM) and grain size analysis are two
fundamental sediment characteristics. This study analyzes these two sediment
characteristics in samples taken from 22 locations throughout Oʻahu and Kauaʻi in
Hawaiʻi, and it examines their relationship with metal concentrations. The highest POM
was found at Kāneʻohe Bay (5.65%), which was also the site with the greatest fraction of
sediment in the smallest grain size class (5.76% in <53 um) and in the largest size class
(47.16% in >4000 μm). In contrast, Haleʻiwa Harbor had the lowest POM (2.75%). One-
way ANOVA and linear regression were used to analyze the relationships between POM,
grain size distribution, and metal concentrations. Significant relationships were found
between the variables for some locations. In addition to the sediment characteristics, the
results also revealed that sediment type and contaminant concentrations can have
significant relationships with geography, land-use, and the presence of harbors. This
study demonstrated the importance of sediment characteristics in future toxicology
research that aim to understand the presence, behaviors, origins, and effects of pollutants
in coastal ecosystems.
Description
Keywords
pollution, coastal ecosystem, sediments, contamination
Citation
Extent
42 pages
Format
Geographic Location
Time Period
Related To
Related To (URI)
Table of Contents
Rights
All UHM dissertations and theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission from the copyright owner.
Rights Holder
Katayama, Honoka
Local Contexts
Collections
Email libraryada-l@lists.hawaii.edu if you need this content in ADA-compliant format.