SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL ASSESSMENT OF METAL(LOID) CONTAMINATION IN ASARTEPE DAM LAKE (ANKARA, TURKEY) USING POLLUTION INDICES AND MULTIVARIATE STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

This study has investigated metal(loid) contamination in Asartepe Dam Lake, which is used for irrigation in Ankara, Turkey. Contamination Factor and Degree of Contamination were applied to evaluate contamination in the lake sediment. The contamination was shown to be moderate according to a modified Degree of Contamination analysis. Chromium was found to be the highest calculated metal on the Geoaccumulation Index, and the lake was found to be moderate-to-strongly contaminated according to the same method. The Pollution Load Index for the lake sediment varied between 3.11 and 3.5. Enrichment Factors suggest a minor anthropogenic origin for metal(loid) pollution; various statistical techniques were implemented. The greatest correlation among water-borne metal(loid)s was shown by analysis to be between iron and titanium. No strong correlation was observed for sediment samples. The results show that the lake water is relatively free of metal(loid)s. However, this is not the case for the lake sediment.