Distribution of Trace Metals in Channel Sediment: a Case Study in South Atlantic Coast of Spain Md. Khurshid Alam Bhuiyan & Sabrina Qureshi & Md. Masum Billah & Suresh Varma Kammella & Md. Rushna Alam & Sunuram Ray & Md. Mostafa Monwar & Abu Hena M. K. Received: 11 September 2017 /Accepted: 29 November 2017 # Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2017 Abstract Recently, Sancti Petri channel on the south- western (SW) part of Iberian Peninsula has been experiencing urban, industrial, and vehicular expansion. Until recently, there have been only few published re- ports documenting the pattern of metal accumulation in this estuarine sediment. In the present study, trace metals such as Cu, Zn, Ni, Mn, Pb, Co, Cd, As, and Hg concentrations were analyzed from 69 sediment samples collected from 23 sampling sites of the Santi Petri chan- nel. The magnitude of trace metal accumulation found as the following trend: Mn > Zn > Cu > Pb > Ni > Co > As > Cd > Hg. Spatial distribution pattern demonstrated overall decreasing trend of trace metal from Cadiz Bay mouth to the open ocean mouth, clearly correlative to the presence of anthropogenic inputs. Results of the principle component analysis (PCA) revealed that sed- iment metal chemistry of Sancti Petri channel is mainly regulated by the concentrations of Pb, Cu, Zn, and Ni; possible sources of those were from vehicular-related emissions. Pollution load index (PLI) and geo- accumulation index (I geo ) indicated overall low values. The study will stimulate improvement of our under- standing regarding the pattern of accumulation of metals in the coastal sediments, and the recorded values of metals in the present study can be used as suitable reference for future studies. Keywords Trace metals . Pollution load . Geo accumulation . Sediment chemistry . Sancti Petri channel . Iberian Peninsula 1 Introduction Due to proximity to urban development, estuaries and coastal areas are often exposed to substantial contami- nant input (MacFarlane et al. 2007; Xu et al. 2016b; Chakraborty 2017). Trace metals are one of the major Water Air Soil Pollut (2018) 229:14 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-017-3653-5 M. K. A. Bhuiyan (*) : S. V. Kammella : M. R. Alam : S. Ray Department of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Marine and Environmental Sciences, University of Cádiz, Puerto Real Campus, Puerto Real, Spain e-mail: mohammed.bhuiyan@alum.uca.es S. Qureshi Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Basic Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Science and Technology Chittagong, Chittagong, Bangladesh M. M. Billah (*) The United Graduate School of Agriculture Sciences, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima, Japan e-mail: masum_imsf07@yahoo.com e-mail: k4302867@kadai.jp M. M. Monwar Institute of Marine Sciences and Fisheries, University of Chittagong, Chittagong, Bangladesh M. M. Monwar Department of Design and Planning in Complex Environments, Università Iuav di Venezia, Venice, Italy A. H. M. K. Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences, Department of Animal Science and Fishery, Universiti Putra Malaysia Campus Bintulu, Bintulu, Malaysia