Geochemical associations in the marine sediments off Ras Al-Kheimah, United Arab Emirates

The present paper aims at quantifying and scrutinizing the metals concentrations and associ - tions in the marine sediments off Ras Al-Kheimah, UAE. Carbonate minerals represent about 78.8% from the bulk minerals. Quartz is the most abundant silicate mineral. The association of different metals with the minerals indicates that two groups of metals can be recognized. Group 1 mainly retains metals allied with carbonate minerals. On the other hand group 2 as opposed to group 1 chiefly includes metals coupled with silicate minerals. Ca, Mg, Na and Li are integrated into group 1. The minerals controlled this group is aragonite, calcite, High Mg-calcite, and dolomite. Chromites weakly affects this group. On the other hand, Ni, K, Mn, Fe and Cu are contained into group 2. They are influenced mainly by quartz and to less extend with plagioclase feldspars. It is concluded that the geochemical association of different metals is mainly depending on the mineralogical composition. The variation between different stations is mainly due the coastal currents, which redistributed sediments from different sources.