189 Carpathian Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences, May 2015, Vol. 10, No. 2, p. 189 - 198 EVALUATION OF THE PHYSICOCHEMICAL AND SOME TRACE ELEMENTS OF THE SURFACE WATERS OF THE MOROCCAN ATLANTIC ESTUARY: CASE OF THE ESTUARY OF THE RIVER BOUREGREG Mohammed EL AMRAOUI 1,4,5* , Youssef SALAMA 2 , Belkassem EL AMRAOUI 1,3 , Nicol LAZRAK 4 & Mohammed MOUNKAD 5 1 Quality Control in Bio-industry and Bioactive Molecules Laboratory, Faculty of Science, University Chouaib Doukkali, BP 20, 24000 El Jadida, Morocco. ∗ Auteur correspondant; elamraoui.mohammed@yahoo.fr (M. El Amraoui) 2 Laboratory of Marine Biotechnology and Environment (BIOMARE), Faculty of Science, University Chouaib Doukkali, BP 20, 24000 El Jadida, Morocco. 3 Department of Biology, Faculty polydisciplinary Taroudant, University Ibn Zuhr, BP 271, 83000 Taroudant, Morocco 4 Laboratory Maghreb, 5 street Hussein 1, BP 2863, Rabat, Morocco. 5 Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University Chouaib Doukkali, BP 20, 24000 El Jadida, Morocco. Abstract: Concentrations of heavy metals in water and sediment samples of Bouregreg River in the capital city Rabat, Morocco, were studied to understand the level of heavy metals and their source apportionment. The results showed that the mean concentrations of heavy metals both in water and sediment samples were very high and, in most cases, exceeded the permissible limits recommended by the Morocco government and other international organizations. Significantly higher concentrations of Pb, Cr, Cd and Hg were found in sediment samples. However, above the maximum values registered for heavy metals Cr, Cd, Hg and Pb are respectively 32.12; 0.34; 14.12 and 12.21 mg / L. Moreover, downstream are respectively 82.14; 0.15; 16.91 and 18.17 mg/L. The results illustrated that the environment has been polluted by industrial and urban activities. Keywords: Bouregreg River, Trace element, Physicochemical parameters, Atlantic estuary, Morocco. 1. INTRODUCTION Estuaries are a unique class of coastal forms. They correspond to the terminal portions of river ecosystems. The encounter between salt water and freshwater ensue particular hydrological dynamics and specific sedimentary mechanisms. Estuaries appear as places of exchange of energy and matter very important among the marine area and the continental area. This crossroads that estuaries are privileged spaces for human activities. They are also very favorable for crop and livestock because they are places of contact, protected, but dynamic, in which the nutrients are abundant life. Many fish and birds breed (Pirazzoli, 1993). In Moroccan estuaries, several authors have shown contamination (Cheggour et al., 2005; Zerki et al., 2011; Bounakhla et al., 2011) which are due to domestic and industrial businesses along the Moroccan coast. Indeed, the physicochemical characteristics of sediments such as pH, temperature and conductivity, are among the main factors that govern the exchange of heavy metals in the sediment-water interface (Förstner & Salomons, 1980). In addition, these characteristics are among the factors that govern the exchange of phosphorus and nitrogen ions in water - sediment interface (He et al., 2005). Today and worldwide, there has been an intensification of industrial and agricultural as well as a rapid increase in population and the growth of living things. These activities brought in hydro (estuaries, groundwater, rivers, lakes, lagoons, oceans) pollutants that adversely impact on the environment and consequently on human health. Indeed, some chemicals can cause the disappearance of certain animal and / or plant species and therefore, cause dysfunction of the food chain (Gold, 2002). Among