Trace Elements Contamination in Coral Reef Skeleton, Gulf of Mannar, India S. Krishna Kumar • N. Chandrasekar • P. Seralathan Received: 17 June 2009 / Accepted: 6 November 2009 / Published online: 27 November 2009 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009 Abstract Coral samples were collected from Kurusadi, Shingle and Appa islands of Gulf of Mannar for analyzing the trace elements. The mean concentrations in the coral reef skeleton ranges from 0.19 to 0.62 lgg -1 for Fe, from 6.71 to 15.6 lgg -1 for As, from 0.28 to 1.31 lgg -1 for Cd, from 0.56 to 5.29 lgg -1 for Co, from 7.25 to 22.34 lgg -1 for Cr, from 0.63 to 5.08 lgg -1 for Cu, from 98.38 to 138 lgg -1 for Mn, from 0.18 to 2.53 lgg -1 for Ni, from 0.18 to 4.56 lgg -1 for Pb and from 44 to 135.25 lgg -1 for Zn. The factor analysis revealed the source of trace elements accumulation in the coral skeleton particularly Mn from detrital inputs and Cd from anthropogenic sources. This paper also highlights the nature of trace elements available in coral skeleton. Keywords Trace elements  Coral reef skeleton  Contamination  Gulf of Mannar Coral reefs are quite common in the tropical seas and oceans. They have been designated as the marine equiva- lent of the tropical rain forest. The precipitation of calcium carbonate by calcareous organisms in warm shallow water leads to the formation of coral reefs, which is one of the highly productive ecosystems in the world. Coral reefs play an important role in oceanic CO 2 budget in controlling the green house effect. Corals absorb trace elements into their skeletons from the surrounding water in which they grow. Also, the lattice bound trace metals in coral skeletal structure reflect their concentrations in surface water where the corals grew (Inoue et al. 2004). Therefore, the trace element levels in coral skeletons may function as good proxies for marine pollution. Mostly corals grow in a pristine environment, but are affected by near shore developmental activities such as coastal mining, harbor dredging, discharge of industrial and domestic effluents into the ocean, urbanization and over population (Anu Gopinath et al. 2009). Moreover, the biologically available Pb, Cu and Zn are spread over due to resuspension of sediments during dredging in the harbor channel and riv- erine inputs (Reichelt and Jones 1994). Therefore, the metal concentration in coral skeletal phase can be used to monitor the environmental metal loads at polluted sites (Esslemont 2000). The incorporation of heavy metals into the coral skeleton by calcium substitution of metals or through the association with particulate organic matter within skeletal pores is widely studied (Howard and Brown 1984). The Gulf of Mannar coastal region is bestowed with 21 coral islands developed between Rameswaram and Tuti- corin (Lat 8° 55 0 –9° 15 0 N and Long 78° 0 0 –79° 16 0 E). The area has been categorized as Marine Biosphere Reserve by the Government of India. The study area is also endowed with rich marine bioresources such as oysters, coral reefs, fishes etc. In the north eastern monsoonal period (October– December), the coastal region of the Gulf of Mannar receives copious rain and maximum sediment transport to the sea by the rivers such as Thamirabarani, Vaippar, S. Krishna Kumar (&)  N. Chandrasekar Centre for GeoTechnology, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu 627 012, India e-mail: coralkrishna@yahoo.co.in N. Chandrasekar e-mail: profncsekar@gmail.com P. Seralathan Department of Marine Geology and Geophysics, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Cochin, Kerala 682 016, India e-mail: pseran@yahoo.com 123 Bull Environ Contam Toxicol (2010) 84:141–146 DOI 10.1007/s00128-009-9905-3