EGU26-20025, updated on 14 Mar 2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-20025
EGU General Assembly 2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Oral | Wednesday, 06 May, 08:35–08:45 (CEST)
 
Room 1.34
 Biogeochemistry and Distribution of Bioactive Particulate Trace Metals in a warm and hypersaline environment: The Central Arabian/Persian Gulf 
Oguz Yigiterhan1, Jassem Al-Thani1,2, Ersin Tutsak1, Danah Ibrahim Jaser Alagha1, Ibrahim Abdullatif Al-Maslamani1, Ebrahim M.A.S. Al-Ansari1, and Yousra Soliman1
Oguz Yigiterhan et al.
  • 1Qatar University, Environmental Science Center, Physical and Chemical Oceanography, Doha, Qatar (oguz@qu.edu.qa)
  • 2University of Washington, School of Oceanography, Seattle, WA, United States

The Arabian/Persian Gulf is an extreme marine environment with pronounced and significant changes in temperature, nutrients and oxygen concentrations, and hydrodynamics. It can be used as a model system for studying marine biogeochemistry under changing and extreme environmental conditions. In this study, we studied the distributions and biogeochemical controls of particulate trace metals (pTM) in size-fractionated surface plankton (120 and 50 mm) and suspended particulate matter (SPM) in a transect across the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Qatar, in the Central Arabian/Persian Gulf. Samples were collected in two seasons, summer and winter, and analyzed using ICP-MS, along with data collected for chlorophyll, oxygen and hydrography to investigate the factors and controls on pTM. Six bioactive trace metals (Fe, Mn, Co, Cu, Zn and Ni) and two major elements (Al and P) were measured. Our results show that Fe and Zn are enriched in plankton and SPM, which we attribute to enhanced and recurring aerosol depositions through dust events. Metal-to-aluminum (Me/Al) ratios showed that dust and lithogenic influences have a strong effect on the distribution of pTMs, especially at surface waters during the summer. Meanwhile, Mn, Ni, Cu and Co showed that hydrographic parameters, with density in particular, showed significant controls on these metals. Oxygen was shown to have negative correlation with specific metals in SPM including Fe, Mn and Co, which explains their depletion at deeper waters and near sediments, and is explained by their redox sensitivity. Plankton samples showed that biogenic fractions, shown from Me/P ratios, also display strong controls/effects on the distribution of pTMs in surface waters. The results of this study show that the distributions and biogeochemical as well as environmental controls/influences on particulate metals in an extreme environment in the Arabian Gulf.

How to cite: Yigiterhan, O., Al-Thani, J., Tutsak, E., Alagha, D. I. J., Al-Maslamani, I. A., Al-Ansari, E. M. A. S., and Soliman, Y.:  Biogeochemistry and Distribution of Bioactive Particulate Trace Metals in a warm and hypersaline environment: The Central Arabian/Persian Gulf , EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-20025, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-20025, 2026.