Spatial Variability of Heavy Metals in Surface Water and Sediment in the Kolo Creek Water Body in the Niger Delta of Nigeria and Geochemical Factors that Influence their Interactions Using Geo-accumulation Index

Abstract

The Kolo Creek is an inland water body in the Niger Delta receiving organic and chemical wastes arising from anthropogenic activities within the catchment area. This study was therefore carried out to investigate the spatial variabilities of heavy metals in surface and sediment and their geochemical factors that influence their presence along the Kolo Creek in 2018 using Geo-accumulation index and pollution load index to extrapolate the level of heavy metal contraction in the two medium. Sediment and Water samples were collected for five (5) months and assessed from eight sampling points (A-h) for seven (7) heavy metals such as  Copper (Cu), Lead (Pb), Iron(Fe), Camium (Cd), Manganese (Mn), Nickel (Ni) and Mercury (Hg). All the heavy metals had geo-accumulation indices below zero which indicates no pollution except Fe which had geo-accumulation index in the range 3.327 in surface water and 7.751 in sediment, furthermore, the pollution load index revealed a toxicity of 0.664 times in surface water as against 1.501 times in sediment exceeding the background concentration in the Kolo Creek. Hence, poor ecological ethics and culture should be discouraged to keep the Kolo Creek water under check for safe domestic water use.