Table S1. Land use classification used for the Moulay Bousselham lagoon
Land use
Agricultural land
Pastureland
Construction land
Water
Salt marsh
Dunes
Class description
Arable land including paddy fields, dry farmland and aquiculture
Nature and artificial pastures
Land for dwellings, tourist activities, industries, commerce and roads
Reservoirs, rivers and inland waters
Natural salt marsh, salt ponds for salt production
Sand dunes
Table S2. Pearson’s correlation between particulate organic carbon (POC), mean values of grain sizes analysis (Mean), CaCO3, As and heavy
metal content in each slice of the surface sediment
Al
Al
Fe
Mn
Pb
Zn
Cu
Ni
Cr
Cd
As
Hg
POC
Mean
CaCO3
Fe
1.00
0.92
0.59
0.65
0.55
0.52
0.53
0.56
0.35
0.52
0.58
0.21
-0.36
-0.12
Mn
1.00
0.49
0.54
0.39
0.38
0.41
0.44
0.20
0.37
0.43
0.21
-0.32
-0.22
1.00
0.85
0.83
0.94
0.92
0.83
0.83
0.89
0.89
0.05
-0.26
0.21
Pb
Zn
1.00
0.84
0.82
0.77
0.79
0.62
0.81
0.89
-0.02
-0.17
0.27
Cu
1.00
0.85
0.83
0.89
0.73
0.85
0.85
0.13
-0.28
0.22
Ni
1.00
0.94
0.86
0.79
0.90
0.94
0.03
-0.22
0.22
Cr
1.00
0.85
0.82
0.90
0.84
0.09
-0.21
0.13
Cd
1.00
0.69
0.80
0.85
0.08
-0.24
0.16
As
1.00
0.84
0.65
0.00
-0.15
0.17
Hg
1.00
0.84
-0.02
-0.16
0.26
1.00
-0.03
-0.21
0.29
POC
1.00
-0.52
-0.66
Mean
1.00
0.46
CaCO3
1.00
Table S3. Enrichment factors (EF) and Pollution Load Index (PLI) for heavy metals in
surficial sediment
Metal
Min
Max
Mean
Standard deviation
Pb
0.7
3.1
1.5
0.6
Zn
3.0
12.2
6.6
3.3
Cu
0.7
10.2
3.1
3.0
EF
Ni
1.2
5.6
2.3
1.3
Cr
0.8
5.1
1.9
1.4
Cd
2.1
89.9
21.0
21.8
Hg
0.3
9.7
2.4
2.8
PLI
1.1
9.0
3.3
2.4
Table S4. Average metal concentrations (mg.kg-1) found in sediments from different lagoons of the world
Site
Moulay Bousselham lagoon
(Morocco)
San José lagoon (Puerto Rico)
Joyuda lagoon (Puerto Rico)
Berre lagoon (France)
As
0.1-1.1
Cd
0-0.9
Cr
18.3120.9
102±91
Cu
13.4196.7
105±47
22±9
28±10
13.3±5
18.4±8
7±2
Manzalah lagoon (Egypt)
-
1.8±1
0.1±0.1
0.63±0.4
8
3.7-17.9
-
El Maleh lagoon (Tunisia)
Nador lagoon (Morocco)
Venice (industrial site) (Italy)
3.3-18.8
6.1-84.5
64±78
0-4.5
0-6.2
20.3±3.6
Venice (Central lagoon)
(Italy)
Vistula lagoon (Poland)
Sidi Moussa lagoon
(Morocco)
Oualidia lagoon (Morocco)
18±15
Ebrie lagoon (Ivory Coast)
Hg
0-07
1.9±2
0.2±0.1
0.3±0.2
Ni
15.371.9
36±9
Pb
13.557.6
219±163
7.9±3
41±20
Zn
101.9408.9
531±392
52±20
93±32
References
34-117
-
-
0-29
6-466
-
-
2.3±1.7
-
-
13.1±30.
9
0.1±0.4
-
90±34
94.6239.7
14-105
13-1190
2940±50
83
492±357
Samir, 2000
-
43.5122.9
0-38
3-416
401±544
8±3
-
0.8±0.1
-
22±2
30.4±5.6
-
39±6
29.1±7.6
36±11
-
0.1±0.1
3.4±0.3
-
-
5.6-647
40.1±23.
7
7-184.9
-
-
57.6±17.
8
-
111±14
49.8±17.
1
223.0±2
1.4
10.3982.6
Szefer et al., 1999
Maanan et al., 2004
-
91±23
96.9±32.
9
47.8±15.
8
This study
Acevedo-Figueroa et al., 2006
Acevedo-Figueroa et al., 2006
Accornero et al., 2008
Ruiz et al., 2004
Ruiz et al., 2006
Bellucci et al., 2002
Bellucci et al., 2002
Zourarah et al., 2007
Affian et al., 2009
Table S5. Sedimentation rates (cm yr−1) in coastal areas.
Site
Arabian Sea
Aigues Mortes Gulf lagoons (France)
Burullus lagoon (Egypt)
China Sea continental shelf
St. Lawrence Estuary (Canada)
Ghar El Melh lagoon (Tunisia)
Loukous estuary (Morocco)
Manzala lagoon (Egypt)
Mexico Gulf
Moreton Bay, Qld (Australia)
Nador lagoon (Morocco)
Oualidia lagoon (Morocco)
Sagami Bay (Japan)
Rodrigo De Freitas lagoon (Brazil)
Thau lagoon (France)
Site
Continental shelf
Lagoon
Lagoon
Continental shelf
Estuary
Lagoon
Estuary
Lagoon
Continental shelf
Bay
Lagoon
Lagoon
Bay
Lagoon
Lagoon
Sedimentation rate
0.05–0.66
0.30-0.44
0.42-0.56
0.17–0.68
0.70
0.37-2.44
0.27-0.37
1.2
0.04–0.44
0.62-1.2
0.12-1.00
0.6–1.00
0.25–0.60
0.75
0.15-0.25
Author
Somayajulu et al., 1999
Sabatier and Dezileau, in press
Zhuang et al., 2008
Lin et al., 2000
Smith and Schafer, 1999
Flower et al., 2009
Kalloul et al., 2012
Benninger et al., 1998
Yeager et al., 2004
Hancock, 2001
Flower et al., 2009
Zourarah et al., 2007
Kato et al., 2003
Loureiro et al., 2009
Schmidt et al., 2007
Fig S1. Distribution of enrichment factors (EF) for heavy metals in surficial sediment
Fig S2. Profile of enrichment factors (EF) for heavy metals in the lagoon cores (CMYB-1 and
CMYB-2).