Distribution and origin of major, minor, and trace elements in sediments and sedimentary rocks of the Kaštela Bay (Croatia) coastal area I. Lovrenčić Mikelić a, ⁎, V. Oreščanin b , D. Barišić a a Laboratory for Radioecology, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička cesta 54, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia b Advanced Energy Ltd., V. Prekrata 43, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia abstract article info Article history: Received 7 May 2012 Accepted 7 January 2013 Available online 17 January 2013 Keywords: Kaštela Bay Trace elements Soil Stream sediment Marl Limestone Mass fractions of Al, K, Ca, Fe, Ti, Mn, V, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Rb, Sr, Y, Pb, and As were determined in the Cretaceous limestones, foraminiferal limestones, calcarenites, marls, stream sediments, and soils of the Kaštela Bay coastal area. Relationships between 18 studied elements and between the researched sediments and sedimentary rocks were established. The highest mass fractions of Ca and Sr were found in the limestones and calcarenites, while the highest contents of other elements were determined in marls, stream sediments, and soils. Possible inﬂuence of the heavy mineral assemblage originating from basic and ultrabasic rocks of the Dinaric area was reﬂected in elevated Ni, Cr, and Zn contents in limestones and elevated Ni and Zn contents in marls. Naturally higher mass fractions of Ti, Mn, V, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb, and As were found in the terra rossa soils. Three groups of elements were distinguished: (1) carbonates bound elements; (2) elements reﬂecting possible anthropogenic inﬂuence or the speciﬁc mineralogical assemblages; and (3) alumosilicates bound elements. It was suggested that Sr was only partly bound to CaCO 3 and that Cu, Zn, and Pb were not primarily bound to any of the considered group of minerals. Three populations were differentiated according to their elemental composition and type of the sample: (1) samples with naturally higher mass fractions of Ca and Sr and lower mass fractions of other elements; (2) samples with naturally lower Ca and Sr mass fractions and higher mass fractions of other elements; and (3) samples with elevated mass fractions of Cu, Zn, and/or Pb, reﬂecting possible anthropogenic inﬂuence. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Kaštela Bay coastal area comprises the Split city and Solin, Kaštela, and Trogir towns which, during the time, merged into a single urban agglomeration, the largest on the Croatian coast. Since the 1950s this area was intensively industrialized and urbanized and the number of inhabitants multiplied very quickly, which resulted in a very high population density of the area. This can be illustrated with the data from 2001 when 257,000 inhabitants lived in this area (Margeta, 2002). It was 5.8% of the total number of the Croatian population while the Kaštela Bay coastal area represented less than 2% of the territory of Croatia. Industrial as well as agricultural activities are inten- sive in this area. The industry is concentrated in the north-eastern part between the Solin and Kaštela towns and on the north-eastern coast of the Split peninsula. The main industrial facilities are former chemical factory “Adriavinil” (also called “Jugovinil” and “Inavinil”), cement- works, ironworks, shipyard, and electroplating facility. Agriculture is developed in the west part of the Bay area where the high capacity greenhouses were built. The airport is also situated in the west part of the Bay. As a consequence of the numerous human activities through decades and inadequate environmental protection, the Kaštela Bay became severely polluted (Margeta, 2002). Simultaneously with the industrialization and urbanization of the area and the environment degradation, research interest for the area increased and various research studies concerning the Bay sediment, water or marine organisms were conducted (Barić et al., 1992; Bogner, 1996; Bogner et al., 1997, 1998a, 1998b; Kljaković-Gašpić et al., 2006; Kwokal and Branica, 2000; Kwokal et al., 2002; Marasović et al., 2005; Mikac et al., 2006; Milun et al., 2004, 2006; Odžak et al., 2000, 2001; Orescanin et al., 2005; Tudor, 1993; Tudor et al., 1991; Ujević et al., 1998, 2000). However, although the Bay itself was very intensively researched, there were not many studies of the coastal area and the existing data are limited to only few most common metals (Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Pb) of potentially anthropogenic origin in limestones and marl (Bogner, 1996; Bogner et al., 1998b). As well as coastal marine sediments, coastal terrestrial sediments also reﬂect the condition of the environment including anthropogenic inﬂuence and the inﬂuence of the lithological members. Sediments and sedimentary rocks of the coastal area are expected to represent an important source material for sedimentation in the Kaštela Bay. Therefore, composition Journal of Geochemical Exploration 128 (2013) 1–13 ⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +385 1 4571221; fax: +385 1 4680205. E-mail addresses: ivanka.lovrencic@irb.hr (I. Lovrenčić Mikelić), vorescan@gmail.com (V. Oreščanin), dbarisic@irb.hr (D. Barišić). 0375-6742/$ – see front matter © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gexplo.2013.01.003 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Journal of Geochemical Exploration journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jgeoexp