Authors : G. Adiana, B. Joseph, N.A.M. Shazili, M. Mohamad and H. Juahir
Abstract: A research expedition was carried out off the Borneo Island coastal in order to define the current level and behavior of metals in the water column of Sulu and Celebes Seas. Water samples were collected at 37 stations off Sabah and Sarawak coasts. Samples were then pre-concentrated using Chelex-100 resin, preserved on-board ship prior transportation to the laboratory and finally, analyzed using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). Overall, the vertical profiling of metals showed no distinctive patterns. In the meantime, the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) showed a group of bioactive metals and abundance metals in the upper continental crust. Additionally, PCA showed the decrease in of temperature and salinity led to increase of Dissolved Oxygen (DO) in depth. Besides that, the elements partitioning exhibits that Chromium (Cr), Nickel (Ni), iron (Fe) and lead (Pb) has the strongest adsorption onto Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM) whereas Cadmium (Cd), Zinc (Zn) and Aluminium (Al) showed the weakest bond with SPM. In brief, data collected throughout the present research has evidence the influenced of land-based contaminants into the water column as well as the physico-chemical characteristics of Sulu and Celebes Seas off Malaysian waters.
G. Adiana, B. Joseph, N.A.M. Shazili, M. Mohamad and H. Juahir, 2018. Spectrometry and Chemometrics Interpretation of Metals in the Sulu and Celebes Seas of Malaysian Waters During PMSE 09’ Expedition. Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 13: 1745-1756.