Sedimentary records of heavy metals in the industrial harbour of Portovesme, Sardinia Italy/

The anthropogenic fluxes of Hg, Cd, Pb and Zn were determined in four sediment cores collected in the harbour of Portovesme, Italy, facing an industrial area containing a lead]zinc smelter, an aluminium production plant and a coal-fired power generation plant. The analytical results and the radiodating of sediment cores show extremely high concentrations of Hg and Cd in the sediments that can be ascribed mostly to the discharge of the liquid effluent from the smelter since the late 1960s. Based on the different extractability of metal species, the anthropic origin of metal pollution as well as the risk of remobilisation of the metals into the marine environment is highlighted