en تخصصي Special مقاله اصیل Original Article <div style="text-align: justify;">Background: Land and water pollution by heavy metals is a universal issue. Although the pollution affects all countries, but its range and severity vary hugely. The pollution of the marine environment by heavy metals is a worldwide problem. Marine sediments can be sensitive indicators for monitoring contaminants in aquatic environments.<br> Methods: The concentration of 10 elements (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Al, Fe, Ni, Pb, Sb, and Zn) was determined in the sediments of four shoreline stations including Imam Hassan port, Ameri port, Bushehr port, and Nayband Bay at the west Persian Gulf from March to December 2017. The elements were measured by<br> inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Data were analyzed using SPSS version 16.<br> Results: The contamination of the sediments was assessed based on the geoaccumulation index (Igeo) and enrichment factor (EF). Spearman correlation matrix was calculated between all the trace metals and major elements as well as corresponding sampling regions. Statistically significant inter-elemental correlations (e.g., Cr-Fe, Cr-Al, Cr-Ni, Cr-Zn, and Cr-Cu) were found between some metals. High EF levels for Fe, Al, and Pb suggest that metals in the sediments of the northern Persian Gulf could have originated from anthropogenic sources.<br> Conclusion: The contamination pattern of sediments is affected by factors such as sedimentation patterns, physical and chemical properties of the sediments. For example, sediments with fine-grained and high surface area-to-volume ratio can act as good absorbents for many pollutants.</div> Heavy metals, Geologic sediment, Persian Gulf, Bushehr 175 179 http://ehemj.com/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1-123&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Mehdi Bibak mehdi.bibak65@yahoo.com 10031947532846003954 10031947532846003954 Yes Corresponding Author: Department of Fisheries, School of Natural Resources, University of Guilan, Sowmehsara, Iran Masoud Sattari msattari647@gmail.com 10031947532846003955 10031947532846003955 No Department of Fisheries, School of Natural Resources, University of Guilan, Sowmehsara, Iran Ali Agharokh aliagharokh40@gmail.com 10031947532846003956 10031947532846003956 No Research Center for Persian Gulf, School of Persian Gulf, University of Persian Gulf, Bushehr, Iran Saeid Tahmasebi tahmasebi@pgu.ac.ir 10031947532846003957 10031947532846003957 No Department of Statistics, School of Basic Sciences, University of Persian Gulf, Bushehr, Iran Javid Imanpour Namin javidiman@guilan.ac.ir 10031947532846003958 10031947532846003958 No Department of Fisheries, School of Natural Resources, University of Guilan, Sowmehsara, Iran