IOSR Journal of Applied Geology and Geophysics (IOSR-JAGG) e-ISSN: 2321–0990, p-ISSN: 2321–0982.Volume 7, Issue 6 Ser. I (Nov. – Dec. 2019), PP 32-42 www.iosrjournals.org DOI: 10.9790/0990-0706013242 www.iosrjournals.org 32 | Page Nature and geochemistry of surface marine sediments of Abu-Soma Bay along the Egyptian Red Sea Coast Hashem A. Madkour 1 , Mohamed R. Osman 2* , Abbas M. Mansour 2 , Atef El- Taher 3 , Kwasi Adu Obirikorang 4 and Hussein N.M. Hussein 5 1 Geology Department, National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Red Sea Branch, 84511 Hurghada, Egypt 2* Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Qena, South Valley University, 83523 Qena, Egypt 3 Physics Department, Faculty of Science, AL- Azhr University, Assuit Branch, Egypt 4 Biology Department, Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana 5 Hydrobiology Department, National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Red Sea Branch, 84511 Hurghada, Egypt __________________________________________________________________________________ Abstract: Now several hotels and tourist villages are being built around the bay. These tourism projects including what is virtually working and others still under construction of Abu-Soma Bay. Granulometric and geochemical analyses have been carried out on 30 surface marine sediment samples collected from Abu-Soma area along the Egyptian Red Sea coast. The textural characteristics of marine sediments show that the mean size decreases in sediments of coastal areas while increase in offshore sediments and the sediment type generally changes from sand to slightly gravelly muddy sand. But, generally, sand fraction is prevalent among the other constituents. The sediments are composed mainly of poorly sorted, negatively nearly symmetrical and leptokurtic fine sands. Cluster analysis showed that, distribution of gravel, sand and mud fractions is related to bottom facies and type of sediment source and depth more than distance of the beach. Geochemically, the factor controlling the carbonate content of studied sediments includes material supply of biogenic and terrigenous components. However, the carbonate content of marine sediments ranges from 14.21% to 97.91% with average 71.21%. In general organic matter is higher in these sediments relative to adjacent areas. Organic matter recorded high values in some samples with increasing depth. The high organic matter in the present surface marine sediments is primarily due to the high supply from primary productivity, terrestrial and reworked sediments. Texture is the main controlling factor for the organic matter enrichment. Spatial variations in earth element contents in the study area are related to the sources of marine sediments to the area. The investigation of distribution of the earth element contents in surficial sediments of the study area indicated that the degree of elements pollution is caused by natural inputs of adjacent wadies and/or by anthropogenic activities. This study provides knowledge about nature and geochemistry of sediments and the extent to which the region is affected by external influences of human activities and/or natural inputs by wadis. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date of Submission: 04-11-2019 Date of Acceptance: 20-11-2019 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Introduction Soma Bay and its surrounding regions are a major recreational area sea bird and marine-mammal rookery and important commercial fishing ground. Now several hotels and tourist villages are being built around the bay. These tourism projects including what is virtually working and others still under construction of Soma Bay (Figures 1 & 2). Geochemical studies of marine sediments have been extended in the last few decades due to the growing awareness of environmental pollutions and their impacts on the marine, tidal flat and coastal habitats. The bed sediments are not only a sink for trace metals, but also a source of re-suspended sediment; and under changing environmental conditions, sediment bound pollutants may be chemically remobilized and enter the water column or food chain 1 . Despite of several studies were carried out on the surface marine sediments along the Egyptian Red Sea coast. However, only some of these studies have focused on the effects of the human activities due to tourism development on the Egyptian Red Sea environments or habitats (such as: 2-14 ). The objective of this study is to examine the nature and geochemical signature and spatial distribution patterns of bed sediments at Abu-Soma Bay, achieving to determine the changes of sediment nature by environmental impacts, resulted from the tourism development activities during the past twenty years at this