Heavy metals in top core sediments from the southern Campania shelf (Italy): Hints to define large-scale geochemical backgrounds

The results of a geochemical survey carried out on the southern Campania shelf (southern Italy) are illustrated, offering a tempting opportunity to discuss the statement and definition of regional geochemical backgrounds for selected heavy metals. A total of 104 top core sediments, collected on average 1.5 km from one another and covering a shelf area of about 1300 km², were analysed for grain size, organic carbon content (OC), and heavy-metal (As, Al, Fe, Cd, V, Cr, Zn, Cu, Ni, Hg, and Pb) concentrations. The characteristics of the area, scarcely influenced by industrial activities, and the extensive data set, make this study suitable for an appropriate multivariate and spatial geostatistical methodologies used for i) a reliable definition of large-scale marine sediments' geochemical backgrounds and ii) an accurate discrimination of different geological controls on trace-element distribution patterns. Enrichment factors estimated with respect to both the average shale composition and the weighted average metal concentrations measured in inland soils rule out significant anthropogenic inputs. A spatial-geostatistics approach (kriging of spatial component based on an accurate implementation of variographic surveying) was applied, and this is proposed as an appropriate quantitative methodology to define the geochemical backgrounds for the different heavy metals. Two nested spatial structures were identified for some of the heavy metals, thus allowing clear identification of local and regional geochemical controls related to the different spatial variability of grain size.