Trace elements in the Prestige fuel-oil spill: Levels and influence on Laxe Ria sediments (NW Iberian Peninsula)

Abstract

Trace elements have been determined in sediments from the Laxe Ria (NW Iberian Peninsula) one year before and one year after the Prestige fuel-oil spill (November 2002; 42 degree 11' N, 12 degree 02' W). The elements analyzed (Cd, Cu, Mo, Ni, Se and V) were chosen because they appeared to represent a potential contaminant from the deposited oil in the sediments. Enrichment factors, based on Al-normalized background concentrations, did not indicate metal contamination in the sediments from most of the ria; however, a severe contamination by Cu, Mo, Ni and V was found in the area of Corme Inlet, where the fuel oil could have accumulated as a result of the ria's hydrodynamic pattern.