Ibrahima M’Bemba Diallo (Guinea)

Email: ibrahimacentral @yahoo.fr

Thesis title:  Assessment of metal concentration and their geochemical baselines in the marine sediments of the Atlantic Ocean coast, Guinea.

Supervisor:  Prof. Hiroaki Ishiga (2011).

Coastal and estuarine regions are important sinks for many persistant pollutants, which can accumulate in organisms and in bottom sediments( Kaliszan, 1995). Over the last few decades, the study of surface sediments has proved to be an excellent tool for evaluating the effect of anthropogenic and natural processes on despositional environments.

Home to almost two million people (27.32% of the total population), the western coast of Guinea stretches 300km along the Atlantic Ocean (Fig. 1). The coastal area is characterized by a high degree of urbanization and the presence of industrial sites. Urban and industrial wastes are potential threats to both human health and the west coast marine eco-system. To date, research on the marine sediments along the western coast of Guinea has been lacking, or very limited. At present, there is no database available for pollution of marine sediments along the Guinea west coast.

Geochemical baselines are required to document the current state of the Earth’s surface environment, and to provide a database for monitoring environmental changes (Darnley, 1997).

Consequently, the aim of my research is to characterize the marine sediments along the western coast of Guinea from a geochemical viewpoint. The specific aims are :

1. To determine metal concentrations and establish their geochemical baselines;
2. To identify the various pollutants in the marine sediments;
3. To locate the sources of pollution.

The results of this study will help policy-makers establish baseline data for future monitoring of environmental changes.