www.ijraset.com Volume 3 Issue IV, April 2015 IC Value: 13.98 ISSN: 2321-9653 International Journal for Research in Applied Science & Engineering Technology (IJRASET) © IJRASET 2015: All Rights are Reserved 805 Spatial assessment of Heavy Metal Contamination in the Sediments of Kodaikanal Lake, Tamil Nadu, India P. Balamurugan 1, *S. Vasudevan 1 , R. K. Singhal 2 , T. Ramkumar 1 , R. Selvaganapathi 1 , C. V. Nishikanth 1 1 Department of Earth Sciences, Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu, India 608002 2 Analytical Chemistry Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India 4000085 Abstract: Lake sediments, as basic components of our environment; provide food stuff for living organisms. They also serve as a sink and reservoir for a variety of environmental contaminants. Namely when released into aquatic environment, many anthropogenic chemicals bind (or) adsorb on to particulate matter. Study on the geochemistry of lake sediments in the present area has not been undertaken by previous worker so far. In this article potential environmental risks associated with in the Kodaikanal Lake by quantifying the pollution in sediments. Concentrations of heavy metals in the lake sediments reached with the average values of 105228 mg/kg for Fe, 1402 mg/kg for Co, 451 mg/kg for Cr, 348 mg/kg for 115 mg/kg for Ni, 112 mg/kg for Zn, 67 mg/kg for Cd, 54 mg/kg for Cu and 44 mg/kg for Pb. The enrichment factor (Ef), geoaccumulation index (Igeo) and Contamination factor (Cf) for these metals were indicative of no to extremely sever enrichment, heavily to extremely high contaminationand low contamination to Considerable contamination, respectively. Contamination degree and pollution load index of the samples indicates that they were very high contamination degree with polluted nature. Anthropogenic activities inthe proximity of the Kodaikanal town exhibited high Igeo and EF values. Results of integrated indices of Co, Cr, Mn, Ni, Zn, Cd, Cu and Pb in lake sediments indicated that the sediment qualities are contaminated as a whole and warranted an instantaneous remediation action for the Kodaikanal Lake. Keyword: Heavy metal, Enrichment factor, Geochemical index, Contamination, Pollution, Lake Sediment. I. INTRODUCTION It is progressively more comprehended that the planet earth is facing critical environmental problems with rapid exhaust of natural resources and threatening the survival of most of the ecosystems.Attraction of people towards high altitude lakes explode the increase in population which lead to worldwide concern on environmental and health impacts of contaminated waste and effluent discharge (Vernet, 1991). A legacy of unsustainable development is clearly chronicled in sediments worldwide as the impact of anthropogenic activities has led to a substantial increase in riverine, lacustrine, estuarine and marine sediment metal concentrations. It has been recognized that aquatic sediments absorb persistent and toxic chemicals to levels many times higher than the water column concentration (Caspers et al 2004; Vermeulen and Wepener1999; Linnik and Zubenko, 2000). Namely, when released into the aquatic environment, many anthropogenic chemicals bind or adsorb onto particulate matter. Pollution from heavy metals is regarded as one of the major universal concerns in the natural environment due to its features of being indestructible and the toxic effects on living organisms when exceeding the permissible concentration limits (Mmolawa, et al., 2011). Moreover, heavy metals are stable and persistentenvironmental contaminants in the coastal watersand sediment regardless of whether they are introduced by lithogenic sources, anthropogenic sources or both (Fernandes and Nayak, 2012). Someof the metals, such as cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn) are regardedas the most serious pollutants in the aquatic ecosystem due to their environmental persistence, toxicity and abilityto be incorporated into the food chain (Ololade et al., 2008).The sedimentbound metals might be released into the water body againthrough various processes of remobilization under variableconditions (Yu et al.,2008).Enrichment factor, Igeo accumulation and contamination factor coupled with its degree of contamination and pollution load index are known to make a distinctionbetween the sediment being enriched by anthropogenicor natural input.Therefore,these indexes enable us to gain an integrated picture of themetal contamination in the Kodaikanal lake sediment, thus, determiningeither the sediment presence as natural phenomena, anthropogenicactivities or a combination of both.Thepurpose of this study is to determine the concentration of metals (Co, Cr, Mn, Ni, Zn, Cd, Cu and Pb) in the Kodaikanal lake sediment, besides it estimates the degree of heavy metal input into the system.