The Interuniversity
Institute For Marine
Sciences In Eilat
Thetis SpA
2.1.5
Marine Science Station
Uni. of Jordan/Yarmouk Uni.
A qaba
Israel Oceanographic &
Limnological Research
L td .
Bottom sediments
Sediments of the Red Sea, including those of the Gulf of Aqaba, have been studied by several
authors (Shukri and Higazy; 1944; Mohammed, 1949; Emery; 1964; Friedman, 1968; Stoddart, 1969;
Milliman, 1974; Wahbeh, 1976; Freemantle et al., 1978; Hulings and Ismail, 1978; Larsen, 1978;
Reiss et al., 1980; Ayalon et al., 1981; Vaugels and Naim, 1982; Mantaggioni and Gabrie, 1982;
Ismail and Awad, 1984; Reiss and Hottinger, 1984; Friedman, 1985; Ismail, 1986; Abu-Hilal, 1985;
1986;1987; Grelet et al., 1987; Abu-Hilal and Badran, 1990; Al-Fukaha, 1994; Al Rousan, 1998; AlRousan et al., 2004; Al-Rawajfh 2009, MSS NMP 2009). Studies focused on the texture, mineralogy,
geochemistry, sedimentation rate, chemical composition, heavy metal content, ion transport in reef
sediments and skeletal debris diversity and distribution.
Coral reef sediments are generally loose and unconsolidated in nature. They generate mainly from
reef rock, calcareous algae, fragmented solid biogenic material, calcium carbonate skeletal remains
such as foraminifera tests and mollusk shells, beach rock fragments, fecal material produced by
organisms which ingest sediments and terrigenous material driven from the surrounding land by
winds or runoff. Coral fragments constitute the major fraction and make up 15-40% of the coral reef
sediments, while mollusk fragments constitute 4-22%. Chemical composition studies of reef
sediments need to be considered with caution. Analytical problems can result in strongly significant
systematic errors and render comparison between different studies meaningless. However, reliable
records from a recent study of the composition of coral reef bottom sediments in front of the MSS
Aqaba (Al Rousan 1998) show annual average concentrations of calcium carbonate 74%, organic
carbon 0.35%, organic nitrogen 0.05%, and total phosphorus 0.07%.
In the Gulf of Aqaba, coastal fringing reefs are usually penetrated by narrow channels still connected
with wadies by which terrigenous materials add significant portion to the reef sediments (Reiss and
Hottinger, 1984). However, the terrigenous sediment input into the Gulf, mostly composed of quartz
and feldspars, is restricted to sources via wind and seasonal flash-floods (Emery, 1964; Friedman,
1968).
Bottom surface sediments along the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba at the different sites were
quite different in some chemical properties. Sediments from non-coralline areas were fine, black and
oxygen deficient while sediments from coral reef areas were whitish, better oxygenated and had
higher calcium carbonate content (MSS NMP 2009). These are typical coral reef sediments. Coral
reef carbonate sediments are well known to have high organic nitrogen concentration as compared
to silicate sediments, even those in close neighbourhood (Al-Rousan 1998; Rasheed et al 2002).
High organic nitrogen concentrations in coral reef sediments most likely result from deposition and
sinking of living material (Al-Rousan et al., 2004).
Poor oxygenation associated with the black color of the sediments at the northern stations does not
necessarily mean poor environmental conditions. In fact the bottom habitat in these stations areas is
sea grass beds and these are well known to extract oxygen for their metabolism from the
surrounding sediments.
RSS-REL-T102.2
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Thetis SpA
Marine Science Station
Uni. of Jordan/Yarmouk Uni.
A qaba
Israel Oceanographic &
Limnological Research
L td .
Heavy metals
Heavy metals occurring in the subtidal sediments of the Gulf of Aqaba have been reported by Shukri
and Higazy (1944), Emery(1964), Ayalon (1976), Ayalon et al., (1981), Al-Fukaha (1994), Abu-Hilal
(1993), Abu-Kharma (2006), Al-Tawaha (2007); Al-Rawajfh (2009) and MSS NMP (2009). Ayalon
noted that the heavy minerals distribution patterns and trends were correlated with the mineralogy of
the source and that the composition of the source rock nearest to the drainage area was the primary
factor accounting for a particular assemblage. According to Ayalon et al. (1981) the primary source
rocks include sandstone, metamorphic and granitic rocks.
For heavy metal results (Table 2-9), no regular patterns with space could be noticed. From our
earlier studies, it was shown that short time variability in minor and trace constituents of bottom
surface sediments, which counteract persistence of regular patterns, is not uncommon. This is due to
patchiness, instantaneous inputs especially in ports and industrial sites, rapid biogeochemical
recycling and current and wave disturbances. Nevertheless heavy metals concentrations in
sediments were comparable to average concentrations recorded previously at different sites along
the Jordanian coast (Abu-Hilal and Badran, 1990).
RSS-REL-T102.2
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Thetis SpA
Marine Science Station
Uni. of Jordan/Yarmouk Uni.
A qaba
Israel Oceanographic &
Limnological Research
L td .
Table 2-9 Summary of average heavy metal concentrations (µgg-1) of sediments along the
Jordanian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba.
Site
Cd
Pb
Zn
Cu
HA
PLB
MSS
4.0
13.7
3.9
101.5
168.3
96.3
35.2
194.9
32.3
9.0
25.6
11.5
HA
PLB
MSS
4.1
18.2
3.0
29.8
53.4
11.2
70.1
201.3
59.0
13.8
29.40
22.1
PLB
MSS
0.91
0.88
35.6
18.2
152
78.8
6.88
1.40
HA
PLB
MSS
1.58
10.3
2.18
9.81
47.2
25.6
13.62
97.84
10.52
3.27
12.3
3.50
HA
PLB
MSS
ND
5.6
ND
2.2
24.0
14.2
ND
6.46
3.7
6.7
10.3
8.0
Reference
Abu-Hilal (1993),
Abu-Kharma (2006),
Al-Tawaha (2007)
Al-Rawajfh (2009)
National Monitoring
Program (2009)
HA=Hotels area, PLB=Phosphate Loading Berth, MSS=Marine Science Station
Chemical constituents of bottom sediments
Al-Rousan (1998) studied the annual cycle of calcium carbonate, organic carbon, organic
phosphorus, and organic nitrogen concentration (%) at different types of sediments during the period
May 97 - May 98 (Figure 2-60).
The variations in the calcium carbonate content (Figure 2-60a; Table 2-10) in the bottom surface
sediments over the annual cycle was minor. Highest values were observed at station 2 (10 m) with
average 77.04%. At station 3 (20 m), 4 (30 m) and 1 (5 m) the values averaged 75.9, 76.04 and
70.3% respectively (Table 2-10). Shallower areas (station 1) had lower values of CaCO3 than deeper
ones (stations 2, 3).This is can be explained on the basis that sediments in shallow areas are
composed largely of land derived materials poor in CaCO3 transported from shore and near shore
area by winds, floods and waves. In vast contrast, sediments in deep waters are composed of
materials of biological origin consisted of calcareous and siliceous skeletal structures (fine and
coarse particles or fragments of porous corals, mollusks and others).
RSS-REL-T102.2
page 82 of 261
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Israel Oceanographic &
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Marine Science Station
Uni. of Jordan/Yarmouk Uni.
A qaba
Table 2-10 Summary statistics of the annual cycle analysis of CaCO3, O.C, O.P and O.N
concentrations (%) at bottom surface sediment, during the period May 97- May 98 (Al-Rousan
1998).
CaCO3 (%)
Depth
max
min
Ave
max
min
Ave
max
min
Ave
max
min
Ave
stn 1 (5 m)
stn 2 (10 m)
stn 3 (20 m)
stn 4 (30 m)
75.1
87.3
85.1
80.7
65.0
66.0
62.3
66.8
70.3
77.0
75.9
76.0
0.40
0.47
0.56
0.45
0.19
0.21
0.23
0.25
0.29
0.32
0.40
0.35
0.102
0.118
0.158
0.164
0.024
0.025
0.034
0.023
0.053
0.063
0.082
0.077
0.097
0.101
0.112
0.126
0.023
0.014
0.025
0.015
0.047
0.044
0.054
0.049
calcium carbonate (%)
Station
100
90
80
Stn.1
Stn.2
Stn.3
Stn.4
O. C. (%)
O. P (%)
O.N (%)
(a)
70
60
50
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
organic carbon (%)
Month
0.6
(b)
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
organic phosphorus (%
Month
0.2
(c)
0.15
0.1
organic nitrogen (%)
0.05
0
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
0.2
Oct
Month
(d)
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Month
Figure 2-60 Annual records of component concentrations (%) of the surface sediment across
a coral reef off the Marine Science Station (MSS) during the period May 1997 to May 1998,
(stn1=5m, stn2=10m, stn3=20m, and stn4=30m )at the listed depths, a) calcium carbonate, b)
organic carbon, c) organic phosphorus and d)organic nitrogen (Al-Rousan 1998).
RSS-REL-T102.2
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Thetis SpA
Marine Science Station
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A qaba
Israel Oceanographic &
Limnological Research
L td .
Mean calcium carbonate concentration in the surface sediments of Al-Rousan (1998) study were
74.8% which is close to all other records made on coral reef sediments from the Gulf of Aqaba
(Table 2-11).
Table 2-11 Calcium carbonate content (%) of coral reef sediments along the coast of the Gulf
of Aqaba.
Author
Mean CaCO3 conc. (wt.%)
Shukri and Higazy (1944) Northern Red Sea
81
Emery (1963), Eilat
57
Friedman (1968)
Northern area of the Gulf of Aqaba
77.3
El-Sayed and Hoosny (1980)
Reefal sediments of Al-Ghardaqa
70
Ismail and Awad (1984)
Northern coast of the Gulf of Aqaba
Near the Jordanian Phosphate loading port
The Big Bay (Al-Mamlah) Jordanian coast
5.5
15.35
23.20
Al-Fukaha (1994)
Reefal sediments of the Gulf of Aqaba
67.5
Al-Rousan (1998)
74.8
Organic carbon levels in the bottom surface sediments (Figure 2-60b) were the lowest compared to
other types of sediments. The annul cycle showed no indicative pattern of change with time. The
annual range of O.C at station 3 averaged 0.40%. At station 2, 4 and 1 they averaged 0.33, 0.35 and
0.29% respectively (Table 2-10). Organic carbon content in the surface sediments tended to
increase with increasing depth.
Al-Rawajfh (2009) found the highest values of organic carbon in sediment recorded at the PLB with a
mean value of 0.41% whereas the lowest values were recorded at the Public café and Marine
Science Station sites with values around 0.11%.
Organic phosphorus concentrations in the surface sediments is shown in Figure 2-61c. The highest
values were recorded between June and September at deeper stations (3, 4). At station 3 it
averaged 0.082%. At station 4, 1 and 2 the averages were 0.077, 0.063 and 0.053% respectively
(Table 2-10).
The annual pattern of organic nitrogen (in Figure 2-61d) was irregular during the months of the
year. The highest values were observed at station 3 with average of 0.054%, at station 4 the average
was 0.049%. While at station 2 and 1, the average 0.044%, and 0.047% respectively (Table 2-10).
According to Al-Rousan (1998), the organic carbon, phosphorus and nitrogen in surface
sediment showed no regular pattern of changes during the whole year. However, they showed a
concentration increase with increasing depth. This is mainly due to increasing organic autotrophic
RSS-REL-T102.2
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A qaba
Israel Oceanographic &
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and higher trophic productivity with depth. In addition organic components in shallow areas may be
diluted by the input of terrigenous sediments reaching these areas from the land. Concentration
value showed a trend of decrease at the reef slope (station 4). This decrease can be attributed to its
location in a steep and slopy area with low coral reef cover which is considered the main source of
organic matter in surface sediments (Mohammed 1949). Shukri and Higazy (1944) found that
organic matter accumulates in basins more than in slopes and ridges. Table 2-12 summarizes the
sedimentary organic carbon concentrations in reef sediment along the coasts of the Gulf of Aqaba.
Table 2-12 Sedimentary organic carbon content (%) in coral reef sediments of the Gulf of
Aqaba.
Sediment type
Deep water sediments
256 to 1393 m
Organic carbon %
Reference
0.06 - 0.15
0.06 - 0.12
Mohammed, 1949
Emery, (1963)
0.06 - 0.15
0.21 - 0.35
0.05 - 0.26
0.07 - 0.23
0.02 - 0.11
0.13 - 0.48
0.10 - 0.40
0.09 - 0.53
0.13 - 0.32
Shukri & Higazy, 1944
Friedman, 1968
Hulings & Ismail, 1978
Vaugelas & Naim, 1982
Ismail & Awad, 1984
Abu-Hilal, 1986
Abu-Hilal, 1987
Grelet et al., 1987
Al-Fukaha, 1994
Sandy beaches.
0.006 - 0.033
0.002 - 0.035
Wehbeh, 1976
Ismail, 1986
Sea grass beds.
(Halophila stipulacea)
0.14 - 0.34
0.14 - 0.33
Hulings & Ismail, 1978
Vaugelas & Naim, 1982
Sewage and phosphate
polluted sediments.
0.06 - 0.29
0.47 - 0.77
Ismail & Awad, 1984
Abu-Hilal, 1987
Carbonate, terrigenous
and admixed sediments.
Carbonate reef sediments
0.19-0.56
Al-Rousan (1998)
Similarly, Table 2-13 summarizes the sedimentary phosphorus and nitrogen concentrations in reef
sediments. The values reported by Al-Rousan (1998) are higher than the range reported by
Mohammed (1949) and Emery (1964) on other areas of the Gulf. A possible reason is that samples
of the present study were collected from depths less than those reported by other workers.
RSS-REL-T102.2
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Marine Science Station
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A qaba
Israel Oceanographic &
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L td .
Table 2-13 Sedimentary P and N concentration (%)in coral reef sediments of the Gulf of
Aqaba.
Location
N (%)
P (%)
Reference
Gulf of Aqaba
-----------
0.03-0.14
Freemantle etal. (1978)
Gulf of Aqaba(100 m depth)
0.00-0.042
--------------
Emery (1964)
Gulf of Aqaba (265-1393m)
0.023-0.033
--------------
Mohammed (1949)
Gulf of Aqaba
0.014-0.126
0.024-0.164
Al-Rousan (1998)
Freemantle et al., (1978) studied the calcium carbonate and phosphate in the Jordan Gulf of
Aqaba. Normal values for calcium and phosphate were found except near the Aqaba town sewage
outlet, where the phosphate was relatively higher. Values for calcium in sediment increase with water
depth (3-11%) and were generally much higher for samples taken from coral environment (20-30%).
The values for phosphate in the sediment varied from 0.03 to 14% by weight as phosphorus, with
one exception - sample taken along the sewage transact, adjacent to the phosphate loading berth,
contained up to 0.28% by weight % phosphorus.
Al-Rawajfh (2009) found highest concentrations of total phosphorus in sediments of the Phosphate
Loading Berth (94.86 mg/g) whereas the lowest concentrations were found in Hotels area sites (0.81
mg/g) and the Marine Science Station site (0.69 mg/g). The concentrations tend to decrease with
increasing distance from the Phosphate Loading Berth.
For non-carbonate sediments along the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba, Al-Rousan et al., (2005)
studied the geochemical and biogenic characteristics of bottom sediments at the northern tip of the
Gulf of Aqaba. They found that the bottom surface sediments are fine grained, black with high quartz,
feldspar, mica and low mud contents. Chemically, these sediments had low calcium carbonate,
organic nitrogen and high total phosphorus concentrations, suggesting that the sediment mineral
composition is derived from existing metamorphic rocks, by weathering and erosion. The study area
showed very low calcium carbonate (CaCO3) concentration in sediments at all stations, ranging from
3-10% in contrast to high concentration of about 70% in the surface sediment at the Marine Science
Station (carbonate). Calcium carbonate concentration was also significantly higher at the Marine
Science Station (silicate) station (17%) than all stations at the northern coast. These sediments are
just next to carbonate coral reef sediments where resuspension, wave and current actions can result
in some restricted redistribution of calcium carbonate.
Total phosphorus (T.P) concentrations in bottom sediments in the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba
were relatively high, ranging from 0.047-0.064% as compared to Marine Science Station (carbonate)
or even the Royal Yacht Club sites. These concentrations were not associated with any higher
concentrations of organic carbon or nitrogen. This could be attributed to construction and dredging as
well as swimming and boating activities that may receive uncontrolled discharges of wastewater and
elevate the phosphate contents in the sediment. Otherwise this could be a compositional characteristic
of these sediments.
The organic carbon (O.C) concentration, most of the study stations exhibited similar concentrations
ranging between 0.10-0.19%. Ignition loss values ranged between 1.2-2.3% and followed a similar
distribution to that of organic carbon. The highest organic carbon concentration and ignition loss were
recorded at the Marine Science Station (carbonate) site and so was the highest organic nitrogen
RSS-REL-T102.2
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Marine Science Station
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A qaba
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Limnological Research
L td .
concentration (T.N). Concentrations of Total Nitrogen at the study area showed moderate values
ranging from 0.003-0.006%. The higher values of Marine Science Station can be a direct result of
deposition and sinking of living material in the immediate vicinity of the coral reef. The Marine Science
Station (carbonate) exhibited relatively higher values than other stations, which may reflect the high
total organic matter content.
Al-Rousan et al., (2006) investigated the physicochemical properties of twenty one marine sediment
samples collected from five different localities along the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba.
According to results of the chemical parameters (Figure 2-61, Table 2-14), sediments were
categorized into three groups, carbonate (80% CaCO3) composed mainly of materials of calcareous
skeletal structures, terrigenous (<10% CaCO3) depositional areas for land derived materials from
surrounding rocks and alluviums, and admixture between them (19-37% CaCO3). High significant
linear correlations were found between organic carbon (OC) and total nitrogen (TN) indicating the
occurrence of these components in a common phase (organic matter). Despite the cooccurrence of
TP in organic matter, these two elements were negatively correlated indicating anthropogenic
sources of pollution such as phosphate exportation (Hotels area and Clinker Port sites) and industrial
activities (Industrial Complex site). The study found that variations in texture properties and mud
contents were due to differences in sediment sources, topography and their response during
currents and waves. The finer and well sorted sediments contain lower elemental concentrations of
OC, calcium carbonate and TN (excluding TP) than coarser poorly sorted sediments.
0.4
80
OC Conc. (%)
CaCO3 Conc. (%)
100
60
40
20
0
0.2
0.1
0.0
HA
CP
MSS
Site
AS
IC
HA
0.04
0.08
0.03
0.06
TP Conc. (%)
TN Conc. (%)
0.3
0.02
0.01
0.00
CP
MSS
Site
AS
IC
MSS
Site
AS
IC
0.04
0.02
0.00
HA
CP
MSS
Site
AS
IC
HA
CP
Figure 2-61 Chemical composition (CaCO3, OC, TN, and TP) of the sediment along the
Jordanian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba (Al-Rousan et al., 2006), (HA=Hotels area, CP=Clincker
Port, MSS=Marine Science Station, AS=Asodasiat, IC=Industrial Complex) (after Al-Rousan et
al., 2006).
RSS-REL-T102.2
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Thetis SpA
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A qaba
Israel Oceanographic &
Limnological Research
L td .
Table 2-14 Summary statistics of the chemical characteristics (CaCO3, OC, TP and TN
concentrations (%)) of sediment along the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba (HA=Hotels
area, CP=Clincker Port, MSS=Marine Science Station, AS=Asodasiat, IC=Industrial Complex)
(after Al-Rousan et al., 2006).
Site
HA
CP
MSS
AS
IC
RSS-REL-T102.2
Sample No.
CaCO3%
OC %
TN%
TP%
1
4.88
0.10
0.003
0.048
2
8.25
0.17
0.006
0.055
3
9.76
0.16
0.003
0.064
4
3.03
0.14
0.003
0.052
5
8.59
0.17
0.005
0.047
6
4.88
0.14
0.005
0.051
7
3.79
0.13
0.004
0.039
Average
6.17
0.14
0.004
0.051
Std
2.64
0.02
0.001
0.008
8
9.30
0.18
0.006
0.051
9
11.80
0.15
0.004
0.042
10
10.50
0.17
0.005
0.057
Average
10.53
0.17
0.005
0.050
Std
1.25
0.02
0.001
0.008
11
81.84
0.30
0.022
0.026
12
83.70
0.35
0.017
0.022
13
82.31
0.36
0.029
0.007
14
83.24
0.29
0.023
0.033
Average
82.77
0.33
0.023
0.022
Std
0.85
0.03
0.005
0.011
15
79.50
0.25
0.028
0.023
16
78.70
0.27
0.030
0.032
17
83.40
0.21
0.025
0.027
Average
80.53
0.24
0.028
0.027
Std
2.51
0.03
0.003
0.005
18
36.74
0.24
0.010
0.010
19
22.32
0.22
0.005
0.033
20
27.44
0.18
0.008
0.028
21
18.60
0.27
0.007
0.061
Average
26.27
0.23
0.007
0.033
Std
7.86
0.04
0.002
0.021
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Textural properties of sediments
Data on texture of sediments in the Gulf of Aqaba have been given by Shukri and Higazy (1944)
from a depth of 265-1393 m; Emery (1964) to 60m deep in the northern part; Friedman (1968) for
reef skeletal sands; and Ismail and Awad (1984) for detrital sands 1-11 m deep. Data of these
studies are summarized in Table 2-15.
Table 2-15 Textural characteristics of sediments in the Gulf of Aqaba (after Hulings, 1989).
Median diameter (mm)
Sorting
Skewness
Reference
0.005 to 0.200
2.00 to 3.98
0.47 to 1.23
Shukri and Higazy (1944)
0.007 to 1.000
1.3 to 4.4
-----
Emery (1964)
0.274 to 0.511
0.98 to 1.29
near 0
Friedman (1968)
0.095 to 0.200
1.2 to 2.4
-----
Ismail and Awad (1984)
Al-Fukaha (1994) studied the textural and a geochemical property of reefal sediments along three
transects perpendicular to the Jordanian coast. He found that the texture of the reefal sediments is
useful to differentiate between the back reef zone, the reef flat zone and the fore reef zone. He also
found that the sediments of the back reef zone are mostly medium to coarse sands, poorly to
moderately sorted and coarse to very coarse skewed. The reef flat sediments are coarse to very
coarse sands, poorly to moderately sorted, and range from being symmetrical to very fine skewed.
On the other hand the fore reef sediments are medium to coarse sands, mostly poorly sorted, and
symmetrical to coarse skewed.
Al-Rousan (1998) described the textural characteristics of the surface sediments across a coral reef
off the Marine Science Station (depth transect from 5, 10, 20 and 30 m depth) was described by AlRousan (1998) The main grain size ranges from being coarse sand (0.64 phi) to fine sand (2.07 phi).
The grain size of the sediments is finer near the shore and tends to increase with increasing depth
(Figure 2-62, Table 2-16).
Table 2-16 Textural and chemical characteristics of surface sediment at different stations
across a coral reef off the Marine Science Station (values are the average of eight samples)
(after Al-Rousan 1998).
Depth (m)
M.G.S. (phi)
Sorting
Skewness
Mud%
5
2.05
0.91
0.27
1.04
10
1.9
1.41
0.046
6.6
20
1.24
1.62
0.17
7.38
30
0.87
1.38
0.098
2.98
RSS-REL-T102.2
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Grain size (phi)
0
Depth (m)
0
Coarse sand
1
Medium sand
2
Fine sand
3
4
Very fine sand
(a)
10
20
R2 = 0.9231
30
40
Sorting factor
0.2 Moderately well sorted 0.8
0
Depth (m)
1.4
Moderately sorted
2
poorly sorted
(b)
10
R2 = 0.4447
20
30
40
Skewness
-1
Coarse skewed.
Depth (m)
0
0
Fine skewed.
1
(c)
10
20
R2 = 0.4135
30
40
Figure 2-62 Relation of physical properties of coral reef sediments to depth, across a coral
reef off the Marine Science Station, from stations 1, 2, 3, and 4 (after Al-Rousan 1998).
The studied sediments are moderately sorted near the shore and poorly sorted in deeper depths.
Whereas, the skewness values of the studied sediments are in the range of -0.53 and 0.19, the near
shore sediments tend to be coarse sekwned while the deeper sediments tend to be symmetrical. The
mud content along the transect (<63μm) ranged between 0.8 and 9.7 %, increase with increasing
depth down to 20m then it tend to decrease at 30m (Table 2-16).
It was concluded from Al-Rousan (1998) study that sediments at shallow depths are found to be fine
to medium in grain size with low mud content. This was attributed to the effect of waves and currents
on sediments particles. In deeper stations sediments were generally coarser due to the physical and
biological breakdown of corals.
Best sorting was found in sediments of shallow areas where waves and currents are active (Emery,
1964). At deeper stations, sediments were poorly sorted because they are mainly composed of
unworked skeletal materials. The calm deep water does not exert much effect on the improvement of
sediments, (Friedman, 1968) and thus does not hinder or resist, if not enhances the accumulation of
mud at deeper stations. Consequently, mud content is low at the reef slope area because most of
the mud sized sediments accumulate in basins more than on ridges and slopes (Shukri and Higazi,
1944).
RSS-REL-T102.2
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Al-Rousan et al., (2006) investigated the physico-chemical characteristics of marine sediments from
five stations along the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba. For the grain size distribution, they
found that the average mean grain size of the sediments along the studied sites ranged from being
medium sand (1-2 phi) to fine sand (2-3 phi). The grain size of the sediments was fine at the HA and
IC and medium at the CP, MSS, and AS sites (Figure 2-63; Table 2-17).
On the basis of size analysis, the average sorting coefficient of the studied sediments ranged from
0.60 to 1.32 in average (Table 2-17). The sediments are classified as poorly sorted at the MSS and
the IC, moderately sorted at the CP and the AS, and moderately well sorted at the HA site (Table
2-11). The average skewness values were in the range between -0.19 and -0.02. It can be stated
that sediments were near symmetrically skewned or normally distributed at the HA, MSS and IC
sites, and coarse skewed at CP and AS sites (Table 2-17). The highest values of mud contents
(average) were found at the IC (6.37%) followed by the MSS (3.89%), AS (3.01%), CP (1.58%), and
then the HA (1.11%) (Table 2-17).
50
50
(HA)
Wt Percent
Wt Percent
30
20
10
30
20
10
0
0
-1
0
1
50
2 2.47
phi values
3
4
10
-1
0
1
50
(MSS)
2 2.47
phi values
3
4
10
3
4
10
(AS)
40
Wt Percent
40
Wt Percent
(CP)
40
40
30
20
10
30
20
10
0
0
-1
0
1
2 2.47
phi values
3
4
10
50
-1
0
1
3
4
10
2 2.47
phi values
(IC)
Wt Percent
40
30
20
10
0
-1
0
1
2 2.47
phi values
Figure 2-63 Plot of the average percentage mass (Wt percent) against values for sediments
collected from HA, CP, MSS, AS, and IC along the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba (after
Al-Rousan et al., 2006).
RSS-REL-T102.2
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Table 2-17 Summary statistics and interpretation of the textural characteristics (mean grain
size, sorting, skewness and mud content) based on cumulative curves for the studied
sediment along the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba (after Al-Rousan et al., 2006).
Site
HA
CP
MSS
AS
IC
Sample No.
MGZ (phi)
Sorting
1
2.57
0.53
0.11
0.87
2
2.75
0.51
-0.05
1.69
3
2.65
0.62
-0.04
near
2.79
4
2.35
Fine
0.66
Moderately
-0.02
symmetrical
0.82
5
1.92
sand
0.63
well
-0.12
0.61
6
2.23
0.62
sorted
-0.16
0.55
7
1.52
0.64
0.01
0.42
Average
2.28
0.60
-0.04
1.11
Std
0.44
0.06
0.09
0.85
8
2.03
0.83
-0.22
0.98
9
1.93
0.82
Moderately
-0.16
1.77
10
1.85
Medium
0.83
poorly
-0.11
coarse
2.00
Average
1.94
sand
0.83
sorted
-0.16
skewed
1.58
Std
0.09
0.01
0.05
0.54
11
1.98
1.15
-0.14
2.93
12
1.77
1.41
-0.05
5.22
13
1.72
Medium
1.47
Poorly
0.07
near
6.00
14
1.33
sand
1.24
sorted
0.04
symmetrical
1.42
Average
1.70
1.32
-0.02
3.89
Std
0.27
0.15
0.10
2.10
15
1.87
0.95
-0.17
2.11
16
1.90
0.94
Moderately
-0.16
4.00
17
1.73
Medium
0.90
poorly
-0.24
coarse
2.93
Average
1.83
sand
0.93
sorted
-0.19
skewed
3.01
Std
0.09
0.03
0.04
0.95
18
1.37
1.06
-0.17
1.37
19
2.08
1.35
-0.02
6.66
20
2.50
Fine
1.33
Poorly
-0.10
near
9.57
21
2.35
sand
1.21
sorted
0.01
symmetrical
7.87
Average
2.08
1.24
-0.07
6.37
Std
0.50
0.13
0.08
3.54
RSS-REL-T102.2
Skewness
Mud%
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The authors concluded that the environment of deposition is of great importance in determining the
physical characteristics of the sediments. The variations in textural properties and mud contents
could be ascribed to the variety of sediment sources, their response during currents and waves, and
the seasonal variability and activity of benthic infauna.
The currents acting on the pre-existing sediments cause a large scale sorting into areas of gravel,
sand and mud. The distribution is determined by topography and current strengths; that is, in areas
of high current velocity there are areas of gravel left as lag deposits.
The sediments at the HA are fine sand, moderately well sorted (homogeneous), near symmetrically
skewed and rich in silicate grains derived from land and nearby wadi (Wadi Araba). This can be
explained by the dynamic water conditions (active waves and relatively strong currents) in this
terrigenous sand bottoms which leads to cleaning of sediments from very fine materials due to
absence of coral reef and rock structures (Emery, 1964; Hulings and Ismail, 1978). Sediments from
the MSS and IC have similar physical characteristics, where they are medium sand, poorly sorted,
near symmetrically skewed and enriched in mud sized materials. The sediments at the CP and AS
are coarsely skewed indicating that sediment grain size distribution has a tail of excess coarse
particles. The coarsening of the sediments at these sites which also controls the sorting coefficient
can be explained by the dumping of coarse un-reworked fragments and grains from the reef
complex. Moreover, a calm water condition doesn't exert much effect in sorting improvement of
sediments (Friedman, 1968) and thus does not hinder or resist, if not enhances the accumulation of
mud.
Sedimentation rates along the Jordanian coast
Larsen (1978), using the occurrence of the foraminiferan amphistegina in cores taken at a depth of
10m and estimation of its annual production, calculated a sedimentation rate of 2.2-3.3 mm/yr. .By
comparison, Reiss et al. (1980) and Friedman (1985) reported the rate of accumulation of clayey
sediments in the gulf to be a few cm/1000 yr., and that of arkosic sands (quartz and feldspars) to be
in excess of 40 cm/1000 yr. Reiss and Hottinger (1984) considered the sedimentation rate in the Gulf
of Aqaba, along with diagenesis, as the factor determining the delineation between hard and soft
bottoms and governing the distribution of the benthos.
Storm waves and abnormally bad weather (Schuhmacher et al., 1995; Al-Rousan 1998) have been
reported to result in drastic variations in the sedimentation rate. These events were always
associated with stormy weather. This will result in different degrees of resuspention. The textural
properties of the bottom sediments are among the factors affecting resuspention. For example, finer
and less dense sediments are resuspended to longer extents and to higher distances in the water
column.
Airborne dust also contributes large amounts of the sedimented material in the Gulf waters. AlFukaha (1994) estimated the deposition rate of airborne dust material in the Gulf of Aqaba in the
order of 0.1 g.m-2.day-1. the dust materials generally become finer southward and composed mainly
of quartz, feldspars, calcite, dolomite and apatites. He claimed that the main source of this materials
is Wadi Araba since the dominating wind along the Gulf are coming from the N and NNE winds often
passing over this Wadi before reaching the Gulf.
RSS-REL-T102.2
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Al-Rousan (1998) and from studying the sedimentation in the water column of the Gulf of Aqaba
found that the submersible sediment traps had considerably less sedimentation rates than bottom
sediment traps (1 m above bottom), and that the rates decrease with increasing depth of the water
column due to decreasing effect of currents and waves in eroding the subsurface sediments at deep
stations. He found also that about 17.7- 56.4% of the total sedimentation in bottom sediment traps
was resuspended materials. In general he concluded that resuspention is more intensive toward
shallow areas and closer to sediment surface, the value estimated from this study is averaged
0.51±0.26 mg cm-2d-1 (Table 2-18).
Bani-Awwad (2002) suggested that most of the relatively large sediment particles that originate in
sites or points that are closer to the coast, settle down and deposited in shallow waters and thus
causing higher sedimentation rates in shallow areas near the coast line. The total sedimentation
rates estimated from his study at 15m depth was between 0.6-1.7 mg.cm-2.d-1 where the highest
value was recorded at the PLB site. Furthermore, Bani-Awwad estimated the deposition rate of
airborne dust in the area to be not less than 0.13 gm.m-2.d-1.
Al-Rousan et al., (2004) from studying four multicores from the last 1000 years estimated the
sedimentation rates in deep sea between 42 and 72 cm/kyr, which was fairly high compared to other
areas in the world.
Table 2-18 Sedimentation rates (mg cm-2 d-1) in the waters of the Gulf of Aqaba as reported
by authors from earlier studies (after Al-Rawajfh 2009).
Site
Depth (m)
Sedimentation arte
(mg cm-2 d-1)
Reference
MSS
10 m
0.51 ±0.26
Al-Rousan (1998)
PLB
MSS
5m
1.8 ±0.16
0.9±0.21
Hamdan (1999)
PLB
MSS
15 m
1.7
0.4
Bani –Awwad (2002)
HA
PLB
MSS
HA
PLB
MSS
10 m
1.26±0.35
0.93±0.12
0.90±0.0.21
MSS Reports (2009)
10 m
0.6±0.25
0.47±0.20
0.18±0.03
Al-Rawajfh (2009)
MSS: Marine Science Station, PLB: Phosphate loading Berth, HA: Hotels Area
Al-Rawajfh (2009) studied the accumulation pattern, magnitude and distribution of the phosphate
rock dust particles that reach the coastal seawater of the Jordanian Gulf of Aqaba. The highest
sedimentation rates were found at the Hotels area and was attributed to many factors including the
construction and the infrastructure work that take place in the northern tip of the Gulf. Dredging and
dumping activities for the establishment of the huge investment projects such as Al-Saraya, Ayla and
other hotels are other factors. Tourist activities that include the continuous and intensive glass boats,
RSS-REL-T102.2
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skeeing boats and swimming activities are other important factors. All these daily activities agitate
the water and help in resuspension and recurrent sedimentation of fine sediment particles which are
major components of sediments in the area of the traps.
However, high sedimentation rates were also observed in the Phosphate Loading Berth and was
mainly attributed to the fine particles that strike down into the water during the process of ship
loading as reported by Schahmacher et al., (1982).
It was also found that the sedimentation of chemical species in bottom sediment traps was generally,
higher than those in submersible sediment traps. This is due to the effect of resuspention caused by
waves and currents action (Al-Rousan 1998). Sedimentation rates found by Al-Rousan (1998) are in
good agreement with those reported by Schuhmacher et al. (1995) in the Gulf of Aqaba.
Data from the National Monitoring program carried out by the Marine Science Station since the year
2000 showed that the total sedimentation rate at all stations along the Jordanian coast, except the
Phosphate Port and Hotels area recorded similar values around 0.88 mg cm-2 day-1 (Figure 2-64). No
clear trend could be noticed with space and the higher values were recorded at the Phosphate Port
during most of the sampling events. This was clearly attributed to crude phosphate loss during export
activities.
Jan-Feb
Feb-Mar
Mar-Apr
Apr-May
May-Jun
Jun-Jul
Jul-Aug
Aug-Sep
Sep-Oct
Oct-Nov
Nov-Dec
Dec-Jan
Sedimentation rate (mg.cm -2.d-1)
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
Hotels
Public Café
Fisherman
Phosphate Clincker Port
Port
Loading Berth
Marine
Science
Station
Vistor Centre
Industrial
Complex
Site (North-South)
Figure 2-64 Sedimentation rate (mg.cm-2d-1) at the coastal stations along the Jordanian coast
of the Gulf of Aqaba during the period January-December 2008 (MSS National Monitoring
Program 2009).
Bottom surface structure
The main habitats at the northern coast of the Gulf of Aqaba include coral reef, seagrass, and sandy
bottoms. Biogenic sediments are generally remains of organisms, mainly calcium carbonate (calcite,
aragonite), opal (hydrated silica), and calcium phosphate (teeth, bones, crustacean carapaces).
They arrive at the site of deposition either by in situ precipitation or through settling via the water
column. Clastic sediments on the other hand are composed of fragments or grains derived from
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existing rocks, by weathering, erosion, transportation, and deposition. They include clays, silts,
sands, and gravels Malcolm and Stanley (1982). Both sediment types are present in varying
proportions at different parts of the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba (Rasheed et al., 2003; AlRousan et al., 2004).
Al-Rousan et al., (2005) studied in details the benthic habitats in six stations at the northern tip of the
Gulf of Aqaba, covering a heavily exploited area by several hotels and a marina (Fig. 2.24). In
addition, the site of the Marine Science Station (MSS) carbonate and silicate bottom sediments was
selected to serve as control. The MSS (carbonate) site consists mainly of carbonate sediments,
while the MSS (silicate) site is silicate-rich sediments.
The texture, geochemical and biogenic characteristics of bottom sediments as well as description
and distribution of corals, seagrass, fish species and fish assemblages have been investigated.
29.56
30
2
1
29.53
6
5
Royal Yacht
Club (RYC)
Gulf
of
Aqab
a
29
Hotels
4
3
29.5
A
34
34.5
35
A
29.44
Q
27
Marine Science
Station (MSS)
Carb
.
B
Red Sea
Silic
.
A
29.47
F
Latitude (N)
28
O
JORDAN
LF
29.41
G
U
29.38
29.35
0
1
2
34.79
3
4
34.82
5 km
34.85
34.88
34.91
34.94
34.97
35
35.03
Longitude (E)
Figure 2-65 Location map of the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba showing the biological
survey transects along the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba studied by Al-Rousan et al.,
(2005).
Results showed that the sea bottom at the study site is mainly a non-coralline sandy bottom covered
with seagrass. Well-developed seagrass beds covered about 70-98% of the bottom. No coral cover
was recorded. This is to be expected because of the absence of hard substrate and due to high
loads of suspended matter. The bottom sand in the area was undisturbed, animal tracks are rare, but
bioturbated holes and mounds were abundant. Bottom surface sediments are fine grained, black with
high quartz, feldspar, mica and low mud contents. Chemically, these sediments had low calcium
carbonate, organic nitrogen and high total phosphorus concentrations, suggesting that the sediment
RSS-REL-T102.2
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mineral composition is derived from existing metamorphic rocks, by weathering and erosion. The
biogenous part of the sediments was mainly calcium carbonate constituting of shells or coverings of
some micro and macro-organisms.
Sediment structure and benthic communities
Al-Rousan et al., (2005) found that the surface structure of the unconsolidated bottom sediments
along the northern tip of the Gulf were undisturbed bottoms, animal tracks were rare, but bioturbated
holes and mounds were abundant. Most of the mounds have their tops rounded off; some of them
exhibit small depressions. The occupants of these structures could be shrimps.
The microscopic study showed that sediments at the area were from the clastic type, the inorganic
components of the sediments were mainly quartz, feldspar, mica, and other minerals (Figure 2-66).
On the other hand, biogenous parts of the sediments were mainly calcium carbonate (CaCO3), which
was typically shells or coverings, made by some organisms, such as foraminiferans. Coral debris
was absent in this area. The most abundant inorganic compound in the sediment at all stations was
the quartz. This ranged from 30 to 120 g cm−2. The highest number (100–130 g cm−2) was found at
Sts 3, 4, and the RYC (Figure 2-66).
A) 0-5 cm
Mica
Feldspare
Carb. Frag.
B) 5-10 cm
Quartz
Mica
Feldspare
Carb. Frag.
Quartz
150
Number of grains.cm-2
120
90
60
30
0
120
90
60
30
)
lic
(S
i
ar
b)
(C
SS
M
SS
M
.6
Site
RY
C
St
.4
.3
.5
St
St
St
.1
.2
St
)
lic
(S
i
ar
b)
(C
SS
M
SS
M
.6
Site
RY
C
St
.4
.5
St
St
.3
St
.2
St
St
.1
0
St
Number of grains.cm-2
150
Figure 2-66 Inorganic components (number of grains/cm2) of the investigated bottom
sediment cores; A) 0-5 cm sections and B) 5-10 cm section at the northern tip of the Gulf of
Aqaba, Marine Science Station (Carb; Silic) and Royal Yacht Club sites (after Al-Rousan et al.,
2005).
The area at Sts 3 and 4 was an active construction site with substantial dredging activities taking
place during the study. In the case of the RYC, the most likely source of the high numbers of quartz
grains is recent deposits from the boat and yacht activities. Other stations showed a similar
distribution of quartz comparable with the concentrations in the silica sand at the Marine Science
Station. The carbonate fragments were low at all stations ranging between 2 and 8 g cm−2 compared
with a range of 22–32 g cm−2 in the Marine Science Station carbonate sediment (Figure 2-66).
RSS-REL-T102.2
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Faunal distribution in sediments
The faunal densities in the sediments from the northern tip of the Gulf were generally low compared
with other parts along the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba, such as the Marine Science Station.
The coral reef sediments are mainly generated from reef rock, calcareous algae, fragmented solid
biogenic material, and calcium carbonate skeletal remains such as foraminiferan tests and molluscan
shells (Emery 1964; Friedman 1964). These well-oxygenated permeable sediments favour rapid
recycling of organic matter (Rasheed et al., 2002; 2003) which enhances their capacity to support
infauna. The absence of hard substrates at St. 1–St. 6 might well also explain the low densities of
epifauna present in the study area (Figure 2-66). The epifauna found on the northern coast were
restricted to some sea anemones and hydrozoa. The vagile or mobile fauna, including fish and
shrimps, are relatively abundant, whereas other fauna like gastropods and echinoidea are rare and
inconspicuous. The infauna group can be divided into two subgroups. The macrofauna (larger than 1
mm), main groups found in the study area belonging to this part, include molluscs, bivalves, and
scaphopods. The meiofauna (smaller than 1 mm) were few in number and included planktonic and
benthic foraminifera and ostracods. The number of small shells and tests of mollusc in the study area
ranged from 2 to 10 ind cm−2 (Figure 2-67). This value tended to be higher in the 0–5 cm section of
the cores than in the 5–10 cm section. However, it was absent at the RYC site (Figure 2-67). For
benthic foraminifera, Amphisorus hemprichii (species) was found to be abundant. The distribution of
this species follows the vegetation cover, and this species occurs on Halophila leaves Reiss and
Hottinger (1984). This is the most likely reason why this species was absent in the RYC and MSS
sites (Figure 2-67). In northern tip of the Gulf, this species ranged from 2 to 4 ind cm−2; this value
decreased at Sts 3 and 4, most likely due to the construction work taking place at these stations.
B) 5-10 cm
)
lic
(S
i
ar
b)
(C
SS
M
SS
M
.6
St
Site
RY
C
.5
St
.4
0
St
)
lic
(S
i
ar
b)
(C
SS
M
SS
M
.6
St
Site
RY
C
.5
St
.4
St
.2
St
St
St
.3
0
10
.3
10
Rotaleidae
20
.2
20
Mollusc
30
St
Number of individuals.cm-2
30
Amphi. Hem.
40
St
Rotaleidae
.1
Mollusc
St
Amphi. Hem.
40
.1
Number of individuals.cm-2
A) 0-5 cm
Figure 2-67 Faunal densities (number of individuals/cm2) in the investigated bottom sediment
cores; A) 0-5 cm sections and B) 5-10 cm section at the study area, MSS (Carb), MSS (Silic)
and RYC sites (after Al-Rousan et al., 2005).
Smaller benthic foraminifera ‘cf. Rotaliids’ were found to be the most abundant species, numbering
some 14–32 ind cm−2. The number decreased toward the RYC area. No differences were found in
species distribution between the 0–5 cm and 5–10 cm sections of the cores (Figure 2-67). In the Red
Sea, this species is believed to live on Halophila-covered soft substrate, and in the shallowest
environments around mangroves (Reiss and Hottinger 1984).
RSS-REL-T102.2
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Al-Najjar (Unpublished data), identified the molluscan shells (compound binocular microscope) from
sediment samples taken at two sites at the northern and southern region along the Jordanian coast.
A list of these shells are shown in Table 2-19.
Table 2-19 Summary of the molluscan faunal shells identified from sediment samples
collected in the two locations (north and south) of the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba
(Al-Najjar unpublished data).
Cerithium Cerithiidae Caenogastropoda
Otostomia Pyramidellidae Heterostropha
Species of Turridae Neogastropoda
Eulima Ctenoglossa Caenogastropoda
Stylifer Cerithiidae Caenogastropoda
Cephalaspidea Opisthobranchia
Ringicula Cephalospidea Heterostropha
Epitonium Ctenoglossa Caenogastropoda
Species of Trochidae Archaeogastropoda
Gabrielonia Tricoliidae
Archaeogastropoda
Turritella Turritellidae Caenogastropoda
Scaiola Cerithiidae Caenogastropoda
Species of Turbinidae Archaeogastropoda
Cavolinia Pteropoda Heterobranchia
Species of Tornidae Caenogastropoda
Smaragdia Neritimorpha
Bittium Cerithiidae Caenogastropoda
Mitridae Neogastropoda
Diala Cerithiidae Caenogastropoda
Cerithiosis Ctenoglossa Caenogastropoda
Litiopa Cerithiidae Caenogropoda
Haliotis Archaeogastropoda
Nassarius Neogastropoda
Columbellidae Neogastropoda
Strombus Stromboidea Caenogastropoda
Nerita Neritimorpha
Pyramidellidae Heterostropha
Cypraea Cypraeidae Caenogastropoda
Murrex Neogastropoda
Erato Triviidae Neomesogastropoda
Natica Naticidae Caenogastropoda
Species of Pyramidellidae Heterobranchia
Stomatella Trochidae Archaeogastropoda
Margarites Trochidae Archaeogastropoda
Rissoa Rissoidae Caenogastropoda
Gena Trochidae Archaeogastropoda
Anachis Columbellidae Neogastropoda
Limacina Pteropoda
Planaxis Cerithiidae Caenogastropoda
Atlanta Heteropoda
Alvania Rissoidae Caenogastropoda
Janthina Janthinoidea Ctenoglossa
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Coral reefs
This report is appended (Appendix 1) with PDF copies of two publications (Genin et al., 1995;
Labiosa et al., 2003;) that describe the driving forces and mechanisms determining the dynamics of
the coral reefs in the northern Gulf of Aqaba (GoA) and the surrounding deep waters. We
recommend that in addition to reading the following report, persons interested in understanding the
functioning this unique ecosystem should also read those papers. The following section of the BAD
report does not repeat the presentation of material described in those publications.
Additional information on coral reefs (and other marine habitats) is also reported in Appendix 2.
The data on which this report is based have been collected through the two on-going national
monitoring programs in Jordan and Israel. The former is operated by MSS and the latter by IUI.
Description of state of reefs along the Jordanian coast (2.1.6.1) includes the description of the two
candidate intake sites.
2.1.6.1
State of coral reefs and other benthic habitats in the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of
Aqaba
The Jordanian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba is relatively small and extends about 27 Km along the
north eastern part of the Gulf. It represents the only marine access of Jordan where all the sea
related activities are focused. The coast is lined by a discontinuous belt of fringing coral reefs, which
vary in width as exemplarity studied by Mergner and Schuhmacher (1974) who distinguished the
coastal-fringing reef with narrow reef flat and the lagoon-fringing reef with a lagoonal depression
between shore and reef crest. Bouchon et al. (1981) pointed out that the reefs are developed in front
of capes, whereas bays between harbour beds of seagrasses. The diversity in the reefs is among
the greatest ever found in reef communities in the world (Mergner and Schuhmacher, 1981; Mergner
et al. 1992; Schuhmacher et al. 1995). No bleaching events were recorded in the aftermath of the
1997/1998 global warming event. At present pollution is limited and localized. The main threats are
oil spills and discharges, industrial discharges, ship-based sewage and solid waste (Mergner 1981,
Walker & Ormond 1982, Wilkinson 2000) and various forms of pollution and littering (Schuhmacher
1992, Mergner et al. 1992). For example, high numbers of Drupella cornus feeding on corals were
recorded in 1994 (Al-Moghrabi 1996). Also, black band disease was found to infect colonies
especially the Industrial Area (Al-Moghrabi 2001). The continuous development of the tourism and
industrial sectors and the other land based activities might also further threaten the coral reefs in
Jordan. For example, some localized damage to the reefs has resulted from direct dredging on the
coast, increased sedimentation rates from constructions and road expansion and from the expanding
tourism, through walking on exposed reefs, souvenir collection, diver damage and anchor damage
(Al-Horani F. A., personal observations).
The Jordanian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba was subjected to an intense survey to assess the health of
coral reefs in Jordan (Al-Horani et al., 2006). In this study, the benthic cover components were
studied at three depths including the reef flat, the 8m and the 15m depths in eight sites along the
Jordanian coast. It was found that hard corals distribution increase gradually from north to south and
that the 15m deep transects had the highest coverage of hard corals. On the other hand, soft corals
showed the highest coverage at sites where industrial activities are found. Coral death was low along
the Jordanian coast. The hotels area, the phosphate loading berth and the Tala Bay sites had more
than 40% seagrass coverage and were classified as seagrass habitats. It is generally concluded that
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the coral reefs in Jordan are in good condition, although pressure resulting from the fast
development in the touristic, industrial and construction activities along the coast is expected to
increase and may represent the major threats to this ecosystem in future.
Results from Jordanian National Monitoring Program of coral reefs and other benthic habitats
The benthic habitats in the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba were monitored since the year
1996. The National Monitoring Program was initiated after the peace agreement between Jordan and
Israel was signed. At the beginning the program was simple and included few sampling sites along
the coast. This program was further expanded in the year 2003 to include 8 stations distributed all
over the coast with 3 depths in each site. The sites selected represented the various human activities
on the coastline.
This report reports the results of 2009 since there were no significant differences among the results
obtained during the different years of the monitoring program.
Methods
Point intercept method used to survey the biodiversity of the coral reef ecosystem in the Gulf
of Aqaba was done according to the method of English et al (1994) as follows; the lines were
prepared and fixed in place underwater at two depths. The first was in the range between
8m and 12m (8m depth was selected as it represents the shallow depth in all the sites
above) and the second depth was in the range between 14m and 18m (a 15m depth was
selected and fixed for all sites). In addition to the above mentioned depths, a third depth
representing the reef flat was also used when applicable. For each depth, three transects
with a 50m length were prepared as shown in Figure 2-68.
Transect C
Transect B
Transect A
50m long
50m long
50m long
South -------------- North
Figure 2-68 Illustration showing the English et al. (1994) method for the biodiversity survey
used in this study.
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Sites
Eight sites were selected along the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba. The sites were studied as
mentioned above. Those sites are included in the following list with their abbreviations in brackets
and illustrated in the map (Figure 2-69):
1. Southern extension (Industrial complex) (IC).
2. Tala Bay (TB).
3. Japanese Garden (Hexagonals) As Sodasiat (ASD).
4. National Camp (Public Beach) (PB).
5. Marine Science Station (MSS).
6. Clinker Port (CP).
7. Phosphate Port (PP).
8. Hotel Area (HA).
Gulf
of A
qaba
29.55
Hotels Area (HA)
Public Cafés (PC)
Phosphate Port (PP)
Latitude (N)
29.5
Clinker Port (CP)
Red Sea
Ferry Port
Marine Science Station (MSS)
29.45
Public Beach (PB)
Visitors Center
As Sodasiat (ASD)
Tala Bay (TB)
29.4
Royal Diving Center
Oil Terminal
GULF OF AQABA
29.35
0
1
2
34.8
3
4
5 km
34.85
34.9
Thermal Power Station
Industrial Complex (IC)
34.95
35
35.05
Longitude (E)
Figure 2-69 Gulf of Aqaba map showing the sites studied in the benthos monitoring. Triangles
are the sites surveyed.
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Items Surveyed
Fourteen items were surveyed in the year 2009 monitoring program (Table 2-20). The items were
selected in accordance with their importance in the Gulf of Aqaba coral reef's ecosystem.
Table 2-20 Items used in the monitoring program with their abbreviations.
Item
Abbreviation
Item
Abbreviation
Hard coral
HC
Sea grass
SG
Soft coral
SC
Sand
SD
Sea Anemone
SA
Rock
RC
Sponges
SP
Rubble
RB
Ascidians
AS
Others
OT
Clams
CL
Man Made Objects
MM
Algae
AG
Recently died coral
RC
Results
The results are presented as per single item for the 8 sites at three depths when applicable. The two
depths, 8m and 15m were fixed for all sites. The reef flat depth can only be found in the Industrial
complex, As Sodasiat, Public Beach, Marine Science Station and the Clinker Port sites.
1. Hard corals: The situation of the hard corals was not so much different from the previous year,
where the 15m deep transects had higher percent cover of hard corals than the shallower
depths. The only exception for this is the VC site, where the 8m depth transects had higher
percent cover than the 15m deep transects, though the difference was not statistically significant.
In all the sites, hard corals comprised less than 60% cover percentage in most cases, with the
highest being found at MSS, ASD, PB, IC, VC and CP sites. The HA, PP and the TB sites
showed the lowest coral cover among all sites as they are sea grass dominated sites (Figure
2-70).
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8m
15m
Marine Science Station
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Israel Oceanographic &
Limnological Research
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Hard coral
RF
60
Cover %
45
30
15
VC
IC
TB
AS
D
PB
M
SS
PP
CP
H
A
0
Site
Figure 2-70 percent cover of hard corals in the 9 sites along the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of
Aqaba at the 3 depths surveyed.
2. Soft Corals: Unlike the hard corals, the soft corals distribution was highest at the industrial
complex and ASD sites and to a lesser extent in the CP and VC sites, all sites have industrial
and human activities (Figure 2-71).
3. Sea Anemone: The sea anemone is scarcely distributed in the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of
Aqaba. In all the sites surveyed, the percent cover did not exceed 3%. Sea anemone was more
prevailing in this year's survey, where it was found in many of the sites studied (Figure 2-72).
8m
15m
RF
Soft coral
60
Cover %
45
30
15
C
V
IC
TB
SD
A
PB
M
SS
PP
C
P
H
A
0
Site
Figure 2-71 Percent cover of soft corals in the 9 sites along the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of
Aqaba at the 3 depths surveyed.
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15m
RF
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Sea anemone
5
Cover %
4
3
2
1
VC
IC
TB
AS
D
PB
M
SS
PP
CP
H
A
0
Site
Figure 2-72 Percent cover of sea anemone in the 9 sites along the Jordanian coast of the Gulf
of Aqaba at the 3 depths surveyed.
4. Sponge: The distribution of sponges was similar to the sea anemone as it can be seen in figure
6. According to the data obtained, sponges were recorded in only seven sites. The percent
covers in all sites and did not exceed 4% (Figure 2-73).
8m
15m
RF
Sponge
5
Cover %
4
3
2
1
VC
IC
TB
AS
D
PB
M
SS
PP
CP
H
A
0
Site
Figure 2-73 Percent cover of sponges in the 9 sites along the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of
Aqaba at the 3 depths surveyed.
5. Clams: Clams seem to be very rare in the studied area. In the 9 sites with 3 depths and 3
transects per depth, clams were only found with a percent cover of less than 3% in all cases
(Figure 2-74).
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8m
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RF
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Clams
5
Cover %
4
3
2
1
C
V
IC
TB
SD
A
PB
M
SS
PP
H
C
P
A
0
Site
Figure 2-74 percent cover of Clams in the 9 sites along the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of
Aqaba at the 3 depths surveyed.
6. Algae: The algal distribution was also low in all sites studied (Figure 2-75).
8m
15m
RF
Algae
6
Cover %
5
3
2
VC
IC
TB
AS
D
PB
M
SS
PP
CP
H
A
0
Site
Figure 2-75 percent cover of Algae in the 9 sites along the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of
Aqaba at the 3 depths surveyed.
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15m
RF
CP
8m
H
A
7. Sea grass: The seagrass distribution is similar to what is expected with the HA, TB and PP sites
having high percentages of this item (Figure 2-76).
Sea grass
100
Cover %
75
50
25
VC
IC
TB
AS
D
PB
M
SS
PP
0
Site
Figure 2-76 Percent cover of seagrass in the 9 sites along the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of
Aqaba at the 3 depths surveyed.
15m
RF
CP
8m
H
A
8. Recently Killed Corals: This is the most important indicator for the coral health in the Gulf of
Aqaba. It shows the rate of coral death in the area studied. The data obtained have shown very
low percent cover for this item with less than 3% in all the sites studied (Figure 2-77).
Recently Killed Corals
5
Cover %
4
3
2
1
VC
IC
TB
AS
D
PB
M
SS
PP
0
Site
Figure 2-77 percent cover of Recently Killed Corals in the 9 sites along the Jordanian coast of
the Gulf of Aqaba at the 3 depths surveyed.
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Discussion and conclusion
The data obtained for the percent cover of the hard corals along the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of
Aqaba have shown higher percent cover at the 15m deep transects, except for the VC site. This
result is similar to the data obtained last year and the data obtained by Schumacher et al. (1995). It
is also noted that the industrial complex (IC) is found in an area with high percent coral cover. This
puts the area under continuous risk and necessitates the use of high quality control measures to
preserve and protect the marine environment at this site. In this site (i.e. IC site), the soft corals have
shown highest percent cover compared with other sites. Furthermore, taking into consideration the
plans for re-locating the main ports to this area is expected to cause massive destruction of the coral
reef habitat in the area. This should be taken in extreme care and start acting by coral
transplantation and rehabilitation of other sites to replace the expected loss of the habitat in the area.
Looking at the data obtained for the recently killed corals, one can say that the rate of coral
deterioration along the Jordanian coast is low (less than 3% cover percentage) and is comparable to
the previous years of monitoring. Though, protection measures should be taken to reduce the rate of
coral deterioration, especially in areas not covered by the monitoring program such as the areas with
intense human activities.
Two indicators that might imply human influence on the marine environment are the algae and the
man made objects items. Algae grow in response to increased nutrient load as well as the upwelling
currents, which transfer nutrients from the deeper water columns to the shallower depths, where light
is present. Therefore, algae can thrive depending on the availability of nutrients. The algal growth is
also seasonal (i.e. it appears on certain times of the year). This means that, if at the time of their
season a survey was done, then it’ll appear in the results and when the time of survey is shifted to a
different period then it is not recorded. This, of course, will not exclude their effects on the ecosystem
as they can prevent light penetration and also over grow the corals leading to death of corals. The
man made objects, which include the various objects thrown to the sea, such as plastic bags, cans,
tires, bottles…etc., can lead to coral death when they fall on the coral colony. Those are direct
influence of human activities along the coast. The man made objects are mostly found in areas
where recreational activities are found, therefore to overcome this consistent problem, it is necessary
to raise public awareness among visitors of the beaches and also to organize regular campaigns for
clean-up dives in the sites affected.
Benthic habitats in the two candidate abstraction sites
The two candidate sites for the water uptake in the RDC project are the northernmost part of the Gulf
(i.e. the “hotels area”; Figure 2-69) and the site located in front of the old power station, which is
located midway between the phosphate loading berth and the Clinker sites that are studied in the
Jordanian National Monitoring Program. In the first candidate site (i.e. the “hotels area”), the benthic
habitat is characterized by having seagrass meadows and sandy bottoms (Figure 2-78). There are
no coral reefs in the area, although some individual colonies can be found scattered in the area. The
Clinker site was not studied, though the two neighboring sites close to it that area studied within the
NMP are the phosphate loading berth and the Clinker sites. Those two sites show increasing cover
percentages for the hard corals growing south from the Phosphate Loading Berth site to the Clinker
site (Figure 2-78 & Figure 2-79). The site midway between them (i.e. the old power station site) is
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assumed to be similar in structure with fully developed coral reefs. This site was not yet studied
quantitatively, although our personal observations of the site showed that this is a coral reef area.
Benthic Habitat at the Hotels Area
100.0
Cover percenta
80.0
60.0
8m
15m
40.0
20.0
0.0
HC SC
SA
SP
AS
CL AG SG SD RC RB OT MM RKC
Item
Figure 2-78 Benthic cover percentages at the “hotel area”.
Benthic Habitat at the Phosphate Loading Berth
75
Cover percenta
60
45
8m
15m
30
15
0
HC
SC
SA
SP
AS
CL AG
SG
SD
RC
RB
OT MM RKC
Item
Figure 2-79 Benthic cover percentages at the Phosphate loading Berth site.
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Benthic Habitat at the Clinker Area
50
Cover Percenta
40
RF
30
8
8
20
15m
10
0
HC
SC
SA
SP
AS
CL
AG
SG
SD
RC
RB
OT
MM RKC
Item
Figure 2-80 Benthic cover percentages at the Clinker site.
In the framework of the Red Sea Study the eastern intake site (“old power station”) was subjected to
a field survey for its benthic cover components. The results confirmed previous observations and are
anticipated below. They will be described in better detail in the Mid Term Report.
The site has concrete facility at the sea front (Figure 2-81 - upper) and has dumped rocks in front of
it (Figure 2-81 - lower). Our survey transects were laid next to this construction at 3 depths including
the reef flat, the 9m and the 15m depths. At each depth we have deployed 3 transects (Figure 2-83);
1 transect was laid at about 10m distance south to the construction, the other second transect was
laid at about 10 m north to the construction, while the third transect was laid at about 20m north of
the second one. The distance between transect 1 and transect 2 was about 35m only (in front of the
construction). The data obtained have shown that there are about 20%, 18% and 25% coral cover at
the reef flat, 9m depth and 15m depth, respectively (Figure 2-82). This means that the area is in fact
a reef flat area, although the narrow area in front of the construction shown in Figure 2-81 was
destroyed by dumping rocks in the past, as it is shown in Figure 2-81. The rocks dumped cover an
area of about 35m wide (parallel to the shoreline) and might extend to about 60m depth (exact
distance was not measured due to depth limitations). The rocks are also covering the area to about
100m north to the pumps room.
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Figure 2-81 Photo of the eastern intake location (the old thermal power station site) showing
the pumps room (upper) and underwater photo in front of the pumps room (lower).
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Benthic Habitat at Reef Flat depth/Aqaba site
60
50
percent cover
40
30
20
10
0
HC
SC
SA
SP
AS
CL
AG
SG
SD
RC
RB
OT
MM
RKC
SD
RC
RB
OT
MM
RKC
RC
RB
OT
MM
RKC
Benthic habitat component
Benthic Habitat at 9m depth/Aqaba site
35
30
percent cover
25
20
15
10
5
0
HC
SC
SA
SP
AS
CL
AG
SG
Benthic habitat component
Benthic Habitat at 15m depth/Aqaba site
40.0
percent cover
30.0
20.0
10.0
0.0
HC
SC
SA
SP
AS
CL
AG
SG
SD
Benthic habitat component
Figure 2-82 Cover percentage for the benthic cover components at 3 depths (reef flat, 9m and
15m) in the study site.
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Transect 3
Transect 2
50m long
50m long
29 29 364
E34 59 119 50 m
N
Marine Science Station
Uni. of Jordan/Yarmouk Uni.
A qaba
Pumps
room
29 29 310
E34 59 102
Israel Oceanographic &
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Transect 1
50m long
N
29 29 281
E34 59 085
N
50 m
North -------------- South
Figure 2-83 Illustration showing the survey transects with regard to the pumps room of the
old thermal power station and the GPS reading for 3 points taken to the right, in front and left
of the pumps room. The reading in the centre (in front of the pumps room) is 20 m from the
coast line, the readings to the right and left of it is 50m away from the reading in the centre.
The reef flat line is about 10m from the coastline. The 9m deep transects are about 30m from
the coastline, while the 15m deep transects are about 45m from the coastline.
2.1.6.2
State of the coral reefs in the Israeli coast of the Gulf of Aqaba
Historical data
During the last four decades, the coral reef at Eilat has undergone major changes. Increasing
impacts from human activities, coupled with those from natural disasters, have set off its current poor
state. Although this reef is one of the most intensively studied small coral reef worldwide, the
literature elucidates that the available results are exceedingly fragmented, offering only scanty
knowledge for the causes and pathways of the reef deterioration. During the years, 1975-2000,
scarcely any reef evaluation had been done and the reef at Eilat was not well characterized to
establish baseline data for future evaluations and for analyzing the trends. Documentation for Eilat’s
coral reef degradation dates back to the 1960’s, soon after declaring the area as a coral reserve
(Fishelson, 1980). The studies that pursued since have tested various ecological parameters of the
reef (Rinkevich, 2005). One of the few studies that included recent and past data (Wielgus et al.,
2003) revealed a surprising fast degradation of Eilat‘s reef during the 1960’s and the 1970’s and
minuscule “rehabilitation” during recent years. Fishelson (1995) listed 23 littoral fish species that
disappeared from Eilat reef and pointed to a substantial reduction in the numbers of other key reef
fishes (e.g., Dascyllus and Pseudanthias) during a two-decade (1963-1982) census. Fishelson
(1977) recorded a significant decline in visits of fish assemblages to stations of the cleaner-fish
Labroides dimidiatu between 1969 and 1974. This decline was accelerated in the following two-year
interval (1974-1976) when 40% of the cleaner-fish stations disappeared (Fishelson, 1977), as did 32
species of macro-invertebrates, including crustaceans, echinoderms, mollusks and cnidarians
(Fishelson, 1995). The fauna of soft bottom dwelling organisms shifted completely between 1975
and 1990 (Fishelson, 1995). However, another long-term study (two decades) on sandy shore fish
communities in the northern part of the Gulf (Golani and Lerner, 2003) has revealed no signs of
deterioration. Other unpublished observations (M. Shpiegel, National Centre for Mariculture, Eilat
and http://www.dafni.com/gulfsave/filograndella.htm) have recently documented in the sandy area at
the northern tip of the Gulf, the reappearance of various macroinvertebrate species, which had long
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disappeared from Eilat reef or had become very rare, and the arrival of several fish species (such as
Heniochus diphreutes, Cyclichthys spilostylus, Amblyeleotris steinitzi).
Even the follow up studies on the extreme low tide episode (occurred during 1970) are limited and
localized, and cannot be used as a model case in calibrating Eilat reef status. Recent studies have
surprisingly revealed ecological parameters in different areas along the reef at Eilat that fall within
the values given more than three decades ago, prior to the 1970 low-tide event. During 1992, coral’s
species diversity recorded in a northern patch reef in the Gulf of Eilat was similar to 1969 census at
the CBR (Goren, 1992). Perkol-Finkel and Benayahu (2004) surveyed a reef area at a depth of 4-14
m close to the nature reserve in Eilat and found that the values for coral species diversity and
average numbers of coral species per transect exceeded those values recorded at same depth
during the 1969 census. Ben Tzvi (2003) studied 16 shallow water stations along the coast at Eilat of
which many are part of the reef, revealed similar species diversity values as recorded during the late
60’s. Same conclusion is revealed from the 1996 values for percentage of coral colony coverage at
the CBR (Zakai and Chadwick-Furman, 2002). The coral reefs along the entire Gulf are also
degrading. Recent censuses on the status of coral reefs along the Sinai coast (two sites; Hassan et
al., 2002) revealed fast degradation of these reefs from 1997 (37% coverage) to 2002 (20%
coverage), 47% decrease in butterfly fish population and 69% in sweetlip population. Giant clam
populations also declined between 1997 and 2002. No further details were given pertaining localities
and data.
Natural forces affecting the reef at Eilat are understood only vaguely, and coral
assemblages/recruitments, even between neighboring sites, vary markedly in any studied biologicalecological parameter. The importance of the complex networks of interactions between algae, their
grazers and corals for structuring coral assemblages, were overlooked, and massive algal growths
were mistakenly attributed to anthropogenic impacts alone. The scientific interest in the possible
impacts of algal blooms on the reefs at Eilat centered on the documented outbreaks of fleshy algae
and phytoplankton during the spring of 1992 (Genin et al., 1995) and recent years episodical blooms.
However, the phenomena of algal outbreaks and algal-coral interactions in Eilat had been
documented years before (Fishelson, 1973a, Fishelson, 1973b; Schumacher, 1973; Benayahu and
Loya, 1977b, 1978, 1981; Mergner, 1984). During spring 2000, an algal bloom that “by far exceeded
the normal levels and the degree of influence” (Schumacher et al., 2002) affected reefs at Ras
Mohamed Park and other localities in Sinai, forming dense mats and covering the reef communities
down to depth of 10 m. That phenomenon was not recorded in Eilat reefs, although the magnitude of
deep water mixing during spring 2000 was similar to the 1992 (Genin et al., 1995) event.
During the 1970s, Benayahu and Loya (1977b, 1978, 1981) revealed seasonal patterns of benthic
algae communities in nine reefs along Eilat and northern Sinai shores, the division of space between
algae and cnidarians, competitive interactions and variations in the extent of algal coverage, even
between adjacent reef localities. One interesting result was the highest recorded algal coverage in
the Nature Reserve reef flat (>60% coverage around the year 1975) as compared to all reefs as far
as 30 km to the south, akin only to algal coverage at Ras Burka reef flat, about 50 km south of Eilat
(Benayahu and Loya, 1981). These algal coverage results, contradicting any possible major
eutrophication impacts from the city of Eilat, were found to be significantly correlating with the
average density of the sea urchin Diadema setosum populations (Benayahu and Loya, 1978). In
both, Eilat and Ras Burka reef flats, the average numbers of D. setosum were very low, as compared
to all other seven localities studied in between these two extreme points. Most interestingly, the
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shallow reef at IUI (about 200 meters south of the nature reserve) exhibited one of the highest
percentages of live coral coverage with minimal algal coverage. D. setosum counts there were
higher than in the nature reserve (Benayahu and Loya, 1978, 1981). Benayahu and Loya (1978)
recorded 0 to 15.8 D. setosum specimen/m2 in different stations along >50 km shore line of the Gulf
of Eilat. More recently, Ben-Tzvi (2003) has recorded 0.6 - 12.4 Diadema specimen per m2 in 16
stations along ~8 km at the northern tip of the Gulf. As previously recorded by Benayahu and Loya
(1978), stations that revealed higher numbers of sea urchins were also characterized by low algal
coverage and higher diversities of coral species (Ben Tzvi, 2003). It can be summarized that in the
presence of herbivore impacts it is difficult to document that algae overgrow corals or are deleterious
to coral growth (Bongiorni et al., 2003). Herbivorous pressure may, however, negatively affect coral
reefs. Working on artificial reefs at Eilat, Schumacher (1974) noted that in some places, overly high
numbers of sea urchins hindered considerably the settlement of corals and restricted their
distribution to places inaccessible to the sea urchins. In support are Oren and Benayahu (1997)
observations that sea urchin grazing may diminish the survivorship of primary coral polyps, and BenTzvi (2003) conclusion that over-a-threshold density, sea urchins may reduce coral recruitment
because of intense grazing.
Almost any biological-ecological parameter studied at Eilat reef represents the property of high level
of variation on a small geographic scale (summarized in Rinkevich, 2005). These geographically
small-scale variations are also reflected in studies revealing rates of coral recruitment, population
genetics of corals, interactions of algae and herbivorous organisms, natural catastrophe like low
tides, substrate type, structure and topography, light intensity and sedimentation and more. One nice
example is the algal outbreak in the spring of 1992. Genin et al. (1995) examined haphazardly-set
quadrates at 5-7 m depth in two reef localities at Eilat, about 250 m apart. The algal mat at IUI
locality was fully developed (>100 gr dry weight m-2) whereas algae at the nearest site (the nature
reserve area) remained sparse throughout the bloom event. Corals at both sites were affected
differently. The extent of coral colony mortality and tissue damage in branching forms living at the IUI
site was higher than in the nature reserve population. Genin et al. (1995) suggested that the paucity
of algae at the nature reserve site and the reduced mortality was due to grazing pressure. That
example further demonstrated the high variability of ecological parameters existing within a few
hundreds meters at Eilat. Several studies (Benayahu and Loya, 1987; Ben-Tzvi, 2003; Glassom et
al., 2004; Abelson et al., 2005; Epstein et al., 2005) further noted small-scale variations in coral and
in recruitments of other major sessile organisms, as well as variations in space utilization. Results
revealed that very close localities differed during the yearly seasons by an order of magnitude in
quantitative parameters, like the number of recruit, or differed significantly in recruited coral species
(Glassom et al., 2004; Abelson et al., 2005). As a result, size class frequencies of abundant species
like Stylophora pistillata, varied significantly between neighboring sites (Epstein et al., 2005). A
similar trend of high spatial variability in hard and soft coral recruitment had been recorded in Eilat
even during the 1970’s (Benayahu and Loya, 1987).
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Results from Israeli National Monitoring Program of coral reefs and other benthic habitats
The National Monitoring Program (NMP) in Eilat started in 2003. The monitoring activities consist of
routine measurements of key oceanographic, meteorological, and biological parameters in the local
coral reefs, sandy coastal areas, and in the open waters. All the data collected by NMP are open to
the public at http://www.iui-eilat.ac.il/NMP/Default.aspx
The following assessment of the state of the coral reefs in is based on the following monitoring
activities:
a) An annual survey in which coral abundance is measured at 3 separate reefs (Figure 2-84): IUI,
Nature Reserve (NR), and the Oil Terminal (KAZAA), using standard 10 m long line transects
(Figure 2-85) along which the % cover of corals and other substrates are measured along with a
health index (% of healthy tissue) of each coral falling under the transect line.
b) Belt transects designed for counts of invertebrates (mostly sea urchins, feather stars, mollusks,
and asteroids) and fish.
c) Digital photographs of 120 plots (0.5x0.5 m each) taken once a year at fixed points along most of
the eastern coastal line. The photographs are digitized and processed to provide measurements
of coral growth, recruitment, and mortality. Figure 2-86 is an example of the latter activity.
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Figure 2-84 An aerial photo of the northwestern shore of the gulf, south of Eilat, showing the
coral reef sampling sites. The yellow lines represent sampling sites at the IUI (1), the Nature
Reserve (2) and the oil terminal (3). Black scale line is 100 m.
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Figure 2-85 The divers during the sampling of line transects at the IUI (A) and the nature
reserve (B). The divers recorded the projected length of all the organisms or substrate
underneath the line-transect to a resolution of 1 cm.
Figure 2-86 A set of photographs from one of the photo-survey sites in the nature reserve reef
(2004 left, 2005 right). Among the observed changes are partial mortality of the massive coral
Platygyra 1 (top center in photos), and growth of two colonies of the branching coral
Acropora 1 and 2, (top right in photos). In addition, a few colonies are missing from the
bottom picture (2005), and some are new settlers that appear only in 2005.
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The key findings of the coral reef monitoring are:
1. Over the period covered by NMP (2003-2009) the reefs were stable, with some of the proxies
showing a slight improvement in the state of the reef since 2004 (Figure 2-87 e Figure 2-88).
Figure 2-87 Average live coral cover (excluding soft corals) at each site (percent of total area).
Figure 2-88 Utilization of available substrate by stony corals in the years 2004-2009.
Presented is the average (±SE) of percent of live stony coral coverage out of the total
consolidated substrate at each site. These numbers indicate how much of the potentially
viable substrate is actually covered by live corals. Annual values differ significantly.
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Figure 2-89 The Live Tissue Index (LTI) for corals in the surveyed sites. The LTI is the site
average of the percent area of live/healthy coral tissue for each living colony.
2. Most of the proxies used to evaluate the state of the coral reef slightly peaked in 2007, but are
still higher than those of the years 2004-2006 (Figure 2-87-Figure 2-89).
3. A gradual increase in substrate utility by stony corals was observed in the past 3 years at the IUI
reef sites. At the NR sites too there was a net increase, and at the Katza sites there were yearly
fluctuations that amount to an insignificant change. The shallow reef site at the nature reserve
(NR) has the best coral cover while the best substrate utility is found at the deeper NR site (20m
depth) (Figure 2-88).
4. The year 2007 saw a rise in the Live Tissue Index (LTI), which is used as a proxy for coral
health. Since then values of the LTI slightly dropped and are now similar to the low values
measured in 2006 (Figure 2-89).
5. Both the species diversity (Figure 2-90) and coral species composition (Figure 2-91) have
remained fairly stable throughout the past 6 years.
Figure 2-90 The Shannon-Wiener diversity index of coral genera and species in the surveyed
sites.
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Figure 2-91 The twenty most abundant coral taxa in the reefs of Eilat (according to their
cumulative measured length in the line transects of 2004), arranged according to their
abundance in 2009.
6. A small rise in colony density at the permanent photo-sites was observed in 2009, compared to
previous year. Although changes are small the density at the photo-sites is still lower in most
cases than the 2007 values.
7. At most permanent photo-sites a net growth of stony corals was documented, but at most sites
this was not accompanied by an increase in coral cover.
8. Changes in the coral cover include coral growth, colony death and recruitment of new colonies.
At the NR and north beach sites there have been more colony deaths than new recruitment and
at the rest of the sites the number of recruited colonies is larger than colonies that died. Despite
the larger numbers of recruited colonies the live coral cover lost through colony death is larger
than that gained by recruitment.
9. Size distribution of coral colonies at the photo-sites remains stable. Small colonies remain the
largest size group (app. 60% of all stony coral colonies). The community structure remains
stable as well.
10. At the NR lagoon the coral community seems stable. A small (not statistically significant) decline
in coral density is measured. Species diversity on the other hand rose since 2007 and is similar
to 2006 values. It seems that fluctuations in the abundance of Stylophora, by far the most
abundant coral in the lagoon, drive the fluctuations observed at the lagoon as a whole.
11. The density of sea-urchins exhibit substantial fluctuations (Figure 2-92). The years 2004-5 and
2007-8 had high sea-urchin density while during 2006 and 2009 a decline in the urchin
population was documented. Available sporadic data from past studies at the IUI suggest
fluctuations of sea-urchin populations were common during the past two decades.
12. The abundance of sea-feathers (crinoids) continues to increase (Figure 2-93) since their return
to the local reefs in 2004 (the crinoids disappeared from the coastal zone of Eilat in summer
1989 and remained absent until 2003-4). A slight decrease in the crinoid abundance was
observed in 2009 at the IUI reef.
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Figure 2-92 The average density (individuals per m2) of the dominant sea urchin Diadema
setosum at the sampling sites.
Figure 2-93 The average density (per m2) of feather-stars at the sampling sites.
13. The growth potential of benthic algae, as indicated by settlement over plates protected from the
effects of grazing, is strongly affected by the depth of vertical mixing in the preceding winter. A
drop in benthic algae in 2009 corresponded with the shallow winter mixing in that year (Figure
2-94).
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Figure 2-94 Average chlorophyll a on exposed (diamonds) and caged (squares) settlement
plates since 2004. Each point represents one month (calculated as an average of three plates
submerged in the sea for two months).
2.1.6.3
General conclusion on the state of coral reefs in the northern Gulf of Aqaba/Eilat
The distribution of coral reefs and other marine habitats along the coasts of the northern Gulf of
Aqaba is described in Figure 2-95. As the caption makes clear, the map results from expert
knowledge and best approximation and it has clearly limited accuracy (especially with regard to the
vertical extent - depth - of each habitat).
The most relevant conclusion about the state and the development of coral reefs in the northern Gulf
of Aqaba/Eilat is that over the past 6-7 years the coral reefs in the northern section of the Gulf have
been in stable condition, exhibiting neither severe decline nor fast recovery. No matter the
differences in the anthropogenic pressures and the different monitoring time span at the two sides of
the Gulf, this consideration is valid both for the Jordan and the Israeli side of the northern tip. Longerterm studies indicate that the present situation is worse that some 40-50 years ago, but up to now
nor recovery nor additional deterioration trends are presently evident.
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Coral reef
Sand
Sea grass
Figure 2-95 Map of marine habitats in the northern Gulf of Aqaba/Eilat. The map results from
expert knowledge and best approximation and it has limited accuracy (especially with regard
to the vertical extent - depth - of each habitat).
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Coral reefs larvae (fish and invertebrate larvae)
Fish larvae
The only insight currently available into the dispersal of coral-reef fishes along the coastline of the
northern GOAE is based on our micro-chemical analysis of the otoliths of newly settled fish (Ben Tzvi
et al 2008). Spatial patterns in the chemical signature in the otoliths of Chromis viridis
(Pomacentridae) point at two distinct northward dispersal trajectories, one eastern and the other
western, which converge at the north-western corner of the Gulf (Ben Tzvi et al 2008). The two
trajectories do not appear to continue beyond this point, potentially; at least not for C. viridis. The
break could potentially be due to intermittent submesoscale barriers to horizontal surface-water
mixing (Gildor et al. 2009). However, we do have some indication of interspecific differences (Ben
Tzvi et al. unpubl.). For example, Dascyllus marginatus (Pomacentridae) does not seem to be
affected by the aforementioned barriers; and its eastern trajectory appears to turn southwards along
the western coastline.
Interspecific difference in dispersal trajectories can arise from differential vertical positioning in the
water column. Vertical positioning of fish larvae (and of zooplankton, in general) is thought to
balance several factors, including: the probability of encountering prey and visual predators; the
exploitation of shears to affect transport; and potential phylogenetic constraints (e.g. Irisson et al.
2010). With the exception of a descriptive study based on shallow light-trap samples (Faroukh 2001.
MSc thesis), essentially no information exists of the spatial distribution of coral-reef fish larva in the
Gulf of Aqaba. Our own preliminary data (Kimmerling & Kiflawi unpublished), obtained from vertically
discrete MOCNESS samples of the upper 180m, show a unimodal distribution of larval abundance
with a peak around 75m (Figure 2-96); corresponding roughly to the depth of chlorophyll maximum.
However, the pattern may vary with factors such as local topography and flow conditions, distance
from shore, the extent of stratification, etc.
Figure 2-96 The distribution of larval-fish density along a depth gradient; with means
calculated across three bottom depths (~100, 200, and 400m). MOCNESS samples were
obtained in front of the Israeli Coral Reserve, on three occasions close to the end of the
reproductive season of 2009.
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Coral larvae
There are no specific studies on the distribution of coral larvae in the Gulf of Aqaba. Our knowledge
about the distribution of coral larvae is coming mainly from observations along the eastern shoreline
of the northern tip of the Gulf, where new coral growth appears on deployed materials such as
sediment traps, rocks, blocks and solid wastes (Figure 2-97). The growth on those objects is a result
of naturally available coral larvae, which need suitable solid substrate to settle and establish new
colonies. Qualitative observations (Al-Horani personal observations) indicate that the larvae are
mostly concentrated in areas where established colonies are found, especially in the well-developed
coral reef areas. The coral reefs are found in the southern parts of the coastline and decrease as we
move to the north (i.e. the hotels area in Jordan), which is characterized by a sandy substrate and
therefore lack suitable substrate for settlement. The pattern of enhanced settlement in the proximity
of existing coral reefs is supported by findings using recruitment tiles (Al-Horani unpublished data).
This study also suggests that coral larvae are more abundant at shallower depths; as is potentially
manifested in the higher percent cover and diversity of corals found shallow (15m) vs. deep (40m)
artificial substrates such as shipwrecks (Al-Horani personal observations).
Figure 2-97 Coral recruitment on sediment trap deployed in the northern tip of the Gulf of
Aqaba about 5 year ago.
Conclusion
It is too early to suggest that we have an informed picture of the distribution of fish and invertebrate
larvae in the northern GOA, and of their potential dispersal trajectories. Additional MOCNESS
samples are needed from different sites around the northern Gulf, and at different times of the year.
The data should be evaluated in relation to the hydrological models before any inferences could be
made regarding potential dispersal trajectories.
2.1.8
Seagrass
In the Red Sea, the seagrass meadows are found from mid-tidal level, on shores receiving regular
tides, to about 70 m depth (Lipkin 1979; Hulings 1979; Edwards & Head 1987; Lipkin et al., 2003).
They tend to be concentrated in shallow water areas such as lagoons, sharms (drowned wadi
mouths), and mersas (shallow embayments) because of the soft-bottom sediments found in these
areas (den Hartog 1977). The seagrass, Halophila stipulacea has been described as generally
having a wide ecological range, growing from intertidal to depths of greater than 50-70 m (Fishelson
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1971; Lipkin 1975; 1979; Hulings 1979; Beer & Waisel 1982; Lipkin et al., 2003). Eleven species of
all the seven known genera of seagrass have been reported in the Red Sea (den Hartog 1977;
Lipkin et al., 2003). However, seven species have been reported in the Gulf of Aqaba and at the
extreme northern end only H. stipulacea, H. ovalis and Halodule uninervis have been found (Wahbeh
1980; 1982). H. stipulacea has been proven to grow on the range of sediment types found in the
area, from fine sand/silt (125-500 µm) through the coral rubble and sand (larger than 1 mm; Lipkin
1979; 1991; Angel et al. 1995). They serve as important nursery grounds for fish many commercially
important fishes and crustacean. In general, the community is structurally and functionally complex.
In the northern Gulf of Aqaba, Wahbeh (1980) found more than 49 species of invertebrates (mostly
mollusks) living in seagrass beds, either attached to the plant (gastropods) or buried in the sediment
(bivalves).
Additional information is also provided at Appendix 2.
Species distribution
Recently, Al-Rousan et al. (2010) and from surveying the seagrass communities at three sites
(Hotels area, Phosphate Loading Berth, Tala Bay) (Figure 2-98) found that three main species of
seagrass are distributed along the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba, these are: Halophila
stipulacea, Halodule uninervis, and Halophila ovalis, these results are similar to those reported by
Wahbeh (1982). Of the three species H. stipulacea has the widest distribution in all sites and it was
observed to a depth of 50 m (Hulings 1979). H. stipulacea has been proven to grow on the range of
sediment types found in the area, from fine sand/silt (125-500 m) through the coral rubble and sand
(larger than 1 mm; Angel et al. 1995).
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A qaba
29.56
HA
29.542
Aqab
a
Hotels (HA)
T2
34.978
T3
34.98
34.982
34.984
29.508
34.986
34.988
PLB
29.507
A
29.506
B
A
Phosphate
Loading
Berth (PLB)
Q
Red Sea
29.504
29.503
29.502
A
29.501
29.5
34.992
TB
29.414
T1
T2
T3
29.412
29.41
L
F
Tala Bay (TB)
29.408
29.406
U
29.41
34.993
29.416
F
29.46
T1
T2
T3
29.505
O
Latitude (N)
T1
29.538
Gulf
of
29.51
29.54
G
29.404
29.402
34.968
34.97
34.972
34.974
34.976
Halophila stipulacea
0
1
2
3
4
Halodule uninervis
5 km
Halophila ovalis
29.36
34.78
34.83
34.88
34.93
34.98
35.03
35.08
Longitude (E)
Figure 2-98 Location map of the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba showing seagrass species
ranges and survey transects along the Jordanian coast (Al-Rousan et al., 2010).
In Phosphate Loading Bearth and Tala Bay sites, a mixture of Halophila stipulacea and Halodule
uninervis were found (Figure 2-98), however, H. ovalis was restricted to shallow depths (less than
2m) in Tala Bay site and it was completely absent in the other two sites. These species was found to
live in areas more exposed to light and wave action, while H. ovalis in the Gulf of Aqaba appears as
a narrow belt at the lee margins of larger stands of H. stipulacea or in areas where the other two
species are absent due to its inability to compete with these species for light because of its smaller
growth form (Wahbeh 1982, Lipkin et al., 2003).
In Hotels Area, only the H. stipulacea species was found in shallow depths down to 18 m, where it
disappears in some sites. Hulings (1979) reported high densities of H. stipulacea in lagoons at
depths of 1-2 m on the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba, suggesting that this species can not
only utilize the low irradiance at 50 m, but can also flourish at the high irradiance that prevail in the
lagoons.
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Coverage percent
The coverage of the seagrass from all depths (2, 5, 9, 12, 15 and 18) along the three sites (AlRousan et al., 2010) is presented in Figure 2-99. It is obvious in all sites that the seagrass
distributions increase with increasing water depth from 2 to 12 m followed by a decrease at 15 to
18m. The statistical analysis of the results showed significant differences in seagrass cover between
2m vs. 12; 18; and 9m. However, in some shallow areas seagrass is completely absent (e.g., 2m
depth at Hotels Area). The absence was mainly due to extensive human activities including
swimming and boating in the area. This may result in increasing sedimentation and turbidity which is
lethal to seagrass beds (Hulings 1979; Al-Rousan et al. 2005). This results are different from those
reported by Schwarz & Hellblom (2002) where they could not find the species H. stipulacea in water
depths shallower than 7 m in the north-western part of the Gulf of Aqaba.
80
Average seagrass cover (%)
HA
PLB
TB
60
40
20
0
2
5
9
12
15
18
Depth (m)
Figure 2-99 Comparison of the average seagrass percent covers (%) at the three sites (HA,
PLB, TB) and at all surveyed depth along the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba. Values are
average of three transect, standard errors are shown (after Al-Rousan et al., 2010).
At deeper depths (12 and 15 m) the seagrass has the highest cover where it reaches about 50%
(Figure 2-99). The distribution of seagrass is controlled mainly by light intensity and wave action,
while factors relating to bottom characteristics are of minor effect as concluded by Wahbeh (1982). In
these areas, sand is usually covers the other percent of the substratum, and it was found between
the batches of the seagrass beds. However, in some sites, the percent cover of sand is high and
could reach up to 50% of the area. On average, the highest seagrass cover study was recorded at
the Tala Bay site 36.6% followed by 29.9% and 22.9% at Phosphate Loading Berth and Hotels Area
sites, respectively (Figure 2-99). However, statistical analysis showed no significant differences
between the three sites (Al-Rousan et al., 2010).
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Macroalgae
Algal vegetations along the Jordanian coast of the Gulf have successive appearance, abundance
and dominance depending on season (Mergener and Svoboda, 1977). More than 25 species of
green and brown algae and 28 species of red algae were recorded (Natour et al. 1979a, b). High
diversity of algae was observed at localities having minimal exposure to environmental stresses at
the different sites along the coast of Gulf of Aqaba (i.e. wave action, substrate stability, slopes etc.).
Seasonal fluctuation of different macro-algae species were reported with maximum living coverage
observed between February and March with a significant increase from April to May, while the
minimum coverage occurred during July to August (Benayahu and Loya, 1977b; Mergner and
Svoboda, 1977). They indicated that such fluctuation appeared to produce a sequential peaking of
different species at different times of the year and the rhythm in algal population dynamics leads to a
change in mobile fauna living conditions.
According to Littler et. al., (1983) six functional groups of algae were identified in the coastal region
of the Gulf of Aqaba, filamentous algae, joint calcareous algae, sheet-like algae, thick lathery algae,
coarsely-branched algae and crustose algae. Algal communities are associated with the coral reef
and that their temporal and spatial abundance and distribution are naturally balanced unless
evolution or generation of abnormal load of nutrient or pollution could exist.
The objective was to monitor the algal communities spatially and temporally in respect to the past
and present status of the coastal urban plans along the Jordanian Gulf of Aqaba.
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Figure 2-100 Map of the Jordanian coast of Gulf of Aqaba showing the study sites.
Spatial and temporal distribution of algal vegetations
Saptial and temporal distribution of macro-algae was monitored at five coastal stations every month
for a period of two years. The seasonal fluctuation and community changes of the benthic
macroalgal vegetation of the coral reef area were assessed. Percent cover and biomass were
measured using the method of English et al. (1994). This will include total algae coverage, species
coverage and biomass measurement. Survey of the coastal algal communities consist the following
taxonomy and distribution and the floral dynamic of the different algal community due to natural and
induced modifications.
A complete list of algal vegetations observed and surveyed during three year period are presented in
Table 2-21. Brown and red algae species were more abundant than the green algae. Both red and
brown algae occupied depths ranges between 1-5 meters while the green algae usually observed at
water edges mostly within the intertidal zone.
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Table 2-21 List of algal species observed during 3 years period of the survey study along the
Jordanian coast of Gulf of Aqaba.
Family
Species
Chlorophycea
Enteromorpha compressa
Chlorophycea
Caulerpa serrulata
Chlorophycea
Ulva lactuca
Chlorophycea
Enteromorpha flexuosa
Chlorophycea
Halimeda sp
Chlorophycea
Enteromorpha clathrata
Chlorophycea
Codium sp
Chlorophycea
Cladophora sp
Chlorophycea
Boergensnia fobessii
Phaeophyceae
Padina pavonia
Phaeophyceae
Cystoseira myrica
Phaeophyceae
Dilophus fasciola
Phaeophyceae
Hydroclathrus clathratus
Phaeophyceae
Sargassum subrepandum
Phaeophyceae
Sargassum sp
Phaeophyceae
Ectocarpale sp
Phaeophyceae
Colpomenia sinuosa
Phaeophyceae
Turbinaria sp
Phaeophyceae
Dictyota sp
Rhodophyceae
Glacularia arcouata
Rhodophyceae
Chnoospora sp
Rhodophyceae
Spyridia filamentosa
Rhodophyceae
Jania sp
Rhodophyceae
Centroceras clavulatum
Rhodophyceae
Laurencia sp
Rhodophyceae
Laurencia papillosa
Rhodophyceae
Liagora
Rhodophyceae
Champia irregularis
Rhodophyceae
Hypnea valentiae?
Rhodophyceae
Actinotrichia fragilis
Rhodophyceae
Laurencia sp1
Rhodophyceae
Catenella repens
Rhodophyceae
Gelidiella acerosa
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Distribution, Biomass and Cover percent
Data presented in this report are cumulated from the whole period of investigation on the spatial
distribution and structure of macro algal vegetations along the Jordanian coast. The presented data
were categorized into groups of parameters in order to show the trend of the distributional pattern
and structure of these categories. The obtained data were analyzed using ANOVA test (SAS
program). The first category took into consideration the pattern of the family cover and biomass
along the Jordanian coast. The three major families (Chlorophyceae, Pheophyceae and
Rhodophyceae) of macro algae were observed at the five investigated different sites. Pheophyceae
exhibited the highest percent cover as well as biomass (Table 2-22 & Table 2-23). Green and red
algae were exhibited almost similar cover and biomass. Both the big bay and JFI showed higher
abundance of algal vegetations when compared to other sites. The least abundance hoverer was
observed at the phosphate port. In terms of the seasonal pattern (Table 2-24), spring has shown the
highest values while summer was also the least in algal abundance. Unfortunately, algal monitoring
and the data generated during fall were not sufficient to be presented here but the general trend
suggests that brown algae are occasionally appearing during this season. This has been reflected in
the data generated on the monthly distribution (Table 2-25) of the different algal species at which
months of the spring season (March, April and May) have shown the highest cover and biomass
compared to other months. July was also the least for algal distribution and cover along the coast.
Our investigation on algal vegetation abundance and distribution was conducted during a period of
three years. This investigation was undertaken 17 times over the months of this period. Generally,
the highest cover and biomass were observed during the spring months during the three years of
investigation. Certainly, fluctuation in values was also obvious between months of similar season. In
total, 31 algal species were observed and assessed (Table 2-26). Badina bavonia was the highest in
both cover and biomass and was observed during the 17 months of investigation period three
successive years. Results clearly demonstarted that brown algae (Phaeophyceae) had the highest
cover and biomass, while the highest abundance of algae were during the spring in the months of
March, April and May.
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Table 2-22 Percent cover and biomass (gr/m2) of the three major macroalgea families during
the examined period.
Family
Cover (%)
Biomass (gr/m2)
Chlorophyceae
1.48
1.39
Phaeophyceae
2.88
2.88
Rhodophyceae
1.04
1.22
Table 2-23 Percent cover and biomass (gr/m2) at the five studied sites expressed from the
pooled data during the three years survey study along the Jordanian coast of Gulf of Aqaba.
Site
Cover (%)
Biomass (gr/m2)
Public Beach
1.80
1.91
Phosphate port
1.35
1.34
Marine Science Station
1.73
1.71
Big Bay
2.00
1.93
Jordan Fertilizer Industry
2.10
2.31
Table 2-24 Seasonal changes in percent cover and biomass (gr/m2) expressed from the
pooled data during the three years survey study along the Jordanian coast of Gulf of Aqaba.
Season
Cover (%)
Biomass (gr/m2)
Winter
1.44
1.40
Spring
2.40
2.45
Summer
Fall
0.61
0.70
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Table 2-25 Monthly changes in percent cover and biomass (gr/m2) expressed from the pooled
data during the three years survey study along the Jordanian coast of Gulf of Aqaba.
Month
Cover (%)
Biomass (gr/m2)
December
0.20
0.97
January
1.68
1.24
February
1.82
1.84
March
2.29
2.07
April
2.80
3.14
May
2.05
2.13
June
0.72
0.83
July
0.40
0.46
Table 2-26 Percent cover and biomass (gr/m2) of all species examined during the three years
survey study along the Jordanian coast of Gulf of Aqaba.
Family
Species
Cover (%)
Biomass (gr/m2)
Chlorophycea
Enteromorpha compressa
0.95
0.62
Chlorophycea
Caulerpa serrulata
0.74
0.85
Chlorophycea
Ulva lactuca
4.61
3.70
Chlorophycea
Enteromorpha flexuosa
2.92
1.69
Chlorophycea
Halimeda sp
0.39
0.41
Chlorophyceae
Enteromorpha clathrata
3.42
3.50
Chlorophyceae
Codium sp
0.04
0.03
Chlorophyceae
Cladophora sp
0.17
0.09
Chlorophyceae
Boergensnia fobessii
0.09
0.07
Phaeophyceae
Padina pavonia
13.41
12.01
Phaeophyceae
Cystoseira myrica
0.71
0.99
Phaeophyceae
Dilophus fasciola
0.31
0.53
Phaeophyceae
Hydroclathrus clathratus
0.48
69.00
Phaeophyceae
Sargassum subrepandum
0.68
1.84
Phaeophyceae
Sargassum sp
11.88
11.94
Phaeophyceae
Ectocarpale sp1
0.16
0.12
Phaeophyceae
Colpomenia sinuosa
2.61
2.48
Phaeophyceae
Turbinaria sp
0.19
0.30
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Family
Species
Cover (%)
Biomass (gr/m2)
Phaeophyceae
Dictyota sp2
0.60
0.32
Rhodophyceae
Glacularia arcouata
0.01
0.01
Phaeophyceae
Chnoospora sp
0.62
0.40
Rhodophyceae
Spyridia filamentosa
0.15
1.60
Rhodophyceae
Jania sp
2.88
3.96
Rhodophyceae
Centroceras clavulatum
0.03
0.02
Rhodophyceae
Laurencia sp3
0.27
0.49
Rhodophyceae
Laurencia papillosa
7.64
9.00
Rhodophyceae
Liagora sp
0.60
0.52
Rhodophyceae
Champia irregularis
0.59
0.45
Rhodophyceae
Hypnea valentiae
0.81
0.80
Rhodophyceae
Actinotrichia fragilis
0.19
0.21
Rhodophyceae
Laurencia sp1
0.91
0.93
Rhodophyceae
Catenella repens
0.08
0.07
Rhodophyceae
Gelidiellaacerosa
0.08
0.07
2.1.10 Benthic macrofauna
Meiofauna is loosely defined as animal community on and in the sea bottom which is retained by a
sieve mesh of 1 mm. Those associated with various marine sediments include entire phyla (such as
kinorhynchs and gastrotrichs), entire major clades of other invertebrate phyla (especially among the
arthropods, nematodes, annelids and platyhelminthes), as well as miniaturized representatives of
most other animal phyla. Meiofauna probably accounts for well in excess of half the diversity present
in complex biotopes such as coral reefs, with most but not all of it associated with sediments. While
the great phylum and class level diversity of meiofauna is well-known, the genus and species-level
diversity remains largely un-explored and un-documented. Previous, mostly morphological studies of
meiofauna have led to groundbreaking insights about evolution, adaptation, and functional biology.
The objective of this study was to investigate the impacts of urban development at the northern most
tip of Gulf of Aqaba by assessing the bottom sediment content of some macro and meiofuana. The
macrofauna (more than 1mm), the main groups found in the study area 9in front of the North Intake
Site) were found belong to some mollusk, bivalves, scaphopoda and are of small size. meiofauna
and macrofauna are considered an important indicator for ecological effects caused by urban
development at the coastal area.
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Study sites
Nine coastal sites (A1-A3, B1-B3 and C1-C3) and one reference station (offshore) were selected for
this study (Figure 2-101). The study area is located in the northern sector of Gulf of Aqaba between
the border and hotels area with 3 km length and 1 km distance from A1 to C1 sites. The distance
between the reference station and the site A1 was 3 km.
Figure 2-101 Sediment sampling sites at the north most portion of Aqaba Gulf.
Biological analysis
Sediments were collected from the sea bed of the three A group stations at 15 m depth and from the
three B group stations at 30 m depth using a cylindrical transparent acrylic cores of 20 cm length
and 5 cm diameter. Samples were collected by SCUBA divers. Cores were carefully inserted 10 cm
deep into the sediment. After wards the cores were stoppered from the top and carefully removed
from the sediment- After extraction from the sediment then cores were also stoppered at the bottom.
Sediment samples were collected twice during a one year period to represent summer and winter. In
laboratory cores were divided into 2 layers, 0-2 cm to represent the surface sediment portion or the
upper layer and from 3-10 cm to represent the sub-surface layer. Each sediment sample was
preserved by adding 80% alcohol for further taxonomic counts and determination.
Taxonomic determination was done to the lowest possible level; however, due to the lack of
determination literature in many cases only categories could be addressed those are Foraminifera,
mollusc (Snails and bivalves) and tubeworms (Figure 2-102). Investigation and counts were
conducted and considered on the existing macrofauna and meiofauna in sediment.
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Figure 2-102 Composition of in fauna observed in bottom sediment in the study area (in front
of the North Intake site).
Figure 2-103 Counts of macro and meiofauna were undertaken in bottom sediment with the
help of binocular Olympus microscope.
Data on the existing macro and meiofauna in sediment sample were generated using electrical
binocular Olympus microscope and hand counter (Figure 2-103) in a sample of 100 g dry weight of
sediment at each layer (the 0-2 cm and 3-10 cm).
Equivalent to 100 g of subsamples were investigated under the microscope in order to identify and
quantitatively estimate the macro and meiofauna at each layer of the sediment sample.
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Results
Three major groups of living organisms were observed. Namely, Tubular worms, Foraminifera and
Mollusks (categorized into two groups the snails and clams). The number of each group was
estimated per 100 g wet weight of sediment. Results showed that the tubular worms were
significantly higher at stations A1, B1 and B3 compared to other stations. At the same time, this
group was significantly higher at the upper 2 cm of the sediment core sample when compared with
those collected from the deeper segment (3-10 cm) of the core (Figure 2-104, Table 2-27)
A1 and B1 showed high number of Foraminifera (> 9000 individual/100g sediment). However, it was
distinguishably reduced in abundance at sediment subsample of the 3-10 cm (Figure 2-104a). Snails
exceed more than 3500 indiviuals/100g sediment including the snail Nassarius sinusigerus (Figure
2-104b). B1 station showed the highest of this group among other stations at the upper 2 cm of the
sample (Figure 2-104c). Another observation is that a gradual decrease was noticed in the three
major items at station toward east. Generally, the upper 2 cm sediment showed the highest
abundance of the different items examined. Stations, A1 and B1 were exhibiting the highest
abundance of the different macro and meio fauna in comparison to the other stations (Table 2-27).
The seasonal distribution of macro and meio fauna in sediment samples from the different stations of
the whole site are shown in Figure 2-105. Results revealed that the number of all investigated
categories of the in fauna were also more abundant at the upper 2 cm of core sample if compared
with that below (p<0.01). However, no difference was detected among the different fauna categories
between seasons (summer and winter). Bivalves were hardly available neither in summer nor in
winter in samples collected below the 2 cm of sediment (Figure 2-105c). At the same time, all items
existed in almost equal ratios at this part of sediment sample but certainly still far to be compared
with those collected at the upper 2 cm.
Table 2-27 Statistical results of the four major categories (One way ANOVA P<0.01) among
and between coastal stations during one year period at the study site.
Surface (0-2cm)
Bottom (3-10cm)
Among Sites
Between
Seasons
Among
Sites
Between Seasons
<0.01
0.84
<0.01
0.98
(100g-1)
<0.01
0.96
<0.01
0.98
Bivalves (100g-1)
<0.01
0.94
<0.01
0.77
Tubular worms 1(00g-1)
<0.01
0.95
0.53
0.34
Parameter
Foraminifera
Snails
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10000
0-2cm
(a)
8000
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3-10cm
6000
4000
2000
0
Summer
Winter
Season
Snils (No. per 100g)
3000
0-2cm
(b)
2500
3-10cm
2000
1500
1000
500
0
Summer
Winter
Bivoalves (No. per 100g)
Season
1500
0-2cm
(c)
1200
3-10cm
900
600
300
0
Summer
Winter
Tubular worms (No. per 100g)
Season
800
600
0-2cm
(d)
3-10cm
400
200
0
Summer
Winter
Season
Figure 2-104 Spatial abundance (No. of individuals) of a) Foraminifera, b) snails, c) Bivalves
and d) Tubular worms observed at the upper 2cm and at 3-10 cm of sediment at each
sampling station (in front of the North Intkae site).
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(a)
8000
0-2cm
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3-10cm
6000
4000
2000
0
A1
A2
A3
B1
B2
B3
Site
Snils (No. per 100g)
5000
0-2cm
(b)
4000
3-10cm
3000
2000
1000
0
A1
A2
A3
B1
B2
B3
Bivoalves (No. per 100g)
Site
1200
0-2cm
(c)
3-10cm
900
600
300
0
A1
A2
A3
B1
B2
B3
Tubular worms (No. per 100g)
Site
600
0-2cm
(d)
450
3-10cm
300
150
0
A1
A2
A3
B1
B2
B3
Site
Figure 2-105 Seasonal abundance (number 100 g-1 of sediment) of the different Meiofauna in
bottom sediment of the investigated site (in front of the North Intkae site).
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2.1.10.1 Distribution and abundance of giant clam (Tridacnidae) in the northern Gulf of
Aqaba
Giant clams belonging to the family Tridacnidae are the largest bivalves. Giant clams are widely
distributed in the Indo-Pacific. From the southeast Pacific westwards to East Africa, its distribution
extends up north to the Red Sea (Rosewater, 1965; Lucas, 1988; Braley, 1992). Two extant giant
clam species are known to occur in the Red Sea, namely, Tridacna squamosa Lamarck, 1819 and T.
maxima Roding, 1798. These two species exist up to the northeastern extension, the Gulf of Aqaba
marking the northwestern limit of their geographical distribution. The Gulf of Aqaba is characterized
by a steep-sided narrow shelf with the northernmost fringing reefs in the western Indo-Pacific region.
The giant clam population was studied in the Jordanian sector of the northern Gulf of Aqaba. The
Jordanian coastline has been greatly modified over four decades of rampant development of ports,
industrial and tourism areas (Badran and Bashir, 2001), as well as extreme events such as extreme
low tides in the area (Fishelson, 1973; Loya, 1976). These factors have likely affected the indigenous
stocks of giant clams, but data are thus far lacking. The distribution and abundance of giant clams
was described in Jordan’s. Gulf of Aqaba.
Surveys were conducted at 14 coastal locations (Table 2-28) of the following depths: reef flat (<3 m),
shallow (3-9m) and deeper (9-15 m) fore-reef. Triplicate belt transects (5 m width) were surveyed at
6 and 12m depths, by swimming along pre-determined distances thus covering a total area of 250
m2 (50 m, English et,al., 1994).
The mean abundance of T. maxima (0.5 + 0.3 ind. 100 m-2) was higher compared to T. squamosa
(0.3 + 0.2 ind. 100 m-2). Clam abundance (Table 2-29) was significantly correlated only with depth. In
T. maxima, abundance was inversely correlated with depth (r = -0.84, p = 0.05): the bulk of the
population was found on the reef flat (1.64 + 0.9 ind. 100 m-2), with only few (0.35 + 0.4 ind. 100 m-2)
and scattered (0.02 + 0.04 ind. 100 m-2) specimen on the shallow (3-9 m) and deeper fore-reef (9-15
m), respectively. In T. squamosa, on the other hand, abundance was positively albeit moderately
correlated with depth (r = 0.39, p = 0.05). Its lowest abundances were found on the reef flat (0.16 +
0.1 ind. 100 m-2), increasing in the shallow (0.25 + 0.2 ind. 100 m-2) and deeper fore reef (0.47 + 1.1
ind. 100 m-2).
No north-to-south gradient was found in either of the species along the Jordanian coast. However, in
both species clam abundances appeared to vary as a function of natural and anthropogenic factors).
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Table 2-28 Surveyed locations and its coastal zoning description.
Table 2-29 Abundance (ind. 100 m-2) of T. squamosa and T. maxima in the reef flat (<3 m),
shallow (3-9 m) and deeper (9-15 m) fore-reef.
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2.1.11 Fish
The Red Sea ichthyofauna is quite well known compared to other parts of the tropical Indo- Pacific
Ocean. Over 1248 fish species have been recorded from this almost land looked water body (Goren
and Dor, 1994). Ichthyological research in the Red Sea dates back more than 200 years to collection
and descriptions of fishes by Peter Forsskål (Klausewitz, 1964, Nielsen, 1993).
Marshall, 1952; Ben-Tuvia & Trewavas, 1986/87; Steintz & Ben-Tuvia, 1955; Tortonese, 1968;
Randall, 1994; Baranes and Golani, 1993, they reported on the fish fauna from the southern and
western parts of the Gulf of Aqaba. Zoogeographical studies of the Red Sea were carried out by
(Goren, 1973; Klausewitz, 1989). Bio-sociological and ecological studies on certain families such as
damselfishes (Pomacentridae) (Fishelson et al., 1974; Fricke, 1977), goby (Gobiidae) (Goren 1984
a&b; 1989 & 1992), and Butterflyfishes (Chaetodontidae) (Roberts et al., 1992; Abdallah and Khalaf,
submitted). General community structure of the Red Sea shore fishes was reported by (Ben-Tuvia et
al., 1983; Rilov & Benayahu, 2000). Other investigations deal with fish communities on artificial reefs
along the northern part of the Gulf of Aqaba were reported by (Rilov & Benayahu, 1998; Golani &
Diamant, 1999), short species lists for certain areas were recorded by (Clark et al., 1968; Tortonese,
1983).
2.1.11.1 Fish fauna of the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba
The data reported in this report are available from a study conducted at the MSS in Aqaba. The
purpose of the study was to present an updated ichthyological inventory showing high diversity of the
fish fauna, with more details on fish habitat, feeding guilds, endemism, and migratory species. This
study represents the first thorough and comprehensive study about the fish fauna along the
Jordanian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba.
Fish collection was started at the Marine Science Station (MSSA) in early eighties by Wahbeh and
Ajiad (1987). More intensive collection has been conducted by the author over the last 10 years
using different methods (i.e.) hand-net, gill net, seine net, traps, hooks and lines, quinaldine.
Immediately after capture, the fishes were photographed, and meristic counts and morphometric
measurement were taken. Additional specimens were obtained from local fishermen during the
period 1995-2002. One of the major contributions to the available data in this investigation was
gained by the author in a long term monitoring of the shore fish communities for the last seven years.
Fish were surveyed by the visual census technique-using SCUBA as described in English et al
(1994). Fish catch was also monitored at local fish markets during 1998-2000.
Additional information is reported in Appendix 2.
Fish community indices
The total numbers of species are eighteen in Chondrichthyes and 489 in Ostichthyes or 507 in total
belonging to 109 families, an average 4.7 species per family. The distribution of species among
families was found that 77 fish families are represented by only 1-3 species, 14 families are
represented by more than 10 species. In terms of species richness per family the ichthyofauna
showed the following ranking (given as n number of species in the family, n% of the total fish fauna):
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Wrasse labridae (51, 10.1), Pomacentridae (29, 5.7), Serranidae (25, 4.9), Apogonidae and
Blenniidae (24, 4.7 each), Gobbiidae (21, 4.1 each), Carangidae (17, 3.4) and Syngnanthidae (16,
3.2). These 8 families account for 40.8% of all species. Seventy six fish species are indicated with (*)
in the inventory represents a new reports to the Jordanian coast, including Gymnothorax
monochrous, Myripristis xanthacra, Corythoichthys haematopterus, Syngnathus macrophthalmus,
Istiblennius flaviumbrinus, Enneapterygius destai and Grammatorycnus bilineatus are the first
confirmed report from the Gulf of Aqaba (see Appendix 2 – chapter 4 for additional information).
Habitat occupation
Ecological analysis of the Jordanian marine fishes indicates that majority of the species (82.8%)
inhabit benthic habitat while the rest are true pelagic fish. Among benthic habitat, 51.1% of the fish
species inhabit coral and boulders, 11.7% inhabits sandy bottoms, 11.1% are deep benthos, 8.3%
live in sea grass meadows, and 0.6% are bathydemersal species. Whereas, among, pelagic habitat
9.6% of the fish species are living in open waters, 3.0% are associated with reef, 2.6% are
benthopelagic, 1.7% lives in shallow water, and only 0.4% are bathypelagic species (Appendix I).
The most abundant shallow water pelagic species are the silver side fish Atherinomorous lacunosus,
and the clupeid fish, Spratelloides gracilis. The most common inhabitant of deep sea fishes are Iago
omanensis, Rhinobatos punctifer, Mureanesox cinereus, Carangoides equula, Paracaesio sordida,
Polysteganus coeruleopunctatus, Argyrops spinifer, Upeneus davidaromi, Trichiurus lepturus,
Thyrsitoides marleyi.
Feeding Behaviour
An analysis of the feeding behaviour of the Jordanian marine fishes indicates that 30.6% of the
species feed on fish and invertebrates, while 24.8% feed on invertebrates, the planktivorous fish
constitute only 15.9%, 15.0% are omnivorores, 7.4% are herbivorous, 4.5% piscivore, 1.6%
corallivore and only 0.5% detrivore feeders.
Commercially important fish species
The family Scombridae includes the most important commercial species in Aqaba. It represents
more than 70% of the Jordanian marine catch, specially the most abundant migratory species
Katsuwonus pelamis and Euthynnus affinis. Other important commercial fish species are Decapterus
macarellus, Decapterus macrosoma, Caesio lunaris, Caesio suevica and Caesio varilineata.
In comparison with the number of fish species collected from the Red Sea 1,248 species (Goren &
Dor, 1994) which extends for 1,932 km, this study indicates that the Jordanian coast with only 27 km
at the Gulf of Aqaba, hosts 507 fish species which accounts for about 40.6% of the Red Sea fishes.
In comparison Golani et al. (2002) reported that the Mediterranean Sea hosts 650 fish species, and
Carpenter et al. (1997) published the most comprehensive account of fishes of the Arabian Gulf,
reporting 535 species from the Gulf. This clearly indicates that the Jordanian coast is characterized
by a high fish diversity, which is attributed to the diversity of habitats existing along the coast such
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as: Coral reef, seagrass meadows, sandy habitats and deep sea fish fauna. Roberts and Ormond
(1987) indicated that the species richness is also positively correlated with habitat diversity. Also,
Sano et al. (1984); reported that different habitats in the reef areas supported different fish
assemblages. Habitat complexity provides refuges and barriers that fragment the area and resulting
in more heterogeneous assemblages (Sebens, 1991).
Among benthic habitat, more than 50.0% of the fish species inhabits coral and boulders, 11.7%
inhabits sandy bottoms, 11.1% are deep benthos, and only 8.3% live in sea grass meadows. The
same trend was found by Goren and Dor (1994) for the Red Sea fishes. Khalaf and Kochzius
(2002a) found that about 48% of the 202 investigated fish feed on invertebrates and fish and only
41% are planktivorous feeder. Based on personal observations and on the running monitoring
programme carried by Marine Science Station, and on the publication of Khalaf and Kochzius
(2002a) it can be concluded that: The most abundant coral reef species are Pseudanthias
squamipinnis (24.1%), Pomacentrus trichourus (16.1%), Paracheilinus octotaenia (6.4%),
Neopomacentrus miryae (6.2%), Chromis dimidiata (5.6%), Dascyllus marginatus (5.0%), Chromis
viridis (2.7%) and Dascyllus aruanus (2.3). In terms of frequency of appearance, the most common
species are Pomacentrus trichourus (87.3%), Amphiprion bicinctus (79.7%), Pseudanthias
squamipinnis (79.7 %), as well as Chaetodon paucifasciatus, Chromis dimidiata, and Dascyllus
marginatus (all 72.9%) and Thalassoma rueppellii (65.3%).
The scarids, Leptoscarus vaigensis, Calatomus viridescens; labrids, Oxycheilinus orientalis,
Cirrhilabrus rubriventralis, Pteragogus pelycus, Coris caudimacula; mullids, Parupeneus
macronema; and the siganids Siganus luridus, Siganus rivulatus are among the most common sea
grass inhabitants. Novaculichthys macrolepidotus is extremely rare species and only observed
among the sea grass meadow at Al-Mamlah Bay in less than 2m deep and this species needs
special conservation measures. Torquigener flavimaculatus is the common inhabitant of sandy
bottoms as well as sea grass meadows, whereas the Chromis pelloura inhabits sandy bottoms.
The endemic species represents 12.8% of the recorded species in this study and this is slightly less
than percentage in the Red Sea (13.7%). Those sixty five endemic species belongs to 31 families.
Thirty of the reported species had migrated from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean through the Suez
Canal. However, only two species were migrated from the Mediterranean and reached Aqaba. Three
of the collected species, Sparus auratus, Dicentrarchus labrax, and Tilapia sp. were introduced and
escaped to the Gulf of Aqaba through aquaculture projects in the surrounding area. One species,
Sparus auratus had established its population in the northern sandy beach.
Two families, Lutjanidae, and Haemulidae were not common in the Jordanian coast in comparison
with their abundance, frequency of appearance and number of species as in the central and
southern Red Sea. It is very rare to see a member of these families while diving in Aqaba. Reef
structure in the Jordanian coast of Aqaba Gulf is smaller in size than central and southern Red Sea.
Accordingly, the existing habitat would not provide the suitable shelter for them. Moreover, the photic
zone in Aqaba is confined to a narrow zone, which would affect the productivity in a negative term for
large commercial fish.
In the framework of this study were reported for the first time seventy six fish species which
represent new records to the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba, including: Gymnothorax
monochrous, Myripristis xanthacra, Corythoichthys haematopterus, Syngnathus macrophthalmus,
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Istiblennius flaviumbrinus, Enneapterygius destai and Grammatorycnus bilineatus as the first
confirmed report from the Gulf of Aqaba representing a new extension.
Marine Fish Inventory of the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba is reported in Appendix 2.
2.1.11.2 Fish fauna distribution in front of the Northern Intake (Ayla Resort)
Fish assemblages and community indices
In the present survey study, a total of 85,348 fishes were counted representing 85 species that
belongs to 33 families. All are inhabiting the shallow water with an average of 4741.6 fish per
transect. The percent number of species per family showed the following rank: Labridae (11.76%),
Pomacentridae and Mullidae (7.06%, each), Apoginidae, Chaetodontidae and Gobiidae (5.88%,
each). These six families account for 43.53% of the total population. In terms of relative abundance
per family the ichthyofauna showed the following rank: Lethrinidae (55.54%), Carangidae (13.11%),
Mullidae (8.79%), Siganidae (5.48%), Nemepteridae (4.15%), Pomacentridae (3.71%), and Labridae
(2.98%). These 7 families account for 82.92% of the total population.
The most abundant species were Lethrinus borbonicus (38.56%), Lethrinus variegatus (16.97%),
Trachurus indicus (8.78%), Siganus rivulatus (5.20%), Decapterus macrosoma (4.33%), Scolopsis
ghanam (4.15%), Parupeneus forsskali (3.67%), and Parupeneus macronema (3.28%). These eight
species made up 84.94% of the total population. Frequency of appearance suggest that the most
common species were Scolopsis ghanam (88.89%), Parupeneus forsskali (77.78%), Upeneus pori
(72.22%), Dascyllus trimaculatus, and Pteragogus pelycus (66.67%, each), Gerres oyena, Lethrinus
borbonicus, Parupeneus macronema, Heniochus diphreutes, Teixeirichthys jordani, and
Oxycheilinus orientalis (55.56%, each) see, Appendix 2 for additional details.
Number of species ranged from two species per transect in Site 3 in transect No.2 at 9 m depth to 34
species at transect No.3 within the same site with an average of 17.8 species per transect (Figure
2-106I). The number of fish individuals was ranged from 71 individuals to 12,054 individuals in Site5
in transect No.3 with an average of 4741.6 fish per transect (Figure 2-106II). The average species
richness was ranged from 0.23 in Site3 in transect No.2 to 4.26 in transect 3 within the same site at
9m depth with an average of 2.07 fish (Figure 2-106III). Shannon-Wiener diversity was ranged from
0.25 in Site3 in transect No.2 at 9m depth to 2.15 in Site 4 in transect No.1 at 4m depth with an
average of 1.3 (Figure 2-106IV) see also Table 2-30.
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35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
ST6-4m
ST5-9m
ST4-4m
ST3-9m
ST2-4m
No. of species
I
ST1-9m
12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
ST6-4m
ST5-9m
ST4-4m
ST3-9m
ST2-4m
Average abundance
II
ST1-9m
5
4
3
2
1
0
ST6-4m
ST5-9m
ST4-4m
ST3-9m
ST2-4m
ST1-9m
Species richness/transect
III
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
ST6-4m
ST5-9m
ST4-4m
ST3-9m
ST2-4m
Shannon-Wiener
Diversity
IV
ST1-9m
Station
Figure 2-106 (I) Number of species, (II) number of individuals, (III) species richness, and (IV)
Diversity (Shannon-Wiener Index), (average ±SE) of fish assemblages at stations along the
northern part of the Jordanian coast in front of the North Intake (Ayla).
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Table 2-30 Number of species (S), number of individuals (N), species richness (d), Eveness
(J'), and Shannon-Wiener diversity (H') at stations along the northern part of the Jordanain
coast in front of the North Intake (Ayla).
S
N
D
J'
H'
ST2-I-4m
13
2780
1.51
0.47
1.20
ST2-II-4m
13
1704
1.61
0.53
1.37
ST2-III-4m
8
166
1.37
0.79
1.65
ST1-I-9m
19
8394
1.99
0.36
1.06
ST1-II-9m
15
7626
1.57
0.60
1.63
ST1-III-9m
11
10244
1.08
0.37
0.89
ST4-I-4m
28
4956
3.17
0.65
2.15
ST4-II-4m
5
4044
0.48
0.04
0.07
ST4-III-4m
18
4694
2.01
0.29
0.83
ST3-I-9m
26
735
3.79
0.48
1.56
ST3-II-9m
2
71
0.23
0.37
0.25
ST3-III-9m
34
2322
4.26
0.52
1.84
ST6-II-4m
24
2584
2.93
0.32
1.01
ST6-I-4m
16
2516
1.92
0.46
1.27
ST6-III-4m
15
2747
1.77
0.59
1.61
ST5-I-9m
29
9023
3.07
0.40
1.34
ST5-II-9m
24
8688
2.54
0.62
1.98
ST5-III-9m
20
12054
2.02
0.44
1.33
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32.6
500 m
ST2
ST1
32.4
Latitude 29° min.mmm
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L A N D
St4
St3
32.2
St6
ST5
32
31.8
31.6
GULF OF
AQABA
0
1
2
3
4
58.4
5 km
58.6
58.8
59
59.2
59.4
59.6
59.8
Longitude 34° min.mmm
Figure 2-107 Location of the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba showing the biological survey
sites along the Hotels area (in front of the North Intake). Filled circles are the sites of the
stations at two depths (4 and 9 m) as indicated by the red lines.
Composition of fish species that inhabits the North Intake
The following is a list of fishes that characterizes, inhabit or utilize the seagrass habitat at the
northern most tip of Gulf of Aqaba:
1.
Lethrinus borbonicus (subnose emperor): It is the most abundant species in the
studied area. It forms 38.56% of the total population. Fish juveniles live in schools in
shallow seagrass beds. They use seagrass beds for shelter as well as for feeding. It
feeds on crustaceans, mollusks and echinoderms. Size estimation of these juveniles
was between 20 to 35 mm in the area. Adults are more solitary and lives at depth of
about 15m or even more.
2.
Lethrinus variegates (variegated emperor): It is the second abundant fish species. It
forms 16.97% of the total population. Similar to L. borbonicus, this fish utilizes the
seagrass beds.
3.
Upeneus pori: This is a common species and can only seen at the northern part of
the Jordanian coast. It inhabits shallow coastal waters off sandy flats and the
seagrass beds. This species lives at depth range of 1 to 20m. It feeds on benthic
invertebrates.
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4.
Parupeneus forsskali (Red Sea goatfish) and P. macronema (longbarbel goatfish):
These fish are distributed along through the Jordanian coast. Juveniles of both
species live in mixed schools in seagrass beds and forms 3.67% and 3.28% of the
total population, respectively within the studied area. Both fish use seagrass habitat
for shelter and on the associated invertebrates for feeding. Adult fish may stay living
in seagrass or may migrate to the sandy bottoms around the reefs. It feeds on a
wide variety of small animals particularly crustaceans and worms.
5.
Scolopsis ghanam (Arabian threadfin bream): This is a common species of inshore
water usually found over sand flats. It forms about 4.15% of the total population in
the studied area. Most of the recorded individuals of this species in the area are
juveniles and with size range of 20 to 40 mm. The fish was seen hiding among the
leaves of the seagrass beds and utilizes it for shelter as well as for feeding on the
epiphytic invertebrates.
6.
Siganus rivulatus (Rivulated rabbitfish) and Siganus luridus (Square tail rabbitfish):
The two species live in schools and inhabit shallow water around sandy and
seagrass meadows. They form 5.2 and 0.28% of the total population of the studied
area. Most of the recorded individuals are juveniles observed to live among
seagrass beds and use it for shelter and for feeding on the benthic algae.
7.
Teixeirichthys jordani (Jordan`s damselfish): This species lives in aggregations over
seagrass areas and sandy beaches. Juveniles are often found among the spines of
the sea urchins in the studied area. This is the first report about its assemblages and
their habitat along the Jordanian coast during along term monitoring program carried
out by the first author.
8.
Sparus aurata (Gilt-head seabream): This is an exotic species found to inhabits the
northern part of the Jordanian coast (Ayla). The individuals observed in the studied
area are adults and were seen in site 3 at 9 meter deep. Individuals observed in the
studied area are believed to be escaped from aquaculture plants at the Israeli side
of Gulf of Aqaba.
9.
Heniochus diphreutes (Pennantfish): This species is found in large aggregations in
the water column above sandy flats or seagrass beds. In the studied area, juveniles
were seen to live among the spines of the sea urchins or having shelters of solid
substrates such as rocks, tires…etc.
10. Dascyllus trimaculatus (the Domino): This is a coral reef species found in the
surveyed area. In their primary habitat, coral reef, the juveniles used to live in
association with sea anemones. However, in the present studied area, it was seen
hiding among the spines of the sea urchins with size range between 10 to 20 mm.
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(1)
Photo: M. Khalaf
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(2)
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Photo: M. Khalaf
(1) Lethrinus variegatus and (2) Lethrinus borbonicus are the most abundant fish species in the
studiesd area (Ayla) respectively.
Photo: M. Khalaf
(3)
Photo: M. Khalaf
(4)
(3) Oxycheilinus orientalis: inhabits the seagrass beds for shelter and feeding grounds. (4)Upeneus
pori: found only along the northern part of the Jordanian coast.
(5)
Photo: M. Khalaf
(5) Upeneus subvittatus the deep sea fishes found mixed with U. pori in the area, but not within the
transects.
Figure 2-108 Fish species lives in the sandy bottoms and among seagrass meadows along
the northern part of the Jordanian coast in front of the North Intake site (Ayla).
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Among the 13 chaetodontid fishes reported from the Red Sea, Five species were found during this
survey. The zooplanktivore fish, Heniochus diphreutus is the most abundant chaetodontid fish and
seen in small aggregations at the studied area. This species form about 1.39% of the total population
of fishes within the area.
Dominant Taxa and Fish Community parameters
Lethrinus borbonicus, is the most abundant species on the surveyed area, followed by Lethrinus
variegatus, Trachurus indicus, Siganus rivulatus, Decapterus macrosoma, Scolopsis ghanam,
Parupeneus forsskali and P. macronema. The coral reef fish assemblages along the Jordanian coast
showed completely different picture. The most abundant fish species along the Jordanian reef were
Pseudanthias squamipinnis, Pomacentrus tichorous, Chromis dimidiata, Dascyllus marginatus
(Khalaf and Kochzius, 2002).
In terms of relative abundance of families, the coral reef fishes along the Jordanian is dominated by
Pomacentridae, followed by Anthininae (subfamily of Serranidae) and Labridae (Khalaf and
Kochzius, 2002). Visual censuses of fish assemblages in this study revealed the dominance of
Lethrinidae, followed by Carangidae, Mullidae, Siganidae and Nemipteridae.
The seagrass beds play significant role in harboring juveniles of various commercial fish (e.g.
Lethrinids, Siganids and Mullids). Availability of food, shelter and protection from predators within the
seagrass lattice contribute to the nursery functions of these habitats. Hence, understand well the
contribution of grass beds to coastal fisheries in terms of fish distribution, species composition and
spawning seasons.
The seagrass biomass is considered the highest in comparison with other seagrass beds along the
Jordanian coast (Wahbeh, 1981). The average number of species in Al-Mamlah Bay within 50 m
long transects line ranged from 17.9 species at 6m to 58.5 species at 12m deep. In addition, The
average abundance within the similar transect was 3,397 at 12m depth (Khalaf and Kochzius, 2002).
Our survey study indicate even less number of species (17.8) within a 100 m transect line at the
studied area. The reason for such difference is that, the grass beds at Al-Mamlah Bay is adjacent to
coral reef, a rich ecosystem of different fauna, while coral cover is completely lacking at the studied
area in the north. The present survey revealed an average of 4741.6 fish per 100 m transects line.
Average Shannon-Wiener diversity ranged from 0.25 to 2.15. Whereas, at Al-Mamlah Bay the
diversity reported ranged from 1.3 at 6m depth to 2.3 at 12m depth within 50 m transect (Khalaf and
Kochzius 2002).
Average fish abundance and relative abundance (RA) and frequency of appearance (FA) at stations
along the northern part of the Jordanian coast (Ayla) are reported in Appendix 2.
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2.1.11.3 Fish of the coral reefs in Eilat
In the most comprehensive study of the fish community associated with the shallow (<30m) coralreefs of Eilat, Brokovich (2001) identified a total of 262 species belonging to 51 families. Most of the
fishes recorded were of small body size and most were cryptic. The richest family was the Labridae
and the second was the Gobiidae. The Pomacentridae and then the Gobiidae presented the highest
number of individuals. The largest trophic group was Zooplanktivorous fishes (~42% of all fishes).
Thirty percent of all the fishes were living in-between branches of live corals or on their surface. The
main five habitats within the shallow coral reef system differed with regard to species richness and
abundance (Figure 2-109), as well as species composition (Figure 2-110). Much of the variation in
richness (51%) and abundance (56%) was explained by habitat complexity; quantified by indices of
vertical relief and rugosity.
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Figure 2-109 Species richness (not controlling for abundance) and mean abundance per 50m
visual belt-transect of fish, at each of the five main habitats in the shallow (<30m) reefs of
Eilat.
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Figure 2-110 MDS ordination according to species abundance per transect. Symbols
represent the five habitats considered: lagoon (l) reef table (t), fore-reef (f), shallow-slope (s)
and mid-slope (m). Stress level: 0.09.
Importantly, the coral reef and its associated fish fauna extend below the depth of 30m. In the only
study which involve mesophotic reefs (i.e. those found between 30-150m) in the GOA, Brokovich et
al. (2008) found a pronounced gradient in species richness along a depth gradient spanning the
upper 65m; with peak richness at ~30m (Figure 2-111). Ordination analysis further indicated
substantial differences in the structure of the fish assemblages (relative abundances) across the
depth gradient, with some species restricted only to the shallower or deeper reefs (Figure 2-112).
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Figure 2-111 Species accumulation curves for different depths.
Figure 2-112 Ordination analysis of the relative abundances of reef-fish species observed
along transects conducted at different depths.
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Additional findings by the Israeli National Monitoring program (NMP) suggest that the fish
assemblages have been stable, at least over the past 3 years (Figure 2-113).
Figure 2-113 Relative abundance (%) of the coral reef fishes belonging to the main six trophic
levels, across the years the years 2007-2009.
Fishes of the sandy shore of the northern GOA, east of the border
A long-term study (1984 - 2001) of the ichthyofauna of the sandy shore of the Northern GOA was
conducted by Golani & Lerner (2007) The time series was divided into three distinct periods: 1) prior
to the establishment of local fish farms (1984 - 1986); 2) commencement of low yield fish farming
(1989 - 1994) and 3) fish farming in full production (2000 - 2001) (no information is available for the
period leading up to the ultimate removal of the farms in 2008, and the period thereafter). A total of
93 species were collected, three species of which were exotic to the Red Sea and presumably
introduced by human activity (Sparus aurata, Dicentrarchus labrax and Oreochromis mossambicus).
The authors found no significant differences, among the three periods, in per-sample species
richness, total abundance, biomass, as well as in cumulative number of species. Moreover, most
species retained their level of "relative importance" (a function of relative abundance and biomass,
and frequency of occurrence) throughout the study. Based on their findings, the authors conclude
that the fish assemblage of the sandy shore has been remarkably stable over the duration of the
study. Similar conclusions were reached by Golani et al (2008) when they extended the previous
study to include the time period between 2001 and 2005.
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2.1.12 Zooplankton
Despite the importance of zooplankton in marine food chains, most of the relatively few systematic
seasonal studied conducted in the Gulf of Aqaba focused on isolated taxonomic groups, e.g.
planktonic Tunicata and Chaetognatha (Furnestin, 1958; Godeaux, 1960, 1986), Appendicularia
(Fenaux, 1960, 1979) and microplankton, planktonic decapods and stomatopods (Kimor and
Golandsky, 1977; Halim, 1990; Kimor, 1990) and Copepoda (Almeida Prado-Por, 1983, 1985, 1990),
Por (1979) and Almeida Prado-Por and Por (1981).
Only a few multitaxonomic zooplankton studies have been conducted, including those by Schmidt
(1973), Reiss et al, (1977), Vaissiere and Seguin (1982, 1984), Echelman and Fishelson (1990),
Dowidar (1994) and AbdelRahman (1997).
Community composition
The zooplankton in the Gulf of Aqaba is represented mainly by holoplanktonic forms, which
constitute about 91.5% of the total zooplankton abundance. These are mainly Copepoda and
Chaetognatha which together comprise more than 90% of the total zooplankton, larvae of Mollusca
where the major meroplanktonic animals, forming about 6.79% of the total zooplankton abundance.
The remainder is represented by less common forms such as Cladocera, tunicates, Ostracoda,
tintinnids, larvae of Decapoda and other larvae.
The zooplankton community > 150µm in the Gulf of Aqaba comprises 73 species included in 45
genera within 10 taxa namely; Tintinnidea, Foraminifera, Trachymedusea, Thecosomata, Cladocera,
Ostracoda, Copepoda, Malacostraca, Chaetognatha and Urochordata.
Seasonal variation of total zooplankton
The annual average of the total zooplankton abundance in the Gulf of Aqaba was 803 organisms/m3.
High abundance was recorded in spring season (average 1089 org/m3) with a peak in June (average
1571 org/m3) due to the high population densities of Copepods. Zooplankton density was lowest
during autumn (average 553 org/m3).
Copepods
Community composition
Copepods outnumbered all other planktonic groups in numerical abundance and in number of
species, hence production of this group is often considered to be equivalent to the secondary
production. Copepods contributed numerically 87% of the total zooplankton abundance with annual
average of 693org/m3. The adult forms constituted 65% of the Copepoda, while the copepodite
stages and nauplii constituted 29 and 6% respectively, the lowest value of nauplii due to the using of
a plankton net with 150µm mesh size. 56 species of Copepoda were identified within the four orders
Calanoida, Cyclopoida, Pocilostomatoida and Harpacticoida which constituted 61, 17, 21, and 1% of
the total copepod abundance respectively. The order Calanoida was represented by 35 species
within 20 genera, the dominant species in this order were Clausocalanus furcatus, Mecynocera
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clausi, and Ctenocalanus vanus which formed 34.2, 25.5 and 24.7% of the total Calanoida
abundance, respectively. In Cyclopoida there were 3 species of Oithona. They were dominated by
Oithona pluminifera which represented 89.7% of the total Cyclopoida. Fourteen species were
indentified within the order Poesilostomatoida belonging to 6 genera dominated by Oncaea media,
Oncaea conifera and Farranula gibbula forming 34.4, 15.0 and 28.0% of the total Posilostomatoida,
respectively. Harpacticoida were very rare and represented by 4 species belonging to 3 genera.
Almedia Prado-Por (1985, 1990) recorded 31 copepod species during the survey in the northern Gulf
of Aqaba in 1975. Echelman and Fishelson (1990) recorded 20 copepod species during the period
from 1986 to 1988.
Seasonal variations of the total Copepoda
The annual average of Copepoda in the Gulf of Aqaba was 693org/m3. The seasonal pattern was
similar to that of the total zooplankton.The highest density was recorded during spring (average
944org/m3) with a peak in June (average 1409org/m3). On the other hand, the lowest counts were
observed in autumn (average 470org/m3). The spring peak in the Gulf of Aqaba followed the winter
peak of the zooplankton in the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf which are imported into the Red
Sea through Bab El Mandab during winter, due to the water exchange pattern prevailing toward the
Red Sea. During summer and autumn the plankton density in the Red Sea decreased as the surface
habitat become more hostile due to the shortage of food and the recruitment from the Gulf
diminishes with decreasing rates of water exchange (Beckmann, 1984).
Other zooplankton components
Chaetognatha
The Chaetognatha were represented by 3 species within 2 genera forming 3.55% of the total
zooplankton with annual average 28 org/m3. The highest seasonal average was noticed in spring
(average 45 org/m3), minimum values were recorded in summer (average 18 org/m3).
Ostracoda
The subclass Ostracoda was represented by 2 species within 2 genera with an annual average of 4
org/m3. Cypridina mediterrianea was the dominant species in the subclass, with highest abundances
during winter and autumn (average 5 org/m3), while the other species Loxocanche tamarindus was
very rare and recorded only once during summer with 2 org/m3.
The scattered specimens of the other rare groups belonged to the tininnids, Cladocera and
Urochordata which were represented by 2,2 and 4 species, respectively.
Meroplanktonic larvae
The plankton in the Gulf of Aqaba was relatively rich in larval stages of benthic fauna. These larvae
were only identified at the level of major taxonomic groups. Counts of the larvae are summarized in
Table 2-31.
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Table 2-31 Average number per m3 and percentage of meroplanktonic larvae in the Gulf of
Aqaba.
Meroplaktonic larvae
Winter
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Average
Percentage
Polychaeta larvae
2
1
11
1
4
0.5
Lamellibranch larvae
21
9
7
12
14
1.76
Gastropod larvae
15
60
70
15
40
5.03
Cirriped nauplii
1
0
2
1
1
0.13
Decapod larvae
4
5
4
3
4
0.5
Echinoderm larvae
1
1
5
1
2
0.25
Fish larvae
1
1
2
1
1
0.13
Mollusc larvae
Molluscan larvae formed about 6.8% of the total zooplankton abundance, with an annual average of
54 larvae/m3. This group was composed of lamellibranch and gastropod veligers comprising 1.8 and
5.0% of the total zooplankton respectively. The production of the mollusc larvae in the investigated
area was almost continuous throughout the year showing their maximum abundance in summer
(average 77 larvae/m3). The lowest average was observed in autumn (average of 27 larvae/m3).
Polychaeta larvae
Polychaeta larvae were rare in the area of study, forming about 0.5% of the total zooplankton with
annual average of 4 larvae/m3 and with highest densities in summer (average of 11 larvae/m3), and
lower densities in spring and autumn with averages of 1 larvae/m3.
Decapod larvae
Decapod larvae contributed also only about 0.5% of the total zooplankton counts, with 5
larvae/m3during spring and 3 larvae/m3in autumn. Other meroplanktonic larvae such as
siphonophore larvae, cirripede nauplii, echinoderm larvae and fish larvae were scarcely recorded.
In general, zooplankton species can be grouped into three categories of temporal occurence:
1- Permanent (throught the year)
Paracalanus parvus, Acrocalanus gibber, Mecynocera clausi, Centropages elongatus, Acartia
centrura, Clausocalnus arcuicronis, Clausocalanus furcatus, Lucicutia flavicornis, Calanus minor,
Candacia curta, Oithona nana, Oithona plumifera, Oncaea media, Oncae conifera, Oncaea venusta,
Corycaeus erythraeus, Farranula gibbula, Sapphirina opallina, Cypridina mediterrianea, Sagitta
enflata, Sagitta neglecta, Krohnitta subtilis, Oikopleura longicauda.
2- Present during most of the year
Calocalanus pavo, Centropages furcatus, Acartia negligens, Ctenocalanus vanus, Calanus robustior,
Euchirella messenensis, Candacia truncata, Lubbockia squlimana, Corycaeus speciosus, Copilia
mirabills, Microsetella norvegica, Clytmnestra scuttelata, Aglaura hemistoma, Cresis virgula,
Parathemisto abyssorum.
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3- Temporary
Paracalanus indicus, Pleuromamma indica, Calanus vulgaris, Candacia simplex, Oithona similis,
Corycaeus ovalis, Farranula carinata, Globigerania inflata, Lensia subtilis, Evadne tergestina,
Evadne nordmanni, Loxocanche tamarindus, Thysonaessa raschii, Oikopleura fusiform.
2.1.13 Marine Turtles
Five species of marine turtles can be found in the Red Sea, of these, the green, loggerhead and
hawksbill are the most common with the leatherback and olive ridley being infrequently seen and
with no recorded nesting. Until recently, most research on marine turtles in the Red Sea region dated
back more than 15-20 years and was relatively limited in scope (summarized by Ross & Barwani,
1982). Of the major nesting populations found in the Red sea, the green, hawksbill and loggerhead
are the most common. Green turtle populations were surveyed in detail in Saudi Arabia (Miller, 1989;
Al-Merghani et al., 2000).
Population structure and distribution of sea turtles were investigated at thirteen diving sites along the
coastline of the Jordanian Gulf of Aqaba. The foraging sea turtles at all diving spots were observed
and recorded. The monthly sightings of turtles were on the location, species, carapace length,
gender and habitat. About 80% of dives were in coral reef habitat that represents the major diving
spots along the Jordanian coast. Data collected over 13 diving locations during one year revealed
that all captures as well as those observed in the field were Hawksbill turtles. The majority of the
turtle population was at sub adult stage (45-60 cm CCL, curved carapace length). The Black Rock
location showed the highest abundance of turtles while Moon valley, Seven Sisters, and Oliver
Canyon had the lowest abundance (Figure 2-114).
Figure 2-114 Monthly number of the observed turtles at all investigated sites in Gulf of Aqaba.
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Monthly No. of observed turtles by sex
Black Rock and Gorgon I locations are highly developed coral reef habitats while the other sites are
dominated with grass beds and sandy bottoms. The gender ratio of turtle population showed
fluctuation throughout the year with males consistently more abundant between July and December
(Figure 2-115). In Jan-Feb only females were seen. An overall estimation of the total number of both
genders during the study period indicated that there are slightly more females than males.
15
10
5
0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
Jul
Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
Males
Females
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Percentage of observed male and female turtles over the study period
Figure 2-115 Number of observed males and females and both sex percentage over the study
period.
The majority of the turtle population (85%) was observed in the coral reef habitat. It is suggested that
the turtle population in Jordan is present solely to forage in this area, and then migrate to Saudi
Arabian or Egyptian coastlines or even farther for nesting. Rapid urbanization (e.g. refinery facilities,
artificial lighting, coastal sand mining, and beachfront stabilization structures) could have reduced
nesting habitat at the Jordanian coast. Recently, the Jordan’s National Action Plan was developed
for the Conservation of Marine Turtles and their Habitats. The plan addressed a number of key
obligations to reduce threats to marine turtle populations. It further provides a set of priority actions
for the national agencies to carry out the necessary management activities and to enforce legislation,
and securing funding for turtle conservation measures.
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Pollution loads entering the Gulf
The coastal area of the upper Gulf of Aqaba is subject to strong antropic pressures.
The spectacular marine ecosystem and coral reef generate a massive and ever increasing demand
of tourism, resulting in the non-stop construction of new touristic complexes and marinas.
Moreover, as the only kingdom’s seaport, the Aqaba zone offers unique development opportunities
for Jordan’s economy, resulting in the settling of ever growing industrial activities and in the
continuous upgrade and expansion of port facilities and infrastructures, boosted by the launch, in
2001, of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone as a duty-free, low tax multi-sectoral development zone.
The following paragraphs deal with the man-generated pollution reaching the sea in the upper gulf
area.
Following the identification and characterization of the main sources of contamination (drivers), the
present pollution loads entering the sea (pressures) are estimated according to the different
mechanisms and paths (direct discharge; groundwater migration; atmospheric deposition; …)
followed by the contaminants to reach the sea.
2.2.1
Distribution and characteristics of main pollution sources
Following a careful review of the relevant information available, the following main pollution sources
have been identified for the upper Gulf of Aqaba:
1. The cities of Eilat and Aqaba, including the resident population and the touristic complexes
located on the nothern coast of GOA;
2. The peripheric touristic complexes (resorts) located far from the main cities;
3. The marinas and leisure craft traffic;
4. The industrial settlements;
5. Port activities and ship traffic;
6. Agriculture;
7. Fish farming.
2.2.1.1
The cities of Eilat and Aqaba
Residential and touristic settlements coexist in the highly populated coastal area located along the
northern tip of the Gulf, around the two main cities of Eilat and Aqaba.
The census of Aqaba city carried out by the Jordanian department of statistics in 2007 revealed a
total population of 98’400, with a growth rate of 4.3%, while the resident population in Eilat in year
2008 was estimated in about 46’600, with an annual decrease of 0.7%.
As for the tourism, the Tourism Division of the ASEZA reported that the number of tourists visiting
the Aqaba area in 2006 rose to about 432’000, with an increase of 5% over previous year, while the
touristic census carried out by Israel Central Bureau of Statistics in 2007 reported an almost sixfold
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number of guests in tourist hotels in Eilat during the year (2’300’000) with an average stay of about 3
nights (about 6’540’000 person-nights).
The anthropic pollution generated in the area includes the domestic loads discharged with
wastewaters both from private houses and touristic complexes and the diffuse urban pollution
washed away by stormwater.
Moreover, some large touristic structures contribute by discharging to the gulf significant amounts of
water withdrawn from the subsoil, after use for cooling in their air conditioning systems.
Both Aqaba and Eilat are served by municipal sewage systems connected to central wastewater
treatment plants (Figure 2-116).
The current Eilat wastewater treatment plant, based on treatment in sand ponds and on a seasonal
reservoir, was originally designed to guarantee “zero flow to the sea”: no leaks or planned
percolation are allowed, and the treated effluents are recycled for direct irrigation some 40 km to the
north of Eilat.
Nevertheless the recent tremendous growth in population has subjected the municipal sewage
system to loads unanticipated at the time of its construction: the quantity of sewage water currently
surpasses the treatment and recycling facilities so that system overload has led to periodic
breakdowns, resulting in untreated sewage spill to the Gulf.
The most recent relevant spillage event reported by the local newspapers took place in September
2007, when a main pipe in the sewage system burst, discharging about 500 cubic meters of raw
sewage to the Gulf.
At present the city is faced with the need to restructure and augment its sewage system in order to
safely handle current loads and facilitate ongoing new construction in the area (Government of Israel
Ministry of the Environment, 1996).
Although some discussion is undergoing concerning this issue, no formal plans seem to exist at the
moment.
As for Aqaba, the previous municipal wastewater treatment plant, also based on natural treatment in
sand ponds, recently (2005) reached its full treatment capacity due to population growth and was
upgraded with financial support from the U.S. Agency for International Development in order to
ensure no discharge to the sea thanks to water re-use.
The upgrade included construction of a new wastewater treatment plant and sewer lines, and
rehabilitation of the existing plant and pumping stations.
At present the Aqaba plant is composed of two stations: the rehabilitated natural treatment plant,
with a design treatment capacity of about 9’000 cubic meters per day, and a new treatment plant
where oxidation of organic matter in wastewaters takes place mechanically, with a design treatment
capacity of about 12’000 cubic meters per day. The treated effluent from the treatment plants is
pumped to a collection tank (capacity = 6’000 cubic meters) after verification of compliance with the
Jordanian Standards and used for irrigation of public gardens and fertilizer plants under direct control
of ASEZA.
It is not clear, though, if the rehabilitation of the existing natural plant included preventing futher
leakage of treated sewage into the groundwater, which was reported for the past (Bein et al., 2004).
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Eilat WWTP
Aqaba WWTP
Kinnet Canal
Figure 2-116 Eilat and Aqaba: location of the municipal wastewater treatment plants (modified
aereal picture from Google Earth).
While the whole of the domestic and touristic users located in the Eilat area are reported to be
connected to the Israeli WWTP, the Aqaba municipal sewage system covers about 97% of the city
area (Figure 2-117; Aqaba Water Company - website). The peripheric areas in Aqaba which are not
connected to the central wastewater network are reported to be served by septic tanks, which are
sealed and pumped out to tankers (ASEZA, 2008).
Of course it is still possible that some (a minor part) of the domestic users, both in the Eilat and
Aqaba, are neither connected to the WWTPs nor using sealed septic tanks, simply discharging their
wastewater effluents to the groundwater.
Anyway the lack of Kjeldahl nitrogen found in central Eilat groundwater seems to indicate that direct
leakage of untreated sewage is negligible at least in that urban area (Bein et al., 2004).
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Figure 2-117 Aqaba municipal sewage network (image from the website of Aqaba Water
Company).
As for the urban runoff, despite the characteristic hyperarid climate of the area, short and unfrequent
but somehow heavy rainfall events are reported, resulting in periodic floods to the cities of Eilat and
Aqaba due to their close vicinity to the steep mountain fronts bordering the Arava Valley.
In particular the city of Aqaba is dominated by the large alluvial fan of Wadi Yutum, while the city of
Eilat is located on an alluvial fan slope created by coalescing fans draining areas of up to a few
square km each (Schick et al, 1999).
During such heavy rainfall events the street dust is washed away with its load of contaminants
accumulated in time during the dry weather period due to the different anthropogenic activities
(mainly traffic and industry) carried out in the area.
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In particular the metal concentrations were measured in street dust samples in Aqaba, generally
resulting below the mean world-wide values, and nevertheless still significative (Al-Khashman,
2007).
Although stormwater drainage systems exist for both the cities, their main focus is on flood
prevention, so that the rainwater from the urban areas is simply discharged to the main stormwater
drainage channels, reaching the sea with no previous treatment to reduce urban contamination.
Nahal Roded
Wadi Yutum
Nahal Shalmon
Nahal Garof
Wadi Shallallah
Figure 2-118 Main hydrographic features in the Eilat and Aqaba area (modified aereal picture
from Google Earth).
2.2.1.2
The touristic resorts
Conversely to the touristic complexes located in the vicinities of Aqaba and Eilat city, which are
served by the municipal sewage system, the ones located more to the south may have to rely on
local wastewater treatment plants.
According to the “zero flow to the sea” policy, the wastewaters are locally re-used after treatment,
mostly for garden irrigation.
The intensive use of water at these hotels (irrigation, domestic consumption and swimming pools) is
evidently reflected in the groundwater below them, as the local infiltration both affects the regional
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groundwater flow regime and modifies its chemical composition, so that, although not proven, they
may act as a limited contamination source (Bein et al., 2004).
At present the main touristic settlements out of the city area are located in Tala Bay (Jordan) and Hof
Almog (Israel), as outlined in the following Table 2-32:
Table 2-32 Main touristic settlements out of the city area.
Place
Tala Bay
Hof Almog
Hotel
n. of rooms
Radisson SAS
336
Movenpick
456
Marina Plaza
267
Coral Bay
69
Tala Bay residence
650 apartments and villas
Reef
79
Prima Music
144
Isrotel Yam Suf – Coral Sea
247
Orchid
180
Princess
419
Moreover, the Jordan coast between the city of Aqaba and the Israel border is presently
experiencing dramatic transformation, involving the massive construction of luxury touristic resorts
over previously unhabited areas:
•
Saraya Aqaba: a $700 million resort with a man made lagoon, luxury hotels, villas, and
townhouses for an estimated project population of about 3’000-4’000, presently under
completion. The area will be served by a sewage network connected to the Aqaba central
WWTP;
•
Ayla Oasis: a $1 billion resort around a man made lagoon with luxury hotels, villas, a 18-hole
golf course and a water park, to be completed by 2017 in the area surrounding Saraya
Aqaba.
The Marsa Zayed project needs to be recalled too, dealing with the transformation of the present
area of the Aqaba main port into a $10 billion marina community that is the largest real estate project
in Jordan's history. The 3.2 Km² development includes 2 Km of waterfront providing more than 300
yacht berths in a luxury marina, a cruise ship terminal and a mix of hotels, apartments, villas and
townhouses for more than 50’000 people. This project, planned to start in year 2010, is also
expected to be completed by 2017.
The total design accommodation capacity of such new development projects largely exceeds the
present treatment capacity of Aqaba municipal WWTP.
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Marinas and leisure craft traffic
There are three marinas located at the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba/Eilat (Figure 2-119): the Eilat
Marina, the Aqaba Royal Yacht Club and, more to the south along the Jordanian coast, the Tala Bay
marina:
•
the Eilat Marina, including some 250 yacht berths in an inland water area situated behind the
beach in the Eilat hotel zone;
•
the Royal Yacht Club, lying on the waterfront of Aqaba city, with a total of 160 berths;
•
the Tala Bay Marina, 14 km south of Aqaba, including berths for 60-68 boats/yachts.
Moreover, as stated before (see 2.2.1.2), more than 300 additional yacht berths are expected to be
created by year 2017 along the Aqaba city waterfront with the implementation of the Marsa Zayed
project.
Marinas can contribute to the pollution of coastal waters both in terms of illegal wastewater
discharges from pleasure crafts and release (leaching) of toxic substances (Cu, Zn) from antifouling
treatment of boat keels.
As wastewater collection and treatment facilities for boats and crews are reported to exist for the
local marinas (at least in Eilat) and specific prohibition exists, minimum to null wastewater discharge
to the gulf water is expected from leisure craft boats.
Conversely, emission of contaminants to the air from the boats/yachts engines will be considered, as
it can be reasonably assumed that, also due to the proximity of the exhaust pipes to the sea surface,
most of the pollutants released to the air during navigation end up in the gulf waters.
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Figure 2-119 Location of marinas and resorts in the northern Gulf area (modified aereal
picture from Google Earth).
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The industrial settlements
Very few relevant industrial activities exist on the Israeli side of the gulf, apart from the Mekorot
desalination plant, withdrawing brackish water from the subsoil, and the nearby operating salt
company, both located in the area between the city of Eilat and the Israeli-Jordan border.
The main industrial settlement in the area is located on the Jordanian coast, in the vicinities of the
Saudi Arabia border, and is served by port facilities (Figure 2-120).
Most of the existing industries at the site (the so called “South Zone”) are involved in the fertilizer
business.
In particular the chemical manufacturing complex owned by Jordan Phosphate Mines Company
(JPMC) produces sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, diamonium phosphate and aluminum fluoride, while
the main remaining non-fertilizer related industries and facilities include the Red Sea Timber Factory
(importing trees from Ukraine and Russia to manufacture compressed wood for re-exporting), Aqaba
thermal Power Station (fueled by natural gas and by fuel oil, with a total generation capacity of over
650 MW) and East Gas Co. (importing the natural gas from Egypt).
The chemical manufacturing complex is supplied with ammonia and sulphur by ship or truck and
exports packed fertilizers from the container terminal and the nearby port loading facilities.
Although a dedicated wastewater treatment plant exists in the area, some leakage and leaching to
the sea of liquid industrial waste from the industrial zone is deemed likely (ASEZA, 2008).
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Figure 2-120 Aereal view of the South Zone in year 2007 (modified picture from Google Earth).
At present, the Aqaba Development Company intends to expand the already existing industrial
district over 12 km2 of vacant readily developable land, to create a bigger Industrial Estate (the
‘Southern Industrial Zone’), taking account also for the fact that the area is adjacent to the site where
the new Aqaba seaport will be built over the coming five to seven years.
Moreover, a railway extension is about to be constructed to serve the new port and industrial area.
Beside the integrated agro-chemical/fertilizer cluster, the Southern Industrial Zone is intended to
dedicate the remaining areas for heavy chemical industries, supporting industries and future
industrial expansion (Jordan Investment Board:
http://www.jordaninvestment.com/BusinessandInvestment/WheretoInvest/AqabaSpecialEconomicZo
neASEZ/tabid/268/language/en-US/Default.aspx).
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A new industrial area, the Aqaba International Industrial Estate, covering 275-hectares, is also
presently under construction on a site 700 meters east of the Aqaba International Airport, offering
investment opportunities for the following type of activities (Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority:
http://www.aqabazone.com/index.php?q=node/527):
•
Construction material;
•
Food processing;
•
Apparel and other sewn goods;
•
Consumer and other plastics;
•
Logistics and warehousing;
•
Appliance assembly and manufacturing;
•
Electronics assembly and sub-assembly;
•
Metal fabrication.
The local infrastructures include, among the others, a storwater drainage system, flood protection
drainage channels and full sanitary sewer network, connected to Aqaba municipal WWTP.
Last but not least, the Jordanian government is reported to be examining a coastal location near
Aqaba for the establishment of the Kingdom’s first nuclear power plant, expected to be built within
eight years.
The tender for the construction of the plant, slated to produce between 750 and 1’100MW, is
expected to be floated in mid-2010, with initial construction work due to commence in 2012 (The
Jordan Times: http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=12964).
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Figure 2-121 Location of the main industrial settlements along the Jordanian coast (modified
aereal view from Google Earth).
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Uni. of Jordan/Yarmouk Uni.
A qaba
Israel Oceanographic &
Limnological Research
L td .
Port activities and ship traffic
Port structures exist both along the Israeli and Jordanian coast.
The port facilities in the Eilat area include the North Jetty, the South Jetty and the Eilat Oil Terminal
(Figure 2-122).
While the North Jetty is a naval base and a ship repair facility, the Southy Jetty is a modern facility
with cranes for handling general cargo and containers and a 528 meter long quay with an average
water depth of 12 meters, accommodating ships with a capacity of up to 50’000 DWT.
An additional cargo quay just north of the port of Eilat is 200 m long and can accommodate vessels
up to 6 m draft.
The port facilities, operated by the Eilat Port Company Ltd, include a specialized mechanical loading
facility to handle bulk cargoes such as potash, salt and phosphates and serves as Israel’s southern
gateway to the Far East, South Africa and Australia.
Due to its peripheric location, though, to the lack of a railway connection and to the local competition
of coastal tourism the ship traffic in the port is comparatively low.
The Eilat Oil terminal, consisting of two jetties, forms the sea link of the Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline and
is intended both for crude oil unload/load operations and for distillates load operations.
The north oil jetty, which has a T-head, can accommodate vessels up to 100’000 DWT, with a
maximum draft of 15 m and has maximum discharge rate of 10’000 cubic meters per hour.
The south jetty can accommodate vessels up to 500’000 DWT, with a maximum draft of 27 m. It has
a maximum discharge rate of 20’000 cubic meters per hour and a maximum loading rate of 10’000
cubic meters per hour.
The oil terminal has a storage capacity of 160’000 cubic meters of crude oil, with an additional
storage facility for gas oil and fuel oil.
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L td .
North Jetty
(Old Port)
South Jetty
(New Port)
North Oil Jetty
South Oil Jetty
Figure 2-122 Port of Eilat: main facilities (modified from Google Earth areal view).
Three main ports exist along the Jordanian coast: the Main Port, located close to Aqaba city, the
Container Port, located some 5 km to the south, and the Industrial Port, located in the vicinities of the
Saudi Arabian border, some 19 km to the south.
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L td .
The Main Port (Figure 2-123) comprises 10 berths with a total length of 2,050 meters, which are
used for general cargo, grain and lighter traffic, plus 2 phosphate berths.
The six, deep-water general berths are 1’060 meters long and serve vessels of 40’000 DWT with a
low-water draft of up to 13 meters. Each berth has a 35-meter wide apron and most also have a
transit shed, a semi-covered shed and open storage areas. Cargo berth No.1 has three grain
evacuators capable of discharging 500 tonnes per hour into nearby grain silos. There are also three
berths each with lengths of 150 meters and drafts alongside of 6 meters. The lighters quay is 280
meters long.
Phosphate Berth A is 220 meters in length with a 11 m minimum draft alongside. Vessels of up to
25’000 DWT can be loaded with phosphate rock at the rate of 1’000 tons per hour. The berth can
also accommodate tankers during the hours of daylight. Imported petroleum products and edible oils
are transported to the tank farm by pipeline. The pipelines are also used to supply bunkers to ships.
Phosphate Berth B is 180 meters in length with a 14.4 m minimum draft alongside. Bulk carriers up
to 125’000 DWT can be accommodated. Two mobile shiploaders can each load 2’200 tons of
phosphate rock per hour, 24 hours a day (ASEZA, 2008).
The facilities located in the Container Port area consist of (Figure 2-123):
•
Mo’ta Berth: a floating barge serving the nearby rice processing plant, receiving vessels up
to 53’000 DWT;
•
Moshterak Berth: a dolphin berth receiving vessels up to 100’000 DWT, equipped with a
conveyor belt of 25 tons per hour to handle the export of bulk cement powder from the
adjacent silos of Jordan Cement Company;
•
Aqaba Container Terminal: consisting of 3 main berths of 540 m in length, 15 m draft,
capable of receiving ships up to 84’000 DWT. Each berth has a large mobile gantry crane for
unloading containers. At the northern end of the container berths, there is a roll on-roll off
(Ro-Ro) facility containing a 40 m long berth with a draft of 10 m which can handle bow and
stern-loading vessels of up to 35’000 DWT. In 2008 the Aqaba Container Terminal handled a
record 587’530 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), with an increase of 41.6% on the
previous year (http://www.oxfordbusinessgroup.com/publication.asp?country=19 );
•
Yarmouk Berth (passenger ferry terminal): established in 1986 to create a sea link between
Egypt and Jordan, the site now consists of a terminal building, waiting area for foot
passengers and a parking area for trucks and vehicles. The berth serves both the large car
ferry which takes trucks and cars, and the high speed passenger ferry, both of which serve
the ports of Aqaba and Nuweibeh, in Egypt.
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Figure 2-123 Location of Main Port and Contaner Port along the Jordanian coastline (from
ASEZA, 2008).
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L td .
The facilities located in the Industrial Port area consist of (Figure 2-123, Figure 2-124):
•
The Oil Terminal: used for handling exports and imports of oil and oil products, consists of a
number of concrete mooring dolphins with a design draft of 24m. Able to receive oil tankers
up to 406’000 DWT, the terminal is currently used to berth the 300’000 DWT oil tanker –
'Jerash', a single hull tanker which is used as a floating storage facility for crude oil. A fixed
jetty connects the jetty to the shore facilities, and contains pipework for gas and oil transfer
to and from the ships. The pipelines serve the oil storage farms, the Aqaba Thermal Power
Plant, and also supply a number of industries in the nearby Industrial Zone. The land
facilities contain 14 truck fuelling units, which are used to transfer crude oil from the ship to
trucks, which in turn transport the oil to the Oil Refinery in Zarqa;
•
The Timber Jetty: an 80 metre long berth, with a design draft of 7 m, capable of receiving
ships of up to 14’000 DWT. It was used in the past for the unloading of timber and livestock,
but is not used extensively at the moment, as most of Jordan's timber imports come through
the Main Port;
•
The main industrial terminal, consisting of a jetty constructed to serve the adjacent industrial
complex. The west berth is 220 metres long, has a draft of 15 metres, and can receive ships
up to 70’000 DWT. This berth is used mainly for handling potash, sulphur and dry bulk
materials. The eastern berth is 190 metres long, 11 metres draft with a capacity of up 40’000
DWT. This berth is used mainly for handling bulk fertilizer and ammonia, and chemical
products. There are also facilities for unloading lpg and fuel oil at this jetty, but these are
reportedly only used exceptionally. A series of conveyor belts runs overhead from the quay
area, across the coastal highway, to the industrial area.
At present an expansion of the Industrial Port is planned on an area of approximately 60 ha facing
the Dirreh Bay, located between the existing port facilities and the Saudi Arabian border.
The project includes the construction of a General Cargo and Ro-Ro Terminal, a Grain Terminal and
a Ferry Terminal, aiming at replacing the existing Main Port of Aqaba, to be converted into a public
waterfront area (Aqaba Development Corporation:
http://www.adc.jo/pages.php?menu_id=37&local_type=0 ).
The new General Cargo and Ro-Ro Terminal will be a multi-user, multi-purpose terminal with a
potential capacity of 2.0 million tons per annum of break bulk, 400’000 vehicles and 100’000
livestock heads.
The new Grain Terminal, able to handle 3 million tons per annum with the addition of a second grain
elevator, will have a dedicated berth, a storage terminal with truck loading facilities, a bagging plant,
and conveyer connections to storage silos. It will handle imports for the Jordan Silos and Supply
General Company (JSSGC), private importers, and trans-shipments to other markets.
The New Ferry Terminal will have an annual capacity of 1.6 million passengers, 10’000 buses,
80’000 trucks and 200’000 cars (http://www.ameinfo.com/163819.html).
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L td .
Figure 2-124 The Southern Port Area (from ASEZA, 2008).
Port activities and ship traffic can contribute to the pollution of the upper gulf waters in many ways:
through accidental release of contaminants, including oil spill, during loading and unloading
operations, discharge of ballast and bilge waters, release (leaching) of toxic substances from the
antifouling hull coatings, corrosion of the sacrificial anodes and finally fallout to the sea of the
contaminants vehiculated by ship engine emissions.
In particular ballast waters, used for washing the cargo tanks of oil tankers and providing additional
weight to empty or partially filled vessels while they are in transit to adjust for optimal depth in the
water, usually include high concentrations of oil residues, while bilge waters contain oil drippings
from ship equipment.
Stringent regulations exist to prevent pollution from ports and maritime activity in the study area, as
the MARPOL convention recognises the Red Sea and in particular the Gulf of Aqaba as a “special
area” where the discharge into the sea of oil and oily mixtures from any oil tanker or ship of 400 DWT
or more is prohibited, and any such ship is to retain on board all oil drainage, sludge, dirty ballast and
tank washing waters, with discharges allowed only into accepted reception facilities.
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All the same the “noxious liquid substances” listed in MARPOL category X (products deemed to
present a major hazard) are not to be discharged into the sea under any circumstances, including
ballast water, tank washings or other residues or mixtures containing such substances. If tanks
containing such substances need to be washed, the residues need to be discharged to a reception
facility.
No ballast water reception facilities presently exist at the Port of Eilat, though, where only 2 small
road tankers for removal of oily bilge water are located (Unishipping Israel:
http://www.unishipping.co.il/eilat.html), while no operating waste reception facility at all exist for oil
wastes, sewage, bilge or ballast water at the Jordan ports (ASEZA, 2008). As only clean ballast
water from the segregated ballast tanks (SBT) is allowed to be discharged into the sea in the
terminal area, ships entering the Port of Eilat are required to “change their ballast waters prior to
arrival” (Eilat Ashkelone Pipeline co. Operations Division, 2004).
As for oil spill prevention during loading/unloading operations at port, strict safety measures and
regulations exist at the Eilat Oil Terminal, while a marine pollution prevention station equipped with a
marine pollution combat vessel was set up between the reef reserve and the Eilat Oil Terminal, with
the capability of dealing with spills as large as a few hundred tons from large vessels.
An oil spill combat unit also exist at the Main Aqaba Port, so that according to ASEZA the main
existing risk (due to its distance) in the area is related to the (unlike) possibility of leakage from the
300’000 DWT floating oil storage vessel – ‘Jerash’ at the Industrial Port (ASEZA, 2008).
Coming to phosphate dust deposition during ship load activities, which were long considered to
represent one of the major sources of nutrients to the upper Gulf, engineering improvements have
been adopted since the late 90’s in the port of Eilat (the ore stock-pile in warehouses, unloading ore
into enclosed warehouses, paving Port roads with asphalt, vacuuming phosphate dust from the
roads with vacuum-machines on trucks, re-circulating and filtering the air in the storage warehouse,
new loading chutes…) to limit the airborne dust (Atkinson et al, 2001).
More recently the Aqaba Port Authority also took the decision to improve the operations in the Main
Port in order to reduce the phosphate dust emissions, which in the recent past (2000-2001) had
been evidenced to generate phosphate concentration in the local seabed sediments 2 orders of
magnitude higher than elsewhere along the Jordanian coast (Badran and Al Zibdah, 2005).
The works, recently concluded, included modification of buildings, conveyors systems and
replacement of the loading chutes fitted to the two main shiploaders (handling capacity 2’200 tons
per hour). Following such improvements the previous typical dust pollution levels of 200 mg/m3
measured in the vicinities of the loading facilities are reported to have been reduced to levels less
than 5 mg/m3 (Hub4: http://www.hub-4.com/news/1904/phosphate-loading-a-case-study ).
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A qaba
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Limnological Research
L td .
Figure 2-125 Phosphate loading at Main Port, Aqaba, before recent improvements (from
ASEZA (2008). The phosphate ore dust released during ship loading operations is clearly
visible in the back.
2.2.1.6
Agriculture
A number of kibbutzs exist along the southern Arava valley, withdrawing irrigation water from the
regional alluvial aquifer. The treated effluents of Eilat municipal WWTP are also used for fields
irrigation some 40 km north of Eilat.
The agricultural activities release nutrients in the subsoil with irrigation, which eventually reach the
Gulf waters via groundwater flow.
The southmost kibbutz is Kibbutz Eilot (Figure 2-126), whose fields of are located between the
evaporation ponds and the Israel – Jordan border. Seasonal crops are irrigated between September
and the end of May. Through this period, some 300 to 1000 m3 of mostly fresh water and some
secondarily treated effluents are used for irrigating each 1000 m2 of land (equivalent to rain of 0.3-1
m). The irrigation scheme includes intensive events aiming at flushing the accumulated salts in the
soil to below the root zone and eventually into the groundwater system. The extensive vineyards
planted in the region in recent years follow a prolonged and almost continuous drip irrigation scheme
which extends with varying intensity over the entire year. The recycled effluents used for irrigation
initially contain varying amounts of nutrients and are further enriched by fertilizers and plant remains
(Bein et al, 2004).
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Kibbutz
Eilot
Marine Science Station
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A qaba
Israel Oceanographic &
Limnological Research
L td .
Cultivated
areas
Figure 2-126 Location of Kibbutz Eilot and cultivated fields in the vicinities of the upper tip of
the Gulf (modified from Google Earth aereal image).
2.2.1.7
Fish farming
Two commercial fish farms (floating fish cages) used to be located close to the Jordanian-Israeli
border at the northern tip of GOAE, with an annual production of about 2000 tons. At the end of an
eight years long public debate about their impact and role in the deterioration of the local coral reef
ecosystem, in 2008 the fish farms were completely removed from the sea. Alternative land based
solutions are now being developed so that the fish farms are no longer a major source of pollution
(Atkinson et al., 2001; Israel Environmental Bullettin, January 2005).
At present the main fish farming facility in the area is the inland based ARDAG mariculture facility in
Eilat, producing 100-120 tons per year in a semi-closed system and discharging treated waters to the
upper gulf through the Kinnet canal.
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2.2.2
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A qaba
Israel Oceanographic &
Limnological Research
L td .
Pollution loads estimate
The pollution loads generated by the many sources identified in the above paragraph reach the sea
following different paths: some are directly discharged with wastewater or rainwater, some leak into
the subsoil and migrate to the sea with the groundwaters, some fall over the sea surface after being
released into the air and some are directly released to the sea from ship and boat keels.
The quantification of the present and future pollution loads discharged into the upper Gulf waters is
separately performed in the following per each different release mechanism and path, in order to
make the most of the available data and information from ongoing and past environmental
monitoring programs.
The performed load estimate includes the following (see Table 2-33):
•
Direct discharge of spilled raw sewage from Eilat municipal system;
•
Direct discharge of treated wastewaters from fish farming and other industrial activities (salt
company; desalination plant; …) in the Eilat area through the Kinnet canal;
•
Discharge of urban contaminants with stormwater;
•
Groundwater discharge through the regional alluvial aquifer and the upper unconfined
shallow aquifer along the north coast;
•
Direct discharge of groundwater used for air cooling purposes from the Meridien Hotel;
•
Groundwater and saline submarine groundwater discharge from the periferal touristic
resorts;
•
Deposition of phosphate ore dust in the sea during ship loading operations at port;
•
Direct release of contaminants from ship hulls at port;
•
Direct release of contaminants from boat keels in the marinas;
•
Deposition over the sea of contaminants from engine exhaust gas emission of leisure boats;
•
Atmospheric fallout over the sea, including anthropogenic sources.
The calculations performed include nutrients, organic load, but also trace metals and PAHs.
Evidences of relevant micropollutant sediment contamination in specific areas (mostly ports and
marinas) along the coast of the northern GoA are in fact reported by the scientific literature (Herut
and Halicz, 2004).
Fecal pathogens contamination (due to accidental spillage from Eilat sewage system ) is not
computed, as its effect on the marine ecosystem is limited in time due to the mortality of such
microorganisms in salt water and depends more on the intensity of each single release event than on
the overall annual load.
Moreover, taken account for the restriction posed for the Gulf of Aqaba by the MARPOL convention,
for the safety measures adopted at the ports and for the oil spill combat facilities existing in the study
area, no estimate is produced here for oil spillage, which is assumed to be virtually zero.
This appears to be consistent with the observations, reporting that oil spills have veritably come to a
halt in the last few years (Israel Environmental Bullettin, January 2005).
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A qaba
Table 2-33 Inventory of pollution sources, contaminant release mechanisms and discharge paths for the upper Gulf area.
Source
Location
Mechanism
Eilat urban area
Northern coast
Spill of raw sewage from Eilat municipal
Direct discharge to the sea
system
N, P, BOD5
Aqaba urban area
Northern coast
Leakage of raw and treated sewage
from Aqaba municipal system
Groundwater discharge through the
upper unconfined shallow aquifer
N, P
Urban areas of Eilat and Aqaba
Northern coast
Groundwater contamination through
irrigation with reclaimed wastewater
Groundwater discharge through the
upper unconfined shallow aquifer
N, P
Urban traffic in Eilat and Aqaba
Northern coast
Deposition of contaminants to the
ground in the urban areas
Urban runoff
P, N, BOD5, trace
metals, PAHs
Hotel cooling systems
Northern coast
Abstraction of nutrient-enriched
groundwater
Direct discharge to he sea
N, P
Touristic resorts
Hof Almog; Tala bay
Groundwater contamination through
irrigation with reclaimed wastewater
Groundwater discharge and saline
submarine groundwater discharge
N, P
Marinas and leisure boat traffic
Eilat Marina; Royal Yacht
Club; Tala bay Marina
Release of contaminants from
(antifouling) boat keel paint
Direct release into the water at
berthing place
Cu
Leisure boat traffic
Northern tip of GoA
Engine exhaust gas emission while in
motion
Quick fallout over the sea water
Trace metals;
PAHs
Eilat industries
Eilat
Discharge of treated wastewater and
brine
Kinnet canal
N, P
Industrial manifacturing
Jordanian coast
Gas emission into the atmosphere
Fallout over the sea water
Trace metals
Export of fertilizers
Port of Eilat; Main Port of
Resuspension of ore dust into the air
Aqaba; Southern Port area during ship loading activities
Ship traffic
Northern Gulf of Aqaba
Ship traffic
Port of Eilat; Main Port of
Corrosion of sacrificial anodes
Aqaba; Southern Port area
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Diesel engine exhaust gas emission
while in motion
Path
Contaminants
Deposition over the sea water in the
close vicinities of the loading
P
facilities
Fallout over the sea water
Trace metals,
PAHs
Direct release into the water at port
(and while in motion)
Zn
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Source
Location
Ship traffic
Port of Eilat; Main Port of
Release of contaminants from
Aqaba; Southern Port area (antifouling) ship hull coating
Agriculture
Northern coast
Fish farming (ARDAG
mariculture facility)
Northern coast
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Marine Science Station
Uni. of Jordan/Yarmouk Uni.
A qaba
Mechanism
Path
Contaminants
Direct release into the water at port
(and while in motion)
Cu, Zn
Groundwater nutrient enrichment
through irrigation
Groundwater discharge through the
regional alluvial aquifer and the
upper unconfined shallow aquifer
N, P
Wastewater discharge from the facility
Direct discharge through the kinnet
canal
N, P, BOD5
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2.2.2.1
Marine Science Station
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A qaba
Israel Oceanographic &
Limnological Research
L td .
Direct discharge of spilled raw sewage from Eilat municipal system
The nitrogen loads discharged to the sea due to the occasional failures of the Eilat municipal sewage
system were calculated in year 2001 by the International Expert Team charged with the identification
of the reasons for coral reef deterioration, based on the spilled volumes recorded in the period 19952001.
The total number of recorded spills in the period was 69, for a total sewage volume of 154’000 cubic
meters, which considering a nitrogen concentration of 40 mg/l gave an average annual load of 880
kg N/yr (Atkinson et al., 2001).
Assuming a total phosphorus concentration of 5 mg/l and a BOD5 concentration of 300 mg/l the
average loads discharged to the upper gulf in the period can be calculated in respectively 110 kg P
/yr and 6’600 kg BOD5 /yr.
Although continuous work is being performed on the Eilat municipal sewage system to prevent
further accidental spillage, the frequency of occurrence of failure events reported by the press for the
recent past (3 events in year 2007) reveal that the present situation is still critical, also due to the
increasing demographic trend in the area, and that the spillage problem is not likely to be definitively
solved unless a thorough restructuring and upgrade of the sewage system is performed.
As long as no such intervention is performed, it is deemed reasonable to regard the pollution loads
calculated in year 2001 as still representative of the present and future situation.
2.2.2.2
Direct discharge from the Kinnet Canal
Direct discharge of wastewater (including salt brine) through the Kinnet Canal concerns the Ardag
fish farming facility, the NBT algae farming facility, the ISC Salt Terminal, the Mekorot desalination
plant and IOLR test facility and is subject to authorization and monitoring by the Israeli Ministry for
the Environment.
According to the numbers provided by such Ministry, the average annual discharges of organic and
nutrient loads can be estimated for the period 2007-2009 as reported in the following table.
Average annual organic and nutrient loads discharged through the Kinnet canal for the
period 2007-2009 (as from data supplied by the Israeli Ministry for the Environment).
Company
Flow
BOD5
total N
total P
[m /year]
[kg/year]
[kg/year]
[kg/year]
ARDAG Pilot
324’400
1’620
5’850
1’120
ARDAG
3'660’000
950
2810
160
NBT
490
1
0
0
Mekorot
5’300
-
22
3
IUI
212’300
9
48
4
Israeli Salt Company
145’000
305
-
-
NMC-IOLR
3’260’000
4’300
480
380
TOTAL
7'607’490
7’185
9’210
1’667
3
RSS-REL-T102.2
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L td .
As for the future trends, the ARDAG fish farming test facility is expected to conclude the
experimentations and to be stopped after year 2010. After that the nutrient loads vehiculated by the
Kinnet canal are expected to reduce to about half the present ones.
2.2.2.3
Discharge of urban contaminants with stormwater
In absence of any direct measurement of pollutant concentration in runoff water in the study area,
the loads of contaminants discharged from the urban areas of Eilat and Aqaba with the stormwater
can be estimated according to the results of the USA Nationwide Urban Runoff Program published
by USEPA, providing an average estimation of the pollutant concentration in rainfall (US-EPA, 1983).
As the NURP results suggested that the pollutant concentrations are not much sensitive the runoff
volume, the pollution loads for the Aqaba/Eilat area can be simply obtained by multiplying such
concentrations for the overall yearly water runoff in the study area (about 40 mm/year), taking
account for a runoff coefficient (expressing the ratio of discharged volume on total rainfall) of 0.35, as
suggested again by USEPA, and for the overall surface of the urban areas of Aqaba (about 860 ha)
and Eilat (about 600 ha).
As for PAHs, which were not monitored in the NURP program, it seems reasonable to refer to direct
measurements performed in the same geographic area as the upper Gulf of Aqaba.
A unitary annual load of 0.18 kg/ha/year (average between the city center and residential area) was
estimated from direct measurements of rain and street runoff samples from two cities in the vicinity of
Amman during the pluvial period 1999-2000 (Jiries et al., 2004).
Again, the yearly PAH pollution loads from the urban areas of Aqaba and Eilat can be estimated
multiplying such unitary load per the overall surface of the urban areas of Aqaba and Eilat, after
scaling to take account for the overall annual rainfall in the Amman area (about 260 mm/year).
The resulting annual pollution loads estimated for the total urban areas of Aqaba and Eilat are
resumed in the following Table 2-34 together with the calculation procedure.
Table 2-34 Urban areas of Aqaba and Eilat: estimate of present yearly pollution loads
discharged with stormwaters.
Average
concentration
Contaminant
in stormwater
[mg/l]
Unitary load
in Amman
area
[kg/ha/year]
Annual urban
runoff load Eilat [kg/year]
Annual urban
runoff load Aqaba [kg/year]
Total annual
urban runoff
load
[kg/year]
BOD5
12
1008
1445
2453
Ptot
0.42
35
51
86
Ntot
2.76
232
332
564
Cu
0.043
3.6
5.2
8.8
Pb
0.182
15.3
21.9
37.2
Zn
0.202
17.0
24.3
41.3
16.6
23.8
40.4
PAHs
RSS-REL-T102.2
0.18
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2.2.2.4
Marine Science Station
Uni. of Jordan/Yarmouk Uni.
A qaba
Israel Oceanographic &
Limnological Research
L td .
Groundwater discharge through the regional alluvial aquifer and the upper
unconfined shallow aquifer along the north coast
In the southern Arava valley the regional alluvial aquifer is divided into two main confined subaquifers (by a clay unit, found at a depth of about 80-90m) that drain into the gulf some 1-2 km south
of the coastline at a water depth of between 50 and 200 m.
A third, unconfined, shallow sub-aquifer (down to a depth of 30 m at the coast line) is found in the
coastal area of the gulf and extends some 3-4 km to the north of the coastline.
The hydrogeological setting of the area indicates that the two main sub-aquifers of the Alluvial
Aquifer are isolated from surface contamination within the coastal area proper.
However, a few kilometers to the north, the clay unit which confines the upper subaquifer becomes
patchy and allows for direct recharge and contamination. The unconfined shallow aquifer, on the
other hand, is in direct contact with the surface and are therefore highly susceptible to recharge and
contamination through anthropogenic activity. Furthermore, since the natural flow of groundwater
through this unit is negligible, anthropogenic surface activities dominate the recharge, shape the flow
regime and control the solute flux of this unit unto the Gulf (Bein et al, 2004).
The average nitrogen fluxes into the Gulf of Eilat trough such groundwater system were estimated in
year 2004 by the Geological Survey of Israel based on the available relevant hydrogeological data
(water heads; hydraulic gradients; local flow regime; hydraulic conductivity and transmissivity) and
nitrogen concentration measured in groundwater in years 2002 and 2003.
Separate estimates were produced for the alluvial aquifer (vehiculating the nutrient loads lost to the
ground by the crop farming activities carried out along the Arava valley) and for the different areas
the unconfined shallow aquifer can be subdivided into according to the different hydrogeological
characteristics and nitrogen concentrations in groundwater, as reported in the following Table 2-35 .
It must be evidenced that, lacking any data, the calculation simply assumed that the nutrient flux in
the Aqaba coastal area equaled that of Eilat.
RSS-REL-T102.2
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L td .
Marine Science Station
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A qaba
Table 2-35 Calculation of groundwater and nitrate flux into the Gulf of Eilat. The hydraulic
values and nitrate concentrations employed are compiled representative values. Q – annual
discharge into the Gulf; K – hydraulic conductivity; h – thickness of the relevant unit; L –
width of the flow front; j – flow gradient at the coastal area and NO3 is the average total
nitrogen concentration expressed as nitrate (from: Bein et al, 2004).
Such calculations, giving an overall nitrogen load of about 6’790 kg/year of nitrogen, have been
kindly revised and updated upon request by the Geological Survey of Israel according to more recent
data from groundwater monitoring, yelding the preliminary estimates reported in the following Table
2-36.
Table 2-36 Preliminary upgrade of groundwater and nitrate flux into the Gulf of Eilat through
the upper unconfined aquifer (source: Geological Survey of Israel).
Maximimum Minimu
flow
m flow
Most probable
average flow
NO3 Annual nitrogen loads
Mm3/yr
Mm3/yr
Mm3/yr
mg/l kg N/yr
Aqaba
2.61
0.01
0.53
50
5984
Agricultural fields
2.27
0.005
0.24
10
542
Evaporation
ponds
2.30
0.005
0.33
5
373
Eilat
1.81
0.01
0.37
50
4177
Area
TOTAL
1.47
11076
Taking account for the previous estimate of alluvial aquifer contribution, the total annual underwater
nitrogen discharge can be estimated in about 13’450 kg N/yr.
It can be seen that the difference between the previous and the upgraded estimate does not depend
on an ongoing increasing trend in groundwater contamination, but on a different (increased) estimate
RSS-REL-T102.2
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of groundwater flow rate, whose evaluation appears to be a difficult issue to precisely accomplish for
the area.
Assuming an average phosphate concentration in groundwater of 0.4 - 0.7 micromole per liter
(source: Geological Survey of Israel), a total phosphorus discharge of 18 – 32 kilograms of
phosphorus per year is obtained.
2.2.2.5
Direct discharge to the sea of groundwater extracted for cooling purposes by
touristic structures
Authorized abstraction of groundwater from the subsoil for cooling (air conditioning) purposes and
subsequent discharge to the gulf is done by the “Le Meridien” hotel in Eilat.
As the groundwater in the area is contaminated with nutrients, nitrogen and phosphorus loads are
discharged with the water.
According to the discharge rate supplied by the Israeli Ministry of the Environment for the years
2007-2009 and to the nutrient concentrations in groundwater reported in the above paragraph for the
Eilat area, the following estimates can be made (see Table 2-37):
Table 2-37 Estimate of nutrient loads discharged by Le Meridien Hotel in Eilat (flow data
source: Israeli Ministry for the environment; nutrient concentration data source: Geological
Survey of Israel).
Annual flow
N-NO3
P-PO4
Annual nitrogen
loads
Annual phosphorus
loads
Mm3/yr
mg/l
mg/l
kg N/yr
kg P/yr
12.585
11.3
0.017
142’210
214
Given the significance of the above features, further investigation is presently being carried out to
make absolutely sure that the annual flow refers to the actual discharge and not to the maximum
authorised (and therefore virtual) discharge.
The nutrient loads must be therefore regarded as provisional and not fully reliable, as subject to
possible significant decrease depending on the results of the above investigation.
2.2.2.6
Groundwater and saline submarine groundwater discharge from the peripheral
touristic resorts
The estimate of the pollution loads released to the sea by the touristic resorts not connected to the
municipal sewage system is not a straightforward task to accomplish.
While it seems to be in fact commonly accepted the idea that some contaminants are indeed
released to the subsoil from such resorts and eventually reach the sea, no consolidated methodology
seem to exist for their assessment.
RSS-REL-T102.2
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A new indirect methodology has been therefore conceived and proposed within this study, based on
the following assumptions:
•
The wastewater produced within each resort is treated and locally re-used, mainly for garden
irrigation;
•
Due to the need of minimizing the management effort and the related expenditure, only
primary wastewater treatment is performed;
•
The nutrients in excess with respect to the garden needs leak into the ground and eventually
reach the sea. The actual ratio of freshwater leakage into the groundwater from the resort
facilities is not a crucial issue in the underground nutrient migration process, as specific
experimental studies (Paytan et al, 2006) have recently evidenced the relevance of saline
submarine groundwater discharge, also driven by tidal pumping, in determining the nutrient
contribution to the coastal waters of the Gulf of Aqaba.
According to the above the following methodology is proposed:
1. Calculation of the annual overall nitrogen and phosphorus loads from the resort, as average
number of guests per daily contribution (12 gr N people-1 day-1; 1.9 gr P people-1 day-1);
2. Estimate of the nutrients loads removed with wastewater treatment: removal efficiency = 15
% both for nitrogen (typically 5-25% for primary treatment) and for phosphorus (typically 520% for primary treatment);
3. Estimate of the nutrient loads potentially uptaken by the garden vegetation: unitary loads =
300 kg ha-1 year-1 for nitrogen (typical values are 200 kg ha-1 year-1 and 400-500 kg ha-1
year-1 for grass meadows and greenhouse flower growing respectively) and 100 kg ha-1 year1
for phosphorus (typical values are 40 kg ha-1 year-1 and 170-220 kg ha-1 year-1 for grass
meadows and greenhouse flower growing respectively);
4. Calculation of the total residual nutrient loads reaching the sea, as from (1) – (2) – (3). These
are actually minimum loads, as it is assumed that no other nutrient source is available to the
garden vegetation (e.g. no chemical fertilizers or manure are supplied).
As the calculation of the groundwater fluxes of nutrients reaching the sea presented in paragraph
2.2.2.4 already include the Hof Almog resorts area, an estimate needs to be provided in the following
for the Tala Bay resort area only.
Unfortunately, despite our best attempts, no data (average number of guests hosted by the resort;
type of treatment applied to wastewater; use of treated effluents and total irrigated area) are currently
available for that resort area.
The pollution loads estimate will be therefore provided within the final report.
On the purpose of assessing the degree of reliability of the proposed metodology, an estimate of the
annual loads of nitrogen and phosphorus from the Orchid (formerly Shangri-la) Hotel in Eilat is
produced in the following, for comparison with the estimate produced in Bein et al., 2004.
Based on the total number of rooms in the hotel (180), an average number of 300 people in the
resort (among guests and hotel personnel) is estimated, returning an annual load of 300 x 12 x 365 /
1000 = 1300 kg year-1 nitrogen and 300 x 1.9 x 365 / 1000 = 200 kg year-1 phosphorus.
RSS-REL-T102.2
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A qaba
Israel Oceanographic &
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The nutrient loads removed with wastewater treatment are therefore 0.15 x 1300 = 195 kg year-1
nitrogen and 0.15 x 200 = 30 kg year-1 phosphorus.
As the total garden area is about 2 ha (estimated from year 2002 aereal images), the total potential
plant uptake can be computed as 300 kg ha-1 year-1 x 2 ha = 600 kg year-1 nitrogen and 100 kg ha-1
year-1 x 2 ha = 200 kg year-1 phosphorus.
The annual nitrogen load discharged to the sea is therefore 1300 – 195 – 600 = 505 kg year-1, while
the phosphorus load is less than zero (200 – 30 – 200 kg year-1 phosphorus), meaning that some
phosphorus may need to be added with fertilization.
Conversely, if we assume that fertilizers are applied to the garden up to its full nutrient needs, so that
there is no nutrient uptake from recycled irrigation water, an annual discharged load of 1105 kg year1
nitrogen and 170 kg year-1 phosphorus are obtained.
For comparison, the annual nitrogen load computed for about the same area in the cited paper by
Bein et al. is 10’000 kg year-1 NO3, meaning 2260 kg year-1 of nitrogen.
If we consider that the latter most likely includes the impact of the neighbouring marine underwater
observatory facilities and that no exact figures were available at the time on the amount of water
recycled through the system and the nutrient figures, so that the total flux may deviate from the
calculated figure up to about 50% (ad declared in the paper), it can be concluded that the proposed
metodology seems able to provide at least the order of magnitude of the discharged nutrient loads,
which - faute de mieux - is deemed acceptable to the aims of the present study.
2.2.2.7
Deposition of phosphate ore dust in the sea during ship loading operations at port
The phosphorus loads discharged to the sea during ship loading operations at Eilat and Aqaba ports
were calculated in year 2001 by the International Expert Team charged with the identification of the
reasons for coral reef deterioration (Atkinson et al., 2001).
In that occasion the estimates performed for the port of Eilat, based on direct sampling of dust and
on the results of a plume distribution computer model, indicated that on average 3.7 grams of
phosphorus were lost to the sea per ton of loaded ore.
Such reduced amount resulted from the many engineering improvements adopted since the late 90’s
in the Port of Eilat to reduce the phenomenon (see 2.2.1.5).
Although some further small improvement (e.g. installation of a new loading chute) was adopted at
the Port of Eilat shortly after the above measurements and estimates were performed, it seems
reasonable to extend the above ratio of phosphorus lost to the sea to loaded ore to the present (year
2010) situation.
Taking account for the significant improvements recently introduced in the loading facilities at the
Port of Aqaba to the aim of reducing phospate loss to the sea (see 2.2.1.5), the same ratio of 3.7
grams of phosphorus per ton of loaded ore was adopted in our calculations for that port.
The resulting phosphorus loads are reported in the following Table 2-38.
RSS-REL-T102.2
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L td .
Marine Science Station
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A qaba
Table 2-38 Estimates of present and future loads of phosphorus reaching the sea during ship
loading operations at the ports of Eilat and Aqaba (data from Port Authorities).
Port
Loss ratio [gr P / ton of phosphate ore]
Ore export [ton]
P load 2010 [kg]
Eilat
3.7
530’000*
1’961
Aqaba
3.7
7’800’000**
28’860
Year 2009; ** Scaled from data related to January-May 2010
2.2.2.8
Direct release of contaminants from ship hulls at port and during navigation
At present, after the ban of tributyltin based coatings in 2003, the action of standard (copper ablative)
antifouling coatings is based on the release of copper to kill the settling larvae of biofouling
organisms.
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA, 2003) an average release
rate of about 9 μg cm-2 day -1 of copper and 3.6 μg cm-2 day -1 of zinc can be considered while in
static conditions (in port), while almost double rates (17 μg cm-2 day -1 of copper and 6.7 μg cm-2 day
-1
of zinc) must be considered while the ship is in motion.
The total amount of copper and zinc released to the waters of the Gulf of Aqaba due to ship traffic
can be estimated considering both the time of ship stay at port during unloading/loading operations
and the navigation time through the gulf (about 8 hours from the Tiran Straits to the port area and the
same on the way back, assuming an average cruise speed of about 12 knots).
The amount of zinc release from ship sacrificial anodes both during navigation and during port
operations can be estimated in a similar manner, based on the total time spent within the Gulf by
each ship:
Zinc load [kg] = current density requirement [A m-2] x ship wetted surface area [m2] x time in the Gulf
[hrs] / zinc capacity [amp.hrs kg-1]
assuming a current density requirement of 15 mA m-2 and a capacity for Zinc of 810 amp.hrs kg-1
(Botha C., 2000).
According to the information supplied by ASEZA and by the private company running the port of Eilat
concerning the average annual number of cruises per ship type and to the available information
concerning the respective port facilities (see paragraph 2.2.1.5), the following summarizing data
have been figured out (Table 2-39):
RSS-REL-T102.2
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A qaba
Table 2-39 Average annual features of ship traffic at Aqaba and Eilat port (number of cruises
supplied by ASEZA and Eilat Port Company; ship size and time spent at port figured out
based on berths accomodating and loading/unloading capacity).
n. of Cruises
Average DWT
[thousands of tons]
Average time at port
[hours]
Dry Bulk Carriers
309
25; 40; 125
25; 40; 57
General Cargo
98
40
12
Container Carrier
428
80
8
Oil Tanker/Liquid bulk
carrier
210
250
24
Roll on Roll off
195
35
8
Cruise ships
103
n.a. (about 1200 passengers)
8
Dry Bulk Carriers
52
30
12
General Cargo
75
30
12
Type of Ship
PORT OF AQABA
PORT OF EILAT
It can be seen that no oil tankers/liquid bulk carriers have been considered for the Port of Eilat, as
very little to no traffic is reported to happen in the Eilat Oli terminal in the present days.
Based on the above figures and taking account for the ships’ wetted surfaces, the following average
annual loads can be estimated (Table 2-40):
Table 2-40 Average annual loads of copper and zinc produced by direct release of
contaminants from ship hulls at port and during navigation.
Release from hull coating
Release from sacrificial anodes
Cu [kg/yr]
Zn [kg/yr]
Zn [kg/yr]
Dry Bulk Carriers
856
340
3439
General Cargo
121
48
396
Container Carrier
1031
407
3196
Oil Tanker/Liquid bulk
carrier
1144
454
4169
Roll on Roll off
268
106
832
Cruise ships
118
47
366
Dry Bulk Carriers
54
21
175
General Cargo
103
41
338
TOTAL
3695
1465
12912
Type of Ship
PORT OF AQABA
PORT OF EILAT
RSS-REL-T102.2
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A qaba
It must be stressed that, being based on the maximum ship size which can be accommodated by the
berths (as no information concerning actual ships size has been supplied so far), the above loads
are likely to represent an overestimate or the actual ones. We are confident, though, that at least the
order of magnitude (about 4 tons/yr of copper and 14 tons/yr of zinc as a total) has been correctly
identified.
A revised calculation will be included in the final report, when more precise data are hopefully
available from both ASEZA and Eilat Port Company.
2.2.2.9
Direct release of contaminants from boat keels in the marinas
Leisure boats release copper and zinc from keel antifouling coatings just like the large vessels.
The total loads released in the upper GoA can be computed based on the number of boats/yachts
per class of dimension hosted by the marinas in the area (Eilat Marina; Royal Yacht Club Aqaba;
Tala bay Marina), assuming that the total number of hours of motion is small compared to the
number of hours the boats stay in the marina and using the same release rates used above for the
ship calculations (9 μg cm-2 day -1 of copper and 3.6 μg cm-2 day -1 of zinc).
As the wetted area depends on the boat size, and the private companies running the marinas are
kind of reluctant to supply such feature, a rough estimate of the dimensional split of the boats hosted
by the Eilat Marina (by far the largest in the area) has been worked out from the satellite imagery
available on Google Earth and extended to the other two marinas, yielding the following (Table 2-41):
Table 2-41 Number of leisure boats hosted in the marinas in the northern GoA, per class of
dimension (estimate from aereal imagery).
5-10m
10-15m
15-20m
20-30m
Total
Eilat Marina
216
100
36
8
360
Royal Yacht Club
Aqaba
96
44
16
4
160
Tala Bay Marina
39
18
7
1
65
Total
351
162
59
13
585
Based on the above, the following copper and zinc loads can be computed (Table 2-42):
Table 2-42 Estimate of the copper and zinc loads released by leasure boats in the marinas.
5-10m
10-15m
15-20m
20-30m
351
162
59
13
Wetted surface [m ]
7020
7290
4720
1820
Copper load [kg/yr]
231
239
155
60
685
Zinc load [kg/yr]
92
96
62
24
274
Total number of boats
2
RSS-REL-T102.2
Total
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L td .
2.2.2.10 Deposition over the sea of contaminants from engine exhaust gas emission of
leisure boats
It is assumed here that, given the close proximity of yachts’ and boats’ exhaust pipes to the sea
surface, the trace metals and PAHs discharged with engine exhaust gas entirely fall over the sea
surface shortly after the emission.
Assuming an average fuel consumption of 180 g hp-1 hr-1 for diesel engines and 240 g hp-1 hr-1 for
gasoline 4 stroke engines, the pollution emissions can be estimated according to the methodology
proposed by the Environmental European Agency (EEA, 2009), supplying the following emission
factors (Table 2-43; pollutant mass/ consumed fuel mass):
Table 2-43 Diesel engines – average emission factors (EEA, 2009).
Contaminant
Unit of
measure
Emission factor (Diesel
engines)
Emission factor (gasoline 4
stroke)
Cd
Cu
Cr
Ni
Se
Zn
Σ PAHs
mg/kg
mg/kg
mg/kg
mg/kg
mg/kg
mg/kg
mg/kg
0.01
1.70
0.05
0.07
0.01
1.00
0.01
1.70
0.05
0.07
0.01
1.00
3.32
1.96
As the average engine type and power (HP) can be attributed (on a statistical basis) according to the
boat size, the total loads discharged to the gulf waters can be estimated based on the total number
of boats/yachts hosted by the local marinas, per class of dimension, and on their average number of
navigation hours in one year.
Concerning the latter, an average assumption of 20 hours of motion full speed per year per boat was
made, taking account also for the reduced dimensions of the Gulf and for the relative vicinity of the
main possible areas of touristic interest to the marinas.
Given the number of boats per size class reported in the previous paragraph, the average yearly
amount of consumed fuel can be calculated and the pollution loads estimated as reported in the
following Table 2-44:
RSS-REL-T102.2
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Marine Science Station
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A qaba
Table 2-44 Estimate of the average yearly amount of fuel consumed by the engines of the
leisure boats and yachts hosted by the marinas in the upper GoA.
Emission
Unit of
factor
Contaminant
measure (Diesel
engines)
Emission
factor
(gasoline 4
stroke)
Yearly diesel
fuel
consumption
[tons]
Total
Yearly gasoline
annual
consumption
loads
[tons]
[kg]
Cd
mg/kg
0.01
0.01
978
337
0.01
Cu
mg/kg
1.7
1.7
978
337
2.24
Cr
mg/kg
0.05
0.05
978
337
0.07
Ni
mg/kg
0.07
0.07
978
337
0.09
Se
mg/kg
0.01
0.01
978
337
0.01
Zn
mg/kg
1
1
978
337
1.32
Σ PAHs
mg/kg
3.32
1.96
978
337
3.91
2.2.2.11 Atmospheric fallout over the sea
The atmospheric deposition of nutrients and trace elements to the waters of the upper Gulf of Aqaba
has been monitored in recent years, so that estimates of present fluxes are available from the
scientific literature.
In particular the deposition rate of such elements was estimated using a deposition model based on
the aerosol samples collected in the period 2003-2005 on the roof of the Interuniversity Institute for
Marine Science at Eilat, located on the coast some 5 km south of the city.
The estimated nutrient fluxes were highly variable over the sampling period, with the soluble
phosphate flux showing a seasonal pattern with higher input during the winter (September to
December) than in other seasons (Chen et al, 2007).
Moreover, about 50% of total suspended particles in the air were found to be associated with
anthropogenic sources and a number of trace elements (e.g. Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, V and Ni) were found
to be mainly derived from anthropogenic emissions (Chen et al., 2008).
The estimated average yearly fluxes are reported in the following Table 2-45.
RSS-REL-T102.2
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A qaba
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Table 2-45 Nutrient and trace metals dry deposition fluxes to the upper Gulf of Aqaba.
Element
Deposition flux [mg m-2 yr-1]
N*
194
P*
2.26
Al
342
Fe
216
Co
0.1
Mn
5.28
Cr
0.96
Cu
0.38
Ni
0.31
Zn
1.68
Pb
0.8
Cd
0.012
* Seawater soluble inorganic fraction only. The soluble inorganic nitrogen and soluble phosphate
account for approximately 86% and 69% of total soluble nitrogen and total soluble phosphorus,
respectively.
2.2.2.12
Total annual overall loads
The total annual pollution loads calculated in the above paragraphs are reported for ease of
consultancy in the following Table 2-46. The table does not include the atmospheric deposition, as
the related loads are estimated in terms of fluxes, which are loads per square meter.
It can be seen that in terms of nutrient contamination the main sources are by large the Kinnet
Canal, the discharge of cooling groundwater from Le meridien hotel and the groundwater flow at the
northern tip of the Gulf, while the port activities along the Jordanian coast play a significant role in
discharging micropollutant loads to the Gulf waters.
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Table 2-46 Summary of the estimated pollution loads annually reaching the upper Gulf of Aqaba [kg/yr]. Athmospheric fluxes not included.
N
P
BOD5
Direct discharge of spilled raw sewage from Eilat municipal system
880
110
6600
Direct discharge through the Kinnet canal
9210
1667
7185
Discharge of urban contaminants with stormwater
564
86
2453
Groundwater discharge
13450
25
Direct discharge of groundwater used for air cooling purposes
142210* 214*
Cu
Zn
Pb
8.8
41.3
37.2
Cd
Cr
Ni
PAHs
40.4
Discharge from the periferal touristic resorts
Dispersion of phosphate to the sea during ship loading operations at
port
30821
Direct release of contaminants from ship hulls at port
3695 14377
Direct release of contaminants from boat keels in the marinas
685
274
Deposition of contaminants from engine exhaust gas emission of
leisure boats
2.2
1.3
TOTAL
166314 32923 16238 4391 14693.6 37.2
0.01
0.07 0.09 3.9
0.01
0.07 0.09 44.3
*Presently under further verification.
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2.2.2.13 Sediment loads reaching the upper Gulf of Aqaba with stormwater
The coastal area of the upper Gulf of Aqaba is dotted with a number of alluvial fans
composed of predominantly clastic materials deposited by infrequent but occasionally
very powerful floods originating in the mountain catchments.
Starting from the Israeli-Egyptian border and moving clockwise towards Eilat, Aqaba and
the southern Jordanian coast down to the Saudi Arabian border the following streams are
met:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Nahal Shlomo, reaching the sea just north of the Natural Reserve Area;
Nahal Garof and Nahal Shahmon, draining through the city of Eilat;
Nahal Roded, draining through the Eilat airport area;
Wadi Yutum, by longer the main one in the area, flowing down towards the north
of Aqaba to the Gulf;
Wadi T and Wadi Shallalah, passing through the urban center of Aqaba;
Wadi Jeishiek, draining towards the main port;
Wadi Mabruk, passing through the Container Port;
Wadi 9, passing through the tourist areas of the ‘Coral Coast’ and Tala Bay;
Wadi 2, passing through the northern end of the Aqaba industrial area.
In flash flood conditions, such steep arid mountain catchments yield sediment
concentrations for the total flow volume of 50-150 g/l, most of it in bed material sizes.
While nearly all of the bed material is deposited in some check dam, floodway conveyor
or natural depression along the route, the suspended fraction tends to continue with the
flood waters to intermediate or terminal baselevels, eventually reaching the sea (Schick
et al, 1997. Hydrologic processes and geomorphic constraints on urbanization of alluvial
fan slopes. Geomorphology 31 (1999) 325-335).
Although no studies have estimated the sediment load as a result from the flush floods
along the Jordanian coast, long term (more than 40 years) monitoring of such
phenomena have been undertaken in the small (0.6 km2) experimental drainage basin of
Nahal Yahel, close to Eilat, which is a tributary of Nahal Roded (Schick and Lekach,
1993. An evaluation of two ten-year sediment budgets, Nahal Yahel, Israel. Physical
Geography, 1993, 14, 3, pp 225-238).
Moreover, sediment loads monitoring has been undertaken in a number of basins in the
semiarid, arid and hyperarid Negev and Dead Sea regions, providing estimates for the
mean annual sediment yield (Schwartz and Greenbaum. Extremely high sediment yield
from a small arid catchment - Giv’at Hayil, northern Negev, Israel. Isr. J. Earth Sci. In
press ).
The analysis of such data shows that the mean annual sediment yield (load per unit
surface) decreases as the basin area increases, so that the mean annual sediment yield
measured in small Nahal Yahel can not be simply attributed to the other ephemeral
streams draining to the upper GoA.
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On the other hand the sediment yield data, especially the ones related to the hyperarid
catchments such as in the study area, seem to be reasonably well interpolated and
interpreted by a log expression:
Mean annual sediment yeld [ton km-2 yr-1]
1000
100
log y = ‐0.1771 log x + 2.12
R2 = 0.79
10
1
0.1
1
10
100
1000
10000
Basin area [km2]
Applying such expression an estimate of the mean annual sediment yield and load can
be obtained for the different streams in the study area.
Concerning the amount of the sediment load possibly reaching the sea, the data from
Nahal Yahel, located in the Eilat area, show that the bedload represents about 68% of
total load, while sand in suspension 14% and silt and clay the remaining 18% (Schick and
Lekach, 1993. An evaluation of two ten-year sediment budgets, Nahal Yahel, Israel.
Physical Geography, 1993, 14, 3, pp 225-238).
If we extend this distribution to all of the streams draining to the upper Gulf of Aqaba we
can assume that the sediment fraction reaching the sea ranges between 18 and 32 % of
total sediment load, yielding an overall estimate of 13÷23 x 103 tons per year (see table
below).
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Table 2-47 Estimation of suspended sediment load and silt&clay component for the
catchments draining in the Gulf.
Catchment
Basin area
[km2]
Nahal Roded
Mean annual
sediment load
[ton x 103 yr-1]
Mean annual
sediment yeld
[ton km-2 yr-1]
Suspended
sediment load
[ton x 103 yr-1]
Silt and clay
[ton x 103 yr-1]
42
68
2.9
0.9
0.5
Nahal
Shahmon
8
91
0.7
0.2
0.1
Nahal Garof
3
108
0.3
0.1
0.1
30*
72
2.2
0.7
0.4
1500
36
54.1
17.3
9.7
Wadi T
10
88
0.9
0.3
0.2
Wadi
Shallallah
10
88
0.9
0.3
0.2
9
89
0.8
0.3
0.1
Wadi Mabruk
65
63
4.1
1.3
0.7
Wadi 9
28
73
2.0
0.7
0.4
Wadi 2
62
63
3.9
1.3
0.7
TOTAL
23.3
13.1
Nahal
Shlomo
Wadi Yutum
Wadi
Jeisheik
* the extension of Nahal Shlomo Basin was roughly estimated. This is considered acceptable
because the relative contribution to the overall load estimation is not so high. The estimation could
be improved in the future.
Due to the many assumptions and extrapolations forming the base for the calculation, this
estimate is necessarily affected by a significant degree of uncertainty.
The different hydrological and geomorphological characteristics of the basins in fact have
not been properly taken account for. This may be a significant source of inaccuracy in
particular for Wadi Yutum, with its very large drainage basin extending to areas relatively
far from the upper Gulf of Aqaba and involving both spatial variability of sediment load
control parameters and very long routing of distant generated sediments, with an
increasing probability of entrapment before reaching the sea.
We believe, nevertheless, that the above calculation may be regarded at least as a
reliable estimate of the order of magnitude of the sediment loads reaching the upper gulf
waters.
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Trends of environmental conditions (no abstraction scenario)
and their effects on marine environment
As reported in the above sections, trends were observed in the past years in the Gulf for some water
quality parameters. Between 1999 and 2005, which coincided with the period of highest production in
the fish cages (early 2000’s), there was a build-up of deep water nutrients and decline in oxygen
levels both in the deep water and the surface water of the northern GOAE. This could have been a
results of nutrient loading from the fish cages (Lazar and Erez, 2004; Lazar et al., 2008) or
alternatively caused by changes in the frequency of deep mixing and or changes in advection
through the Tiran Strait into the Gulf (Herut and Cohen, 2004). The decrease in dissolved oxygen in
the deep reservoir until 2005 was accompanied by a decrease in pH indicating the production of CO2
due to recycling of organic matter through aerobic processes. This decrease in dissolved oxygen
also became apparent in the surface layer, which could only be explained by the decrease in the
deep reservoir concentration since there was no significant warming. Consistent with the decrease in
deep water pH and surface dissolved oxygen, surface water pH also decreased significantly until
2005. The reduction in pH was shown to cause a reduction in the ability of coral reefs in the GOAE to
calcify and maintain their CaCO3 frameworks as shown by Silverman et al. (2007, 2008).
No evidences are presently available to foreseen if such trends will continue in the future years.
Considering the state of coral-reefs long-term studies indicate that the present situation is worse that
some 40-50 years ago, but the results of monitoring programs show that the coral-reefs in the
northern Gulf of Aqaba have been in nearly stable conditions in the past several years (6-7 years).
Absent apparent or explicable trends, no projections into the future are possible.
Considering possible future trends, both natural and anthropogenic forcing in the area can be
considered.
As far as natural forcing are concerned, climate change may become not negligible factor (yet largely
unknown). In terms of climate the region is a desert with no freshwater input other than the small
amount of annual rainfall. Topographically the gulf is an extension of the Arava Valley and
surrounded by mountain ranges on both sides. This effectively channels the winds so that they blow
mainly from the north-northeast more than 90% of the time. In any future climate change scenarios it
is unlikely that the wind regime will change significantly. Thus it is expected that the change will be
felt primarily in terms of increasing temperature. Additional information on other climate change
phenomena (acidification) is provided in section 3.5.
In order to assess temperature change and its potential influence on the gulf we will extract the
relevant climatic conditions from the IPCC A2 scenario and interpolate the data to the gulf model
grid. However it should be noted that the grid resolution of the global models used for climate
projections is fairly coarse (the entire gulf is at most one or two grid points). Thus the climate change
scenario will at best provide the overall, broad stroke trends. With the present information available it
is not possible to provide very high resolution details.
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A noteworthy point regarding effect of climate change on marine environment is the absence (so far)
of coral bleaching events in the Gulf of Aqaba, not even in 1998, when large extent of coral
bleaching occurred throughout the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The unique phenomenon of the Gulf’s
corals is probably related to the region’s relatively high latitude and benign temperatures. Therefore,
under conditions of a warming world, where coral bleaching may become a major destructive cause
of coral reefs, the Gulf of Aqaba may serve as an important refuge for corals, perhaps of global
importance.
Anyway the possibility of occurrence of bleaching events in the future cannot be excluded. However
the fact that the northern GOAE is located in higher latitude (29.5º N) than most other coral reefs in
the world, makes the water temperature in the region substantially lower than that of typical coral
reefs (summer temperatures of 27 ±1 ºC vs. >30ºC, respectively). This fact, together with our
experiments indicating that northern GoA corals would start bleaching only when warmed up (in
aquaria) to >32ºC, indicates that the magnitude of temperature anomaly required to induce major
bleaching events in the northern GoA is relatively high. Thus, although global warming may exceed
that threshold, it may take longer than in other places in the tropics.
Other considerations about the effects of climate change on coral reefs are discussed in section 3.5.
At the present point of advancement of the Red Sea Study, results of model runs showing if
pumping can substantially enhance warming (due to enhanced heat flux driven by stronger advection
of water from south to north), are not available yet.
As far as anthropogenic forcing are concerned, even if no water is abstracted from the northern gulf
for the proposed water conveyance project, trends of the environmental conditions in the gulf over
the next 20-30 will still be influence by other local development and expansion, mainly in Aqaba and
Eilat, as well as by global climate change. Local development will include construction of new tourist
facilities, artificial lagoons, residential buildings, industrial development, and port expansion. Each of
these will be accompanied by increases in population (temporary and permanent), additional
pollution loads, and other stresses on the gulf. Examples of major developments include the Ayla
and Saraya projects along the northern shore, the proposed move and expansion of the port of
Aqaba, the long-term plans for the “Southern Gate” of Eilat (moving the port to an artificial canal at
the northern end), and the construction of additional power and water desalination facilities. As far as
water abstraction is concerned planned littoral developments are going to be considered within the
modelling scenarios and included in the baseline. Additional details on this are included in section
3.3.6.
Such large-scale developments and especially the growth in population and tourism will undoubtedly
impose a major challenge on the conservation of the local ecosystem, especially the coral reefs. Key
potential threats include an increase in pollution (e.g., due to enhanced shipping, industries, traffic,
etc.), eutrophication, elevated tourism pressure on local reefs, and the expected expansion of
constructions into the sea. However, since the local ecosystem (the combination of sea, coral reefs
and desert) is, by and large, a major uniqueness of the region and an important component of the
economic basis for the recent development have convinced authorities to take unprecedented steps
to protect this sensitive ecosystem. Examples include the removal of the (economically most
successful) fish farms from Eilat and the declaration of marine protected zones in Aqaba. A
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prevalence of this approach should be effective in mitigating the aforementioned threats to the
ecosystem. The increased public awareness of the environment also plays an important role.
Rapid growth of the cities of Aqaba and Eilat and related developments along the coast are expected
to affect the marine environment in various ways. These include (a partial list): more pollution driven
to the sea from sewer spills, increased marine activities (boats), increased drainage of accumulated
pollutants (oil, heavy metals, rubber, etc.) from the surface of roads and from ports and ships,
contamination from possible industrial developments (e.g., power plants, factories) and tourism
(increased diving activities, more swimmers, more coastal gardens, irrigation, fertilization, herbicides,
etc.). On the other hand, efforts to substantially augment the protection of the sensitive ecosystem of
the GOAE, especially the local coral reefs, have been quite effective and successful. These include
the establishment of anti-pollution stations in both Eilat and Aqaba, effective protection of coral reefs
by Nature Reserve Authorities, declaration and expansions of nature reserves, and increased
management of marine tourism. As a result, the state of the coral reefs has been nearly stable since
the monitoring programs in Eilat and Aqaba started, about 8 years ago (in spite of a substantial
increase in the population size and developments during those years). Our current on-going WBfunded project is a yet another evidence that efforts to protect the environment are implemented in
correspondence with major developments. Maintaining such a balance between development and
environmental protection is expected to be effective in keep the ecosystem stable and healthy.
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Preliminary description of the effects of the RDC
project
As requested by ToR and recommended by the Client, the present chapter reports some very
preliminary anticipations of the project results, which are to be considered subjected to a very high
level of uncertainty due to:
-
the limited information available at the stage of the project, considering that the collection of
relevant field data is still in progress;
-
the lack of any results from detailed modelling tools, presently under development;
-
the consequent lack of understanding of relevant processes such as details of the three
dimensional structure of water circulation or the distribution of coral-reefs larvae,
-
the uncertainties on location and depth of the intakes, that should be supplied by the
Feasibility Study according to the ToR (Task 2.1).
Due to these constraints, the description of the effects can only be provided at a qualitative level.
Moreover, as a consequence of the limitations described above, the preliminary description of the
effects of the project are expected to be revisited and significantly changed during the further
development of the project, as additional information will become available.
In the following sections we provide a preliminary description of the potential effects of abstraction
with regards to:
-
effects on water circulation (section 3.1);
-
effects on water quality (section 3.2);
-
effects on ecology, particularly on coral reefs (section 3.3).
We emphasize that these preliminary assessments are based on the existing data, as presented in
the previous chapters, and as such are subject to all of the uncertainties noted above.
As required by ToR this chapter also contains:
-
preliminary assessment of effects of construction and operation on the coastal zone and
shoreline (section 3.4), including preliminary assessment of effects of construction works
and permanent structures on sediments and bottom-dwelling organisms;
-
indication of how climate change may affect the above analysis (section 3.5).
Same considerations regarding limitations and uncertainty have to be applied to these sections as
well.
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Effects of abstraction on water circulation
The available data presented above indicate that the circulation in the gulf is complex and can be
highly variable over a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. The radar measurements of the
near surface circulation provide an excellent description of this variability over a period of nearly five
years. Among the phenomena that these data have revealed are temporary mixing barriers which
are variable and intermittent. Nevertheless, these data only reflect the near surface circulation.
Subsurface measurements with moored current meters reveal that the currents can be relatively
steady for long periods of time ranging from a few days to several months. For example long term
measurements near IUI show that the subsurface currents tend to follow to bathymetry with clear
seasonal cycle that indicates an abrupt reversal of direction which occurs every year during the
month of February. Similarly multiyear measurements along the north beach show that the
subsurface currents tend to follow the bathymetry, abruptly flipping between eastward and westward
with periods that can vary from several days to several weeks. However the limitation of such
measurements is that they represent the circulation only at the particular point in space where the
mooring was located. By combining the existing measurements, the new data, and the “no
abstraction” model simulations we will develop a better description and understanding of the three
dimensional structure of the circulation. This crucial step is necessary for assessing the effects of the
proposed water abstraction.
Potential changes in the circulation, especially in the nearshore zone, are expected to be a major
driving force of all other impacts. It is quite likely that over the long-term the circulation in the
immediate vicinity of the intake will be affected by the abstraction of large amounts of water during
the operational phase. It is important to note that the entire northernmost part of the Gulf (order of
tens of kilometers) is the site of deep water formation, which is a fundamental process in driving the
thermohaline circulation and the functioning of the ecological systems (providing nutrients to the
surface). Depending upon the location and depth of the intake, one could expect a synergetic
interaction between the abstractions and various physical effects and /or other abstractions. For
example, for a proposed intake site in the north beach area, internal waves associated with the
reflection of the internal tide near the head of the gulf could produce a significant and interesting
additional impact on the local flow. Similarly interaction with the adjacent abstraction for the Ayla
project (peak abstraction rate of 8.5 m3/s which is 14% of the maximum RDC abstraction), or the
more distant Saraya project (peak abstraction of 3.3 m3/s) could have an important cumulative effect.
At the eastern intake location, there could be a similar cumulative effect due to abstraction for the
proposed nuclear power plant. On the gulf wide scale, the proposed maximum abstraction is
equivalent to roughly 30% of the net evaporation over the entire gulf. If the JRSP will concurrently
abstract water at a rate of 400 million m3/yr, this would lead to a cumulative abstraction that is ~36%
of the gulf wide evaporation. While these may appear to be insignificant on the short term when
compared to the water exchange through the straits, it may have a long term cumulative effect that
must be assessed. For example, in the next section we suggest that the abstraction may change the
stratification and stability of the water column which in turn will affect vertical mixing and possibly
water quality.
The nature of the near-field circulation that develops may depend on the positioning of the intake and
on stratification and thus the time of year. For example, a shallow intake in a mixed layer 20 m deep
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(late summer) will produce a near-field potential flow (Spiegel and Farrant 1980) that will weaken like
distance-1. Modeling this as a half circle, at 100m, there will be an area of π x 100m x 20m = 6,000
m2, so a flow of 50 m3/s will induce velocities of ca. 1 mm/s, something that would be barely
measurable. On the other hand, an intake positioned in the summer thermocline will produce a
selective-withdrawal flow (Monismith and Maxworthy 1989) that could remain confined to a narrow
layer. For example, a typical stratification characterized by a buoyancy frequency of N=10-2 s-1, and
Q = 50 m3/s will produce a layer δ=2(2Q/N)1/3 ~ 40m thick, and 0.5 Nδ/f = 4000m wide (f is the
Coriolis parameter) and thus also a very small net velocity. In either case, a better model might be to
consider a sink in a crossflow (see Figure 3-1). In this case, the flow that enters the intake would
come from the region extending from the shore to the point offshore where the total flow just equals
that in the sink. For example, if the flow next to the coast is modeled as a uniform flow at 5 cm/s
existing in wedge with slope of 10 deg (typical for this region), then the entrained flow would extend
from the shore to distance offshore of 160 m (the 30m isobath). This implies that that entrainment of
organisms into the intake will be primarily from those organisms that are nearshore and will depend
on the direction of the currents near the intake.
Figure 3-1 Effect of the sink - a point from which fluid is removed - in a flow that is going from
left to right. The fluid inside the red streamline - a line along which fluid particles move - goes
into the sink whereas the fluid outside goes past. Particles (e.g. larvae) on streamlines inside
the withdrawal zone are lost from the overall flow.
3.1.1
Modelling scenarios to be considered to address the evaluation of the
effects of RDC project
According with the requests expressed in the Terms of References and with the indications provided
by the Study Management Unit, the following simulation scenarios will be tested in order to evaluate
the effects of the different project options on water circulation in the Gulf.
Detailed information on intake location/configuration have been provided from Coyne and Bellier
(eastern intake) and from the Jordanian Government (northern intake) and are summarized in the
following Table 3-1.
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In addition to the scenarios listed below, cumulative effects scenarios are going to be considered as
described in par. 3.6.
Table 3-1 Modelling scenarios to be considered for the evaluation of the RDC project effects.
Depth
above the
sea bed
SCENARIO
intake location
intake
configuration
SCENARIO 1
RDC EASTERN
open channel
-
-
0.4 billion m3
SCENARIO 2
RDC EASTERN
open channel
-
-
1 billion m3
SCENARIO 3
RDC EASTERN
open channel
-
-
1.5 billion m3
SCENARIO 4
RDC EASTERN
open channel
-
-
2 billion m3
SCENARIO 5
RDC EASTERN
intake depth
abstraction
rate
submerged
- 25 m (to
provide
indications on
preferred
depth)
not less
than 19 m
2 billion m3
not less
than 19 m
2 billion m3
SCENARIO 6
RDC EASTERN
submerged
- 120 m (to
provide
indications on
preferred
depth)
SCENARIO 7
RDC EASTERN
submerged
best depth
selected by the
above analysis
not less
than 19 m
0.4 billion m3
SCENARIO 8
RDC EASTERN
submerged
best depth
selected by the
above analysis
not less
than 19 m
1 billion m3
SCENARIO 9
RDC EASTERN
submerged
best depth
selected by the
above analysis
not less
than 19 m
1.5 billion m3
SCENARIO 10
RDC NORTHERN
submerged
-8m
9.5 m
0.4 billion m3
SCENARIO 11
RDC NORTHERN
submerged
-8m
9.5 m
1 billion m3
SCENARIO 12
RDC NORTHERN
submerged
-8m
9.5 m
1.5 billion m3
SCENARIO 13
RDC NORTHERN
submerged
-8m
9.5 m
2 billion m3
RDC EASTERN INTAKE APPROXIMATE LOCATION = 29°29’22’’N - 34°59’06’’E
RDC NORTHERN INTAKE APPROXIMATE LOCATION = 29°32’28’’N – 34°58’40’’E
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Effects of abstraction on water quality
The proposed abstraction of 2·109 m3/yr of water from the northern GOAE through the RSDSC is
equivalent to ca. 30% of the amount of water evaporated from the surface of the Gulf every year. It is
expected that this deficit will be compensated by the inflow of an equivalent volume of water from the
northern Red Sea through the Tiran Strait, increasing the inflow by less than 1%. The thermohaline
circulation of the GOAE is also driven by increasing salinity as water migrates further north from the
Tiran Strait (Reiss and Hottinger, 1984). In principle the additional flux of lower salinity Red Sea
water into the GOAE may reduce the north/south salinity gradient resulting in a slow down of the
thermohaline circulation. This in turn could result in reduced flushing and ventilation of the deep
water of the Gulf thus causing an accumulation of nutrients, reduction in dissolved oxygen levels and
decrease in pH. As seen in the section on water quality the increase in nutrients can be potentially
detrimental to coral reefs and other benthic habitats if a deep mixing event does occur during an
especially severe winter due to benthic algae blooms. Additionally, the decrease of deep water
oxygen and pH levels will cause a proportional decrease in the surface water. This will enhance the
ongoing acidification process which will cause an additional reduction in the calcification rates of
coral reefs. In the next phase of this study we shall investigate the change in water column density
structure due to abstraction using the Princeton Ocean circulation Model (POM). However, at this
early stage of the study we provide a very preliminary assessment of the potential for increased
stratification of the water column using a 2D box model, which calculates the heat, salt and
phosphate budget of the Gulf (Silverman and Gildor, 2008). This model is highly simplified and
the lack of spatial resolution and feedbacks, specifically the potential effect on the
thermohaline circulation of the Gulf, prevent it from realistically simulating changes in the
density structure of the water column. In this model the thermohaline flux through the strait
as well as the horizontal advective mixing are prescribed values that are not calculated as a
function of salinity/temperature differences or wind and dynamic height as described in detail
in Silverman and Gildor (2008) and therefore, the degree of confidence in its results is very
low. Whether the planned abstraction of seawater at the at the northern GOAE will have a
quantifiable and significant effect on the density structure of the water will be answered with
a higher degree of confidence by the results of the 3D general circulation model of the Gulf,
who’s results we still do not have. It is stressed that no substantiated recommendations can
be made based on the results of this model and its only utility is in reflecting our basic
understanding of the salt, water, nutrient and heat budgets of the Gulf derived from the
scientific literature.
Model description
The model is composed of six boxes representing the surface, intermediate and deep reservoirs
occupying the northern and southern basins of the Gulf according to the simplified bottom profile
presented in Klinker et al (1976, see layout and dimensions of the boxes in Figure 3-2). The flux of
water associated with the thermohaline circulation flows into the southern basin surface box with Red
Sea surface water properties and continues northward into the northern basin surface box. From the
northern basin surface box the flux of water associated with the thermohaline circulation down wells
irrelevant of vertical density gradients into the northern basin intermediate box and returns southward
into the southern basin intermediate box. Finally, the flux of water associated with the thermohaline
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circulation flows from the southern basin intermediate box back into the Red Sea through the Tiran
Strait. Thermohaline flux rates were assigned annually varying values ranging between 5000 and
45000 m3/s (mean 24200) for minimum summer and maximum winter values, respectively (following
Klinker et al., 1976). During the summer (April – September) the thermohaline flux flowed only
through the surface boxes and during the winter they flowed through the surface boxes northward
and through the intermediate boxes southward. A horizontal mixing component (kh) with zero net
flow was incorporated into the model and was given a constant value of 5 cm·s-1 between the
surface boxes and 0.05 cm·s-1 between the deeper boxes. This component of the flow represents the
horizontal transport of water associated with tidal currents and the formation of cyclonic and anti
cyclonic gyres along the north south axis of the Gulf (Berman et al., 2000; Manasrah et al., 2004).
Finally, vertical mixing between boxes, which is associated with eddy diffusion and free convection
processes, was calculated from the vertical density differences following Gildor et al. (2002). These
calculated rates varied between a minimum value of ~0.1 cm·day-1 and a maximum value of 100
m·day-1.
Figure 3-2 Box model schematic of the Gulf of Aqaba. N and S indicate the northern and
southern basin reservoirs. Numeral indices indicate the surface (0–200 m — 1), intermediate
(200–500 m — 2) and deep (500 m to the bottom (800 and 1200 m in the northern and southern
basins respectively) — 3) reservoirs. The black arrows indicate the horizontal and vertical
mixing fluxes, and the thick grey arrows indicate the net thermohaline transport.
Abstraction simulation results
During the model runs thermohaline fluxes of water through the Tiran Strait were prescribed values
and were not calculated as a function of temperature and salinity differences in the GOAE relative to
the northern Red Sea. It is likely that changes in the north-south heat and salt gradients will cause
changes in the thermohaline flux. Therefore, extreme caution should be exercised in considering the
results of the model simulations. Quantification of the effect of abstraction was done by comparing
the multi annual average after steady state was achieved (25 years model time) of temperature,
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salinity and density of the 0-200 m depth, 200-500 m depth and 500-800 m depth boxes in the
northern basin of the GOAE. We simulated 4 different scenarios in these runs: 1) No abstraction
(NA); 2) Abstraction of 2·109 m3/yr of water from the northern 0-200 m box at constant rate
throughout the entire year (A); 3) Abstraction of 2·109 m3/yr of water from the northern 0-200 m box
at constant rate throughout the summer months (AS, April-October); 4) Abstraction of 2·109 m3/yr of
water from the northern 0-200 m box at constant rate throughout the winter months (AW, NovemberMarch). The results of the simulations (Figure 3-3) indicate overall very small changes in
temperature, salinity and density relative to the control run on the order of 10-3 (NA).
Interestingly, while density goes down for all abstraction scenarios in the northern basin of the GOAE
due to increase in temperature and decrease in salinity (not shown), the stability of the water
increases for the A and AS scenarios as indicated by the small positive differences in the multi
annual average densities of the surface and intermediate northern basin boxes (Figure 3-3).
However, for the AW scenario, this difference actually goes down. These results suggest that, in the
AW scenario, during the summer months stability increases relative to the NA scenario and during
the winter the frequency of deep mixing may be expected to increase. Thus, nutrient levels would be
expected to go down rather than up. It is still unclear whether the increase in frequency of deep
mixing events is beneficial for the GOAE ecology even if over all available nutrient levels at the
surface will go down in the long run.
From our experience, reduced deep mixing (<400 m) over a number of consecutive winters leads to
an increased deep water inventory of nutrients and decreased levels of pH following remineralization
of organic matter. If a deep mixing event does occur after a few years of relatively shallow mixing
during an abnormally cold winter, surface waters will be enriched in nutrients. This may cause
massive macro algae blooms to develop in benthic habitats of the Gulf, primarily coral reefs, which
can also result in coral mortality as seen during the winter of 1991 (Genin et al., 1995).
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Figure 3-3 Bar plot of mean multi annual (25 years of model time) difference between surface
box and intermediate box densities calculated as a function of temperature and salinity for
the northern basin boxes (Figure 3-2) of the EBOX model without abstraction (NA), with
abstraction (A), with abstraction during summer months only (AS, April-October), and
abstraction during winter only (AW, November-March). All abstraction scenarios took into
account a constant abstraction rate divided evenly throughout the annual abstraction period
at an annual rate of 2·109 m3/yr.
3.3
Effects of abstraction on marine ecosystems
Potential effects of the abstraction on the ecosystem can be divided into two parts – the effect on the
open water ecosystem and the effect on coral reefs. The former effect is related to possible changes
in heat flux (due to increased north-ward flow of relatively warmer water from the south). Such
pumping-driven changes in heat flux may cause a stronger stratification of the water column, thereby
modulating the unique winter mixing regime of the water column. As described in this report, this
unusually deep mixing is a principal factor determining the ecosystem dynamics in the Gulf’s
northern region. For example, the intermittent natural disturbance of algal blooms in the local coral
reefs, which may be critical for the maintenance of the reefs’ high diversity, may dramatically change
if changes in vertical stratification occur in the water column. Our models and simulation will examine
the potential effects of pumping on water column stratification and ensuing winter mixing. A second
potential effect is the disruption of larval connectivity between the coral reefs along the east and west
sides. It is possible (yet unknown) that this connectivity is a major, potentially critical, route for the
dispersal of coral reef larvae. Under this scenario the reefs on one side may serve as a source of
larvae for the other side; with the potential to switch roles according to season and/or taxa.
Disruption of this route by larval entrainment at the abstraction site may partially shut off the supply
of larvae to one or both side.
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Larval supply can be a critical factor in determining the “health” of benthic marine ecosystems such
as coral reefs. By combining the information we will acquire on the circulation patterns and the
distribution and abundance of coral-reefs larvae we will be able to asses the potential effects of the
abstraction on larval supply, as function of the pumping site and depth.
Particularly, assessing the connectivity between local coral reefs and those in the south (in Egypt
and Saudi Arabia) are part of the work of the Red Sea Study, as the current measurements and
models, as well as the larval sampling at the southern stations (along the east and west coasts and
the Gulf’s center line), will allow the evaluation of larval fluxes (hence connectivity) across the
southern boundary of our domain.
Different locations of the intake could generate different effects (or degree of effects) on marine
habitats, considering several potentially conflicting points. For example, on one hand the coral reef
areas (e.g. eastern intake) could be exposed to a higher degree of impacts, because of the greater
sensitivity and human-related importance (economic, tourism, environmental awareness) in
comparison with sandy habitats. Moreover, pumping the water over the reef may severely disrupt the
reef’s function as a potential source of larvae for more distant reefs.
On the other hand, pumping the water over the seagrass meadow (e.g. northern intake) may form a
severe disturbance for fish larvae. In fact it is well known that seagrass habitat represents an
important nursery ground for many fish species. The northern intake site is mainly characterized by
seagrass meadows covering the shallow area along the northern coasts of the Gulf of Aqaba. Two
types of impact are expected if pumping takes place at the north beach:
-
Destruction of the sea grass meadow near the pumping station due to dredging of the
seagrass habitat that will definitely destroy the dredged area (direct impact) and heavy
sedimentations on the neighbouring area (indirect impact, depending on the level of
sedimentation created). This effect is expected to be local, however the spatial extent of
damage to the sea grass habitat is unknown.
-
Over long term, once operating, the fish community in the area might shift from the
destroyed areas to the healthy ones. Anyway, water pumping over the sea-grass habitat
may pump away larvae, reducing settlement at this site. If the sea grass is served as nursery
for fish that at a later stage migrate to the reef, the reduced larval settlement at the north
beach may in turn affect recruitment of fish to the reef. The magnitude of this effect will be
assessed based on our current sampling of larvae at this and nearby sites (as part of the
RDC project).
The results of our study over the next year should provide the information necessary for expert
evaluation of the two intake options. As a general consideration concerning potential impacts of
different intake positioning, effects on coastal areas are expected to be higher than those on offshore
areas, which are generally less sensitive. Higher impacts on marine environment are expected in
areas with topographic characteristics that promote eddies (e.g. upstream of a peninsula); such
eddies may entrainment and transport marine organisms.
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Abstraction of water from different depths will probably produce different effects, in terms of the
degree of coral larvae entrainment. In order to prevent coral larvae entrainment, with all other factors
equal, the intake should be placed well below the maximum peak of larval abundance. Finding this
depth is a major objective of our project. Another expected impact on marine habitats connected with
the intake depth regards the possible entrainment of epibenthic organisms, including the propagules
of certain invertebrates. Intake positioning well above the substrate to the extent feasible (i.e. from
an engineering perspective) will be probably helped prevent such an effect. Barriers and screens can
reduce entrainment and impingent, primarily of adults and juveniles; but possibly also of some late
stage fish larvae.
Finally, all impacts of water abstraction on marine ecosystems are generally expected to be more
severe at increasing water abstraction rate. Particularly, the effect of flow speed at intake should be
evaluated, keeping in mind the swimming speeds of coral reef larvae (i.e. their potential to avoid
entrainment; Figure 3-4). In fact, in contrast with the general knowledge considering zooplankton as
organisms that are “unable to swim against the currents”, it has been showed otherwise (Genin et al.
2005.). For one, by determining their depth, larvae can affect their horizontal advection (due to
current shear in the water column – a well known phenomenon in estuaries). Therefore, behavior of
larvae, be it fish or invertebrates, will be taken in consideration in the next phases of analysis of the
Red Sea Study.
As a general consideration, multiple intakes aimed at limiting flow speeds at the intake – and related
effects on marine organisms - around each point could be an option to be evaluated; intake points
could be displaced vertically rather than horizontally (i.e. pump from several depths at the same
site). Again, as an option for mitigating the potential problem of the "entrainment and impingement of
aquatic organisms” only, the use of speed caps (Figure 3-5) as a potential behavioural barrier and/or
a means to modify flow above the intake is also suggested. This is in accordance with general
recommendations, aimed to mitigate the problem of entrainment and impingement of aquatic
organisms around water intake structures of power plants, where water is pumped at rates
comparable to those proposed for the RDSC project (Guidelines for minimizing entrainment and
impingement of aquatic organisms at marine intakes in British Columbia; http://www.dfompo.gc.ca/Library/121776.pdf).
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Figure 3-4 Swimming speeds of late-stage coral-reef fish larvae, belonging to several families
(from Fisher 2005: http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v285/p223-232/). Importantly, the
swimming capacity of early-stage fish larvae, as well as the larval phase of most
invertebrates, is far poorer than that depicted in the figure.
Figure 3-5 Schematic representation of "open intake" vs "speed capped intake" (from:
“Guidelines for minimizing entrainment and impingement of aquatic organisms at marine
intakes in British Columbia”. http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/Library/121776.pdf).
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Effects of construction and operation on the coastal zone
and shoreline
This paragraph focuses on the preliminary identification and description of the major impacts of the
project on the environmental compartments and on the human activities in the coastal areas
interested by the project development.
All the considerations reported in this paragraph make use of the information available at the
moment of writing, and thus, as specified at the beginning of this chapter, they have to be considered
as preliminary. More accurate considerations will be possible within the project duration when the
new experimental and model data will become available.
In addition to that, no much detail is known neither concerning the methods of construction, nor
concerning the type and duration of the activities to be undertaken for its construction.
The evaluations and the considerations reported in this paragraph are therefore not only revisable,
but also necessarily qualitative and mainly based on the experience gained on similar projects.
Based on the above considerations, this section can preliminary address the issue of evaluation of
effects of the project of coastal zone. An appropriate and complete evaluation of effects in an impact
assessment scheme (quantification and prioritization of impacts) is beyond the scope of this report
and of the Red Sea Study itself. This paragraph provides some highlights and evaluations which will
be useful to carry out a definitive assessment.
As no decision has been made yet concerning the final location of the intake, the main impacts have
separately been identified in the following both for the Northern and the Eastern location.
In order to identify such impacts a methodology has been applied making use of a so called “CauseEffect matrix”, based on a scheme which enables to highlight all possible interactions between the
project activities and the environment components (including human activities) and which proves
particularly useful in order to describe complex systems such the one we are presently considering.
The “cause-effect matrix” was built according to a checklist considering the following aspects:
1.
Main project activities, both during construction (installation of the yard and of the related
services, material supply, construction of the structures , etc.) and operation phase
(presence of the new structure, maintenance and management activities, …);
2.
Main impact causes, e.g. all the actions related to each project activity which can in
principle cause a specific impact;
3.
Main environmental aspects involved, including the socio economic and the human
activities. In this specific case the list is the following:
-
atmosphere;
-
water;
-
marine sediments,
-
noise;
-
marine habitats (seagrass, corals and fish population);
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human activities (access to the coast, limitation to human activities, traffic regulation
disturbance, job opportunities, etc…);
Main potential impacts, e.g. the possible variations of the actual environmental conditions
related to the project implementation.
The following aspects of the potential impacts on the environment have been considered:
•
Frequency, duration and reversibility of the impact;
•
Spatial extent of the affected area;
•
Environmental value of the affected area / economic value of the affected human activities;
•
If the impacts can be mitigated or not.
The matrix obtained from the interaction of all the variables previously listed is reported in Table 3-2.
Given the limitation of the present analysis, impacts extent is not specified in the Table. In fact, most
of the impacts require a detailed evaluation and the establishment of a reference scale for impact
prioritization. Anyway some qualitative evaluations are proposed in the text for the different
components. These evaluations have to be considered as preliminary and need to be reconsidered
in the framework of the Environmental Impact Study. The table indicates also, where appropriate, a
list of possible mitigation measures.
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Table 3-2 Synthesis of the potential impacts of construction and operation on coastal zone and shoreline.
Environmental
component
Phase
Location
Impact cause
(Construction
or Operation)
(shoreline or coastal
waters)
Potential impact
Atmosphere
Emission of combustion gas (NOx, SO2,
particulate matter, CO) from machinery and
nautical engines at the construction yards
Construction
All
Deterioration of air
quality
Construction
Shoreline (northern
and eastern intake
location)
Deterioration of air
quality
POSSIBLE MITIGATIONS
MEASURES
9 Use of type-tested low emission
machinery in order to reduce
combustion gas emissions
9 Frequently wet machinery wheels
Fugitive dust from unpaved roads
Effluent discharge from the yards
Construction
Shoreline (northern
and eastern intake
location)
Modifications of water
quality characteristics
Accidental spills or spreading from the
yard’s machinery
Construction
Coastal (northern and
eastern intake
location)
Water contamination
Sediment resuspension from sea bottom
Construction
Coastal waters
(northern and eastern
intake location)
Water
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Release and spreading of chemicals from
antifouling, antiscaling, filters washing
agents
Operation
Coastal waters
(northern and eastern
intake location)
Water inflow at the intake
Operation
Coastal waters
(northern and eastern
intake location)
9 Variation of water
quality
characteristics
9 Frequently wet the soils in order to
limit the raising of dust
9 Moderate the transit velocity in the
yard
Working activities during suitable
meteorological conditions
9 Turbidity increase
Variation of water
quality characteristics
9 Use of environmental friendly
products
9 Application of environmental safe
maintenance procedures
Modifications to the
current fields
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Phase
Location
(Construction
or Operation)
(shoreline or coastal
waters)
Accidental spill from the yard’s activities
Construction
Shoreline (northern
and eastern intake
location)
Physical presence of the pipe
Operation
Impact cause
Potential impact
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POSSIBLE MITIGATIONS
MEASURES
Marine sediment
contamination
Marine
sediments
Noise emissions from yard’s machineries
Construction
Shoreline (northern
and eastern intake
location)
Shoreline (northern
and eastern intake
location)
Sea floor occupation
Changes in the noise
levels
Noise
Construction
Coastal waters
(northern and eastern
intake location)
Drilling, dredging, sediments handling
Construction
Coastal waters
(northern and eastern
intake location)
Ship anchoring
Construction
Underwater noise emissions and vibrations
Marine habitats
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Coastal waters
(northern and eastern
intake location)
9 Use of type-test low-noise
machinery in order to reduce noise
emissions;
9 Restrictions in the working
timetables for the yards close to
inhabited places (avoid nocturnal
activities)
Disturbing effects to
marine organisms
Direct and indirect
damages to
seagrasses, coral
reefs and other
benthic habitats and to
fish population
Direct damages to
coral reefs
Building mooring buoys
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Phase
Location
(Construction
or Operation)
(shoreline or coastal
waters)
Operation
Coastal waters
(northern and eastern
intake location)
Sea water intake
Operation
Coastal waters
(particularly for the
eastern intake
location)
Reduction in
settlements and
population renewal of
coral larvae
Access limitation to the intake area at sea
Operation
Coastal waters
(northern and eastern
intake location)
Limitations to human
activities (ship and
pleasure craft traffic,
fishing, diving, …)
Construction
Coastal waters
(northern and eastern
intake location)
Limitations to human
activities (ship and
pleasure craft traffic,
fishing, diving, …)
Impact cause
Sea water sediments occupation
Access limitation to the building areas at
sea
Human
activities
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Potential impact
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POSSIBLE MITIGATIONS
MEASURES
Loss of marine
habitats;
territorializing of new
marine organisms on
the pipe’s structures
Traffic regulation
disturbance;
Increase of traffic during the construction
activities
Construction
Coastal waters
(northern and eastern
intake location)
Job opportunities (direct and indirect)
connected with construction activities
Construction
All
meddling with diving
activities, pleasure
boating, commercial
and industrial maritime
traffic
Increase in job
opportunities
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3.4.1
Description of the impacts
3.4.1.1
Atmosphere
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Potential impacts on air quality only refer to the construction phase and concern the temporary
modifications of air quality characteristics caused by:
•
Emission of combustion gas from nautical and building yard engines, introducing pollutants
into the air: NOx; NMVOC (Non Methane Volatile Organic Compounds); trace metals; …
•
Fugitive dust from unpaved roads, depending on vehicles travel and to the force of the
wheels on the road surface causing pulverization of surface material. Particles are lifted and
dropped from the rolling wheels, and the road surface is exposed to strong air currents in
turbulent shear with the surface. The quantity of dust emissions from a given segment of
unpaved road varies linearly with the volume of traffic. Dust emissions from unpaved roads
have been found to vary directly also with the fraction of silt in the road surface materials.
Several methods to calculate emissions from these kinds of pollution sources can be foreseen. The
main international reference for these emissions is the Emission Inventory Guidebook of the
European Environmental Agency (EEA) and the Compilation of Air Pollutant Emission Factors of the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S EPA).
Both the references give the necessary information in order to estimate the atmospheric emissions.
The construction period length, together with the number and the type of machineries used for the
different activities, will determine the total amount of gas emissions.
The main expected impact of air quality deterioration is related to its possible consequences on
human health.
To this concern, a preliminary consideration can be made recalling the very different anthropogenic
characteristics of the two intake sites, with the northern intake being located in a much more densely
populated area than the eastern one.
Within 3 kilometers, the shoreline area in the north intake option is in fact characterized by the
presence of:
•
the Israeli city and touristic resort of Eilat with 53,000 inhabitants, and its Hotel area;
•
the Eilat Marina, including some 250 yacht berths;
•
the Jordanian city of Aqaba, with 115,100 inhabitants.
Moreover, a new large touristic resort area (Saraya Aqaba; Ayla Oasis) is under development in the
area between the city of Aqaba and the Jordan-Israeli border, in close vicinity to the proposed
northern intake location.
So it is expected that the possible impacts of construction on human health, if any, will be more
significant if the intake is located in this area.
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Although no information is available at the moment enabling to perform a quantitative evaluation of
these gas emissions, some further qualitative considerations can be made:
•
the impacts on air quality are reversible (when the construction phase ends, also the related
pressures stop their action and air quality recovers);
•
the prevailing NNE wind direction helps (for both the two intake locations) the scattering of
the pollutants far from the inhabited areas along the coast;
•
the impacts deriving from the construction activities can be reduced through the adoption of
simple mitigation measures (frequently wet machinery wheels and unpaved roads, moderate
the transit velocity in the yard, use of type-test low-emission machinery in order to reduce
combustion gas emissions).
3.4.1.2
Waters
The main potential impacts on water quality during the construction phase include:
•
Modifications of water quality characteristics caused by the effluent discharge from the
yards;
•
Water contamination caused by spills or spreading from the yard’s machineries;
•
Modifications of water quality characteristics and increase of turbidity of marine waters due
to seabed sediment resuspension.
The possible impacts related to the operation phase are described in the previous paragraph 3.2, in
addition to those it should be considered:
•
Toxic effects of chemical agents introduced to the environment during intake operation such
as antifouling, anti scaling and filter washing agents.
All of the above listed potential impacts are modulated by the currents regime, which has been
characterized in its seasonal variability for the Northern intake site, less (summer circulation only) for
the Eastern Intake (see paragraph 2.1.3).
In particular the surface currents (0-6m) in the northern intake area are characterized by significant
velocities during summer and autumn (daily displacement 20 km and 6 km respectively), when the
dominating direction is southwards (200-210°N), while minimum velocities (daily displacements
around 1-2 km) and a westward, roughly long shore direction is exhibited during the remaining
months.
Conversely, the subsurface currents (down to a depth of 34m) maintain a westward, long shore
direction all during the year, with higher velocities during summer (daily displacement 6 km) and
lower velocities during the rest of the year (daily displacements about 1-2 km).
The eastern Intake area appears instead to be characterized by average intensity surface currents
(daily displacement about 10 km) substantially heading southwards along the Jordanian coast, while
the current direction inverts in the deeper layers (characterized down to 34 m depth) exhibiting
moderate velocities (daily displacements around 1 km) directing northwards along the coast.
Concerning the possible anthropic perturbations generated during the intake construction works, the
effects of accidental spillages of floating liquids or substances from the northern intake yard would
not affect the shoreline during the summer and autumn months, as the north-eastern winds and the
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surface currents would drive and spread them offshore. In case of a winter or spring event,
conversely, the currents could slowly take such pollutants towards the Eilat touristic beach areas,
especially in absence of winds providing relevant dispersion effects. The results from the HF radar
demonstrate that when barriers to mixing exist, pollution can be trapped for extended period of time.
Possible spreading of quickly settable substances would affect a seagrass habitat which is very likely
to be already subject to accidental discharge of pollutants due to its vicinity to heavily anthropized
costal stretches, and whose present health state does not seem though to reveal any particular
related stress.
A similar spreading, where located in the vicinities of the eastern intake, would conversely affect a
coral reef seabed which is likely to be much less affected by anthropic pollution due to its distance
from both the Aqaba port and the container terminal area, causing possible negative effects,
although over a limited area, on the health of local ecosystem.
A preliminary, rough estimation based on available data show that as for possible accidental
spillages of floating liquids or substances from the eastern intake construction yard, the local surface
current, roughly directed southward along the coast, may take such substances to the marine
reserve area in a quite short time (less than 12 hours).
If the eastern site is chosen for the intake construction, it is then very important that all possible
prevention measures are taken in the building yards to avoid accidental spreading or spillage of
potentially polluting substances.
Concerning the possible resuspension of sediment from seabed during the building operations, the
sediment quality at both the proposed intake sites doesn’t appear to be relevant or in any case able
to generate environmental problems in the areas located downstream.
The main problem related to sediment resuspension appears to be the one of the impact on benthos
of increased sediment settling, taking account also for the low sub-surface current velocities and the
related issue of increased water turbidity downstream due to dispersion of fine resuspended
material.
At the northern intake site the moderate sub-surface velocities tend to generate a quick settling of
resuspended sediment. As a very preliminary estimate, based on current velocity and sediment grain
size, about 80% of the material is expected to settle within 100-150m from origin (also depending on
local sea depth and of the depth at which the sediments are released into the water column), an 99%
within 150-300m.
The seabed area possibly impacted by sediment settling would be then rather limited in size.
Moreover, seagrass habitats have proven to be rather resistant to this kind of pressures.
The fine sediment fraction, about 1% of total based on available data, remaining in suspension in the
watercolumn, would be taken offshore by winds and currents during summer and autumn, but may
reach the Eilat waterfront in 1 or 2 days in winter and spring (preliminary rough estimate): this is an
issue to keep in mind when defining the operational building procedures, as a continuous source of
turbidity may have detrimental effects on beach tourism.
Conversely, given the very low percentage of fine material in the sandy bottom, it appears rather
unlikely that even a long lasting variation of the light climate due to increased water turbidity may
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have significant detrimental effects on the life and growth of seagrass in the areas located
downstream the northern intake.
At the eastern intake site, the extremely low sub-surface currents (caution: only summer circulation
characterized) suggest that most of possibly resuspended seabed material would settle in close
proximity of the origin. As a preliminary rough estimate, based on grain size and current velocity,
about 90% of resuspended sediment is expected to settle again within 150m from the origin, and
99% within 500m.
The seabed area possibly impacted by sediment settling is therefore limited in size. The coral reefs
are well known, on the other hand, to significantly suffer because of this kind of stress
(settling/burial), so that the possible resuspension of large amounts of seabed sediment during the
intake construction operations may result in a significant impact on the ecosystem health in such
area.
The possible southwards transport of suspended fine material exerted by the surface currents in the
area, conversely, is not expected to be a potentially critical issue for the health of the coral reefs in
the marine reserve area, as the fine fraction represents only a very limited amount of local seabed
sediment (about 1%, again) and the somehow significant velocity of such currents is expected to
generate the spreading of such material during the path (about 3 km).
Once more it must be remarked that all of the above considerations must be strictly regarded as
preliminary, based on qualitative reasoning on the available data, and need to be carefully verified
and adjusted/changed according to the new experimental data presently under collection and to the
outputs of the appropriate model simulations to be performed within the present project.
The resulting definitive evaluation will be included in the final project report.
3.4.1.3
Noise
Potential impacts related to noise emission refer to the construction phase, as well as to the
operational phase, when pumps and vibrations of the pipes may cause noise.
The possible cause of impact is related to the noise emissions by the building yard machineries, both
during the works ashore and in the sea. In the first case the main consequences concern the human
health; in the second case the noise would affect marine communities and marine life.
The main aspects to be considered in estimating the impacts related to noise emission are:
•
type of machineries to be used;
•
length and overlapping of building activities, in order to calculate which and how many
machineries are contemporarily active in the yard;
•
the distance from inhabited and touristic areas;
•
the distance from marine ecosystems of high environmental value.
While no information is available concerning the first two points, some considerations can be made
concerning the following two.
In particular it must be recalled the vicinity of the Northern intake location both to the Eilat hotels area
and to the new touristic resorts of Saraya Aqaba and Ayla Oasis, presently under construction
(expected to be completed by year 2017).
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Conversely, the Eastern intake location lies between two anthropized areas already characterized by
significant noise emission, such as the main port of Aqaba and the Container terminal.
As for the underwater environment, noise and vibrations produced mainly by ship traffic, seabed
drilling and any other vibrations from the construction works could also affect marine community and
marine life.
To this concern it can be stated that the main marine reserve areas both on the Israeli and Jordanian
side lie some distance apart from the proposed intake sites (6 km and 4 km far from the northern and
the eastern intake location respectively), and that some significant noise emission source (the port of
Eilat; the Aqaba Container Terminal) already exists in the way, so that the noise emission from the
marine building yards is not expected to be a main issue in relation to the environmental safeguard
of such areas.
Conversely, some possible impact is likely to affect the marine community in the close vicinity of the
construction area, limited to the duration of construction works.
Possible mitigations include the use of type-test low noise machinery in order to reduce noise
emissions and restrictions in the working timetables during the night (to reduce disturbance on
people) and/or during specific periods of increased marine life vulnerability (e.g. breeding season),
depending on the expected significance of the disturbance.
3.4.1.4
Marine habitats: sea grass, bottom-dwelling organisms, fish and corals
As explained before, the identification of impacts of the project on the existing environment have
been limited to potential impacts due to very limited information available on the methods of
construction, the type and the duration of construction activities.
Potential impacts on benthic habitats
Direct and indirect impacts should be taken into consideration during construction activities.
Expected impacts occurring mainly by dumping and dredging activity include:
1) Direct damage to coral reefs or to seagrass beds through drilling and dredging. Refilling mud
may also disturb coral reef growth and cause disease. There are some potential impacts on
corals, coral reef fish and other dwelling organisms such as:
a. reduction in the living reef corals will be expected at the Thermal Power Intake site:
the porities species of massive corals colony will be suffered and considerably will
be decline in abundance during the dredging activity (indirect impact);
b. reduction in growth and rate of calcification due to increase in sedimentation rate as
a result from dredging (indirect impact).
2) Direct damage of seagrass and sandy bottom habitat and its associated dwelling organism
at the northern intake site.
3) Direct impact on the Mollusc fauna species associated with the sediment in the intakes area.
4) Increase suspended solids and floating particles which increase turbidity of water. This
prevents sunlight reaching underwater plant life effecting growth and productivity of
phytoplankton and coral reef which live in a symbiotic relation with algae (indirect impact). In
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addition suspended particle may cover bottom dwelling life when they settle to the bottom of
sea beds and causes of losing of benthic habitats environment.
5) Environmental disturbance through vibration effect on marine life which lead to significant
changes to the local marine surroundings. Noise would affect community and marine life.
Underwater noise and vibrations can be produced mainly by ship traffic, seabed drilling and
any other vibrations from the construction activities.
6) Beach disturbance may impact fauna and flora which live in the intertidal zone and or within
the beach itself. This may occur by loss of some species as a direct consequence of habitat
removal, reduction in habitat area, and habitat isolation.
7) A minor impact on the diversity and the abundance of zooplankton community is expected
during the construction phase.
As reported in 2.1.6.1 (Benthic habitats in the two candidate abstraction sites) benthic community at
the eastern intake presents coral coverage. This site has been heavily damaged by previous
activities (dumping of rocks and other debris), to a level where the local benthic community is
extremely poor (down to 30 m depth - scuba diving limit). In such a condition the added damage by
the eventual construction of intake structure is not expected to be severe. It must be noticed that
very little is known about the benthic community at the eastern intake site below 30-40 m (due to
scuba diving limits).
Potential impacts on fish community
Potential impact concerning fishes are identified and they are evaluated at preliminary level
considering the life style of the fish. Many fishes can escape the danger and live somewhere else
away from the construction sites: those are classified below as of “low risk” during the construction
phase. While, some other fish species are inhabiting coral colonies or are living in an obligate
association with other organisms, and then if this specific habitat is destroyed, such as destroying
the coral colony, then the fish that is associated with it will be lost due to the loss of their specific
habitat or food source. Such fishes were classified as being of “high risk”. It should be mentioned
here that there are no endangered fishes in the target area, and therefore, our overall estimation is
those fishes are not of very high priority in the site.
Direct and indirect impacts on fish community are expected in the intake area, three categories of
species were identified:
a. Fish species at high risk:
i. Associated with coral heads of Acropora, Stylophora, Pocillopora or
associated with the sea anemone: Fish species of this group is generally
live in small groups, each permanently associated with an individual coral
colony which provide shelter for the fishes from predators e.g Chromis
viridis, Dascyllus marginatus, Chromis dimidiata, Dascyllus aruanus. Also,
some fish species which inhabits coral reef areas and live in close
association with Stichodactyla sp. A seaanemone e.g. is the clownfish
Amphiprion bicinctus.
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ii. Associate with seaurchins: Certain cardinal fishes form an unusual
association with the long spines of Diadema sea urchin e.g. Apogon
caynosoma, Cheilodipterus novemstriatus.
iii. Associate with shrimps: Many of the members of the family Gobiidae
inhabits burrows in sand, either of their own construction or constructed by
other animals. Several species are symbiotic with one or more species of
the snapping shrimp of the Alpheus genera, and occupy their burrow. E.g.
Amblyeleotris steinitzi, Amblyeleotris sungami.
iv. Corallivores fishes: These fishes belongs mainly to Butterflyfishes and
feeds exclusively on coral polyps specially Acropora species e.g. Chaetodon
austriacus, Chaetodon melannotus, Chaetodon trifascialis.
v. Reef flat fishes: Many of the fish species are confined to inhabit the reef
flat and inshore rocky substrata exposed to wave action. These fishes are
territorial and defending their area usually, they feed on benthic algae e.g.
the one-spot damselfish Chrysiptera unimaculata, Rippled rockskipper
Istiblennius edentulous, Whitebar damselfish Plectroglyphidodon
leucozonus.
The above mentioned species are subjected to:
Impact during construction: Direct damage to coral reefs through drilling and
dredging are expected. Refilling mud may destroy the reef flat of the coral reef in the
place of construction. Direct damage to the coral heads, seaurchins and
seaanemone as a result of ship anchoring are expected and this may expose these
fishes to predators, also will not find enough shelter. The fishes in this area are
expected to be impacted. Suspended solids and floating particles may cause harm
to fish gills.
Impact during operation: The intake of water may affect locally the dwelling
organisms and those organisms may either die or escape to a new nearby area if
they find a suitable or similar habitat.
Indirect impacts from other activities: Accidental spilling of oil and other
chemicals and hazardous material during construction activity may impact severely
these fishes, the associated fauna and flora which is considered as food for these
fishes will be highly impacted. Increase of solid waste as a result of human and
industrial activity will disturb and damage the coral reef and seagrass habitats in the
north proposed intake site which ultimately impact the fish distribution and many of
them will not find the suitable habitat and they may die.
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b. Fish species at low risk:
i. Species lives in the vicinity of coral reefs and are commercially
important used for food e.g. groupers, parrotfishes.
The above mentioned species are subjected to:
Impact during operation: Direct damage to coral reefs through drilling and
dredging may disturb coral reef growth and cause diseases. As most of the groupers
are territorial species and defend it against other invading groupers, the abundances
and distribution of these fishes may disturb and their numbers may decrease. This
may affect the stock of the groupers and parrotfish's.
ii. Species inhabits fine sand or seagrass beds: Some fish species are
slow-moving bottom dwellers, generally found inshore e.g. Torpedo ray,
Torpedo panthera, Gilded pipefish Corythoichthys schultzi, Maiden sleeper
goby Valenciennea puellaris.
The above mentioned species are subjected to:
Impact during construction: Direct damage to coral reefs through drilling and
dredging, Refilling mud may disturb coral reef growth and bottom-dwelling fishes
found in the open sandy flats or around reefs. The number of individuals for this
group of fishes will decrease and this will affect the fish community structure in the
area.
Impact during operation: Increased of solid waste through industrial and human
activity will cause physical damage to the coral colonies and ultimately to the fishes
which may receive negative impacts; spillage of hydrocarbon, oil, chemicals and
hazardous material would affect the nesting grounds in the coral and seagrass
meadows and harm the fish larvae of these species.
Indirect impacts from other activities: Accidental spilling of oil and other
chemicals and hazardous material during construction activity may negatively impact
the density of the cleaner wrasses in the area. Increase of solid waste as a result of
human and industrial activity will disturb and damage the coral reef and seagrass
habitats which ultimately impact the fish distribution and many of them will not find
the suitable habitat and they may die.
iii. Species inhabits rocky areas, caves and crevices in the reef: Some fish
species inhabits shallow reefs or in rocky areas where they find protection in
holes and crevices e.g. Morays. They usually have poor eyesight but they
are informed of the presence of food and guided towards the prey by their
sense of smell.
The above mentioned species are subjected to:
Impact during construction: Direct damage to coral reefs and rocky areas during
dredging may disturb coral reef growth and rocky structures. This may affect the
rocky bottom fish community.
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c. Fish species at no risk:
i. Pelagic species:
The schooling pelagic fish such as e.g. Robust silverside, Athernimorous lacunosus.
The commercial fishes is the family Carangidae e.g Mackerel scad, Decapterus
macarellus (local name Amia) and the Shortfin scad, Decapterus macrosoma (Local
name Sardeena), these two Decapterus species usually swims in large schools in
open waters.
ii. Mid-water species:
This group of fishes is generally of commercial value. They inhabit coastal areas,
mainly on or near coral reefs, e.g. Caesio lunaris, Caesio suevica.
iii. Fast swimming benthic species:
It is meant by fast swimming in this case those fishes inhabits benthic habitat and
are capable of escape during dredging in the port area e.g. Lizard fishes Synodus
variegates, Saurida gracilis; Threadfin bream, Scolopsis ghanam; Mojarras, Gerres
oyena; Variegated emperor Lethrinus variegates.
iv. Schooling fishes:
Certain fish species are very common in the area and lives in small to very large
aggregation around a prominent rock or coral heads e.g. Pseudanthia sqamipinnis,
Neopomacentrus miryae.
v. Endemic species:
Certain endemic fish species are very common, abundant and widely distributed
along the coast e.g. Anthias taeniatus, Caesio varilineata, Paracheilinus ocotaenia,
Thalssoma rueppellii, Suflamen albicaudatus.
The above mentioned species are subjected to:
Impact during construction: No negative impact because this group of fishes lives in small
aggregations and they are very common and are fast swimming fishes.
3.4.1.5
Human activities
The impacts on the human activities concern both the marine area and the shoreline and are mainly
expected during the construction phase.
Some of them, depending on the effects of building operations on noise, air and water quality, have
been already identified in the previous paragraphs and are recalled here for ease of consultation.
Possible impacts on human health and beach tourism are related to air quality deterioration due to
gas, dust and noise emissions from the building yards. Such impacts are likely to be more significant
for the northern intake site, given its proximity to densely inhabited and touristic areas, although the
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southward direction of prevailing winds is expected to exert a mitigating effect by blowing the building
yard emissions far from the northern coast.
As for the possible accidental spillage of oils or other floating substances from the building yards or
concerning the possible increase of water turbidity possible detrimental effects on bathing in Eilat are
expected for the northern intake location limited to the winter and spring season, when the local
surface circulation at the northern tip of GoA is weak and directed westwards.
Conversely, little impact on human health and activities is expected in case the eastern location is
preferred, due to its positioning far from residential or touristic areas.
Additional impacts may affect pleasure boating, diving and navigation due to temporary closure of
marine areas in the vicinities of the building yards.
Restrictions to diving and possibly also to pleasure boating and navigation in the vicinities of the
intake are also likely when the pipe is in use, due to the strong currents developing in the area.
To this concern, it must be recalled that the northern intake site lies between the Eilat marina and the
Aqaba Royal Yacht Club (not to mention the new marina being built within the Saraya Aqaba
development project), so that possible restrictions to pleasure boating (i.e. forbidden access areas)
will be more significant for this intake positioning, while the different nature of seabed (sea grass in
the northern intake area; coral reef around the eastern intake site) may result in a stronger diving
interest for the eastern intake and therefore in a more significant impact if diving restrictions are
imposed for that area. It must be recalled, though, that the main diving areas in the northern GoA lie
some kilometers off both the proposed intake sites.
Possible interdiction to ship navigation too should not represent a main impact for either of the
proposed intake sites, as the area affected by building operations is not expected to protrude far
from the coast. Moreover, both the intake locations seem to lie reasonably far from the main shipping
routes.
Similarly, no significant impact is expected on fishing activities, for either intake location, neither
resulting from the occupation/interdiction of sea areas, nor from possible depletion of the commercial
fish stocks in the upper GoA. Due to the oligotrophic environment in fact fishing does not represent a
significant economic resource for the population in the area.
A possible positive impact on socio economic activities has to be finally mentioned, related to the
increase in job opportunities and related services during construction operations in the area.
3.5
Indication of how climate change may affect the above
analysis
The Gulf of Aqaba/Eilat is not exempt from global climate change processes specifically, global
warming and ocean acidification. The latter is due to increased levels of dissolved CO2 in sea water
(Caldeira & Wickett, 2003; Orr et al., 2005). Both warming and acidification are considered to have a
profound affect on the health and functioning of coral reefs and in fact are expected to cause severe
decline in coral reefs world wide within the 21st century (Hoegh-Guldberg et al., 2007; Silverman et
al., 2009). According to Figure 3-6, which is calculated from relations between total alkalinity and
equilibrium partial pressure of CO2 dissolved in seawater, the increase in atmospheric CO2 will result
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in increasing dissolved inorganic carbon accompanied by a decrease in pH, i.e. acidification. Given
the expected timeline for atmospheric CO2 increase according to the IPCC 2007 report pH will drop
to near 7.75 (0.4 unit decrease relative to present values) within the 21st century.
Figure 3-6 Iso-pH lines in a field of total alkalinity (AT) and total dissolved inorganic carbon
(CT) calculated for seawater with salinity of 35 PSU and temperature of 25ºC as a function of
AT and partial pressure of CO2 dissolved in seawater at atmospheric equilibrium. The arrow
indicates the progression of acidification with increasing atmospheric pCO2 over the next
century and beyond.
Global warming
In the GOAE, preliminary data analysis has revealed a steady increase in Gulf’s seawater
temperature (positive linear trend of 0.02 0C/year calculated for the data obtained during 1975-2003
(Gertman and Brenner, 2004). Analysis of the updated time series (up to April 2009) shows that this
trend is maintained both in the depth averaged temperature record in the deep water (>400 m,
Figure 3-7) and shallow water (≥20 & ≤40 m, i.e. below the maximal depth of the diurnal thermocline,
Figure 3-8). It is likely that this trend is a manifestation of regional changes in climate patterns
causing changes in transport, temperature and salinity of Red Sea surface water through the Tiran
Strait into the GOAE. The causes of this trend will be investigated within the scope of this study
using the EBOX box model for the GOAE (Silverman and Gildor, 2008).
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21.3
21.2
dT/dt = +0.024 ºC/yr
Temperature (ºC)
21.1
21.0
20.9
20.8
20.7
20.6
20.5
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
Year
Figure 3-7 Deep water (>400 m) depth averaged temperature measured at station A (725 m
bottom depth) during the period July 1988 to April 2009. The long term linear trend indicates a
warming rate of 0.024ºC/year sine 1988 with an overall warming of ~0.5ºC for the entire period.
28
27
dT/dt = +0.025 ºC/yr
Temperature (ºC)
26
25
24
23
22
21
20
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
Year
Figure 3-8 Surface water (≥20 & ≤40 m, below the diurnal thermocline) depth averaged
temperature measured at station A during the period July 1988 to April 2009. The long term
linear trend indicates a warming rate of 0.025ºC/year sine 1988 with an overall warming of
~0.5ºC for the entire period.
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In this study we will discuss the potential effects of warming on the ecology of the GOAE considering
such effects as bleaching and mortality of corals (Hoegh-Guldberg, 1999) exotic species invasion
(Stachowicz et al., 2002), changes in reproductive patterns (Jokiel and Coles, 1990; Amar et al.,
2007), increase of microbial disease outbreaks (Rosenberg and Ben-Haim, 2002). We will also
investigate the potential changes in water quality and the associated ecological impacts due to
changes in the density structure of the water column in the GOAE using the EBOX box model
(Silverman and Gildor, 2008) for the GOAE.
Ocean acidification
It has been proposed by Andersson et al. (2003) that the abundant carbonate reservoir in reef
ecosystems could offset slightly the decrease in seawater pH with increasing atmospheric CO2
locally as a result of carbonate dissolution and increase in carbonate alkalinity. However, to date no
study has shown that decreased ambient seawater pH associated with changes in partial pressure of
CO2 within the predicted range of values for the next 100 years causes any change in dissolution
rates of shallow water carbonates. Conversely, numerous studies have shown that the deposition
rate of CaCO3 by corals is strongly dependent on the ambient water pH (e.g. Langdon and Atkinson,
2005). In fact, this dependence has been shown to work at the whole coral reef community in the
GOAE as well (Silverman et al., 2007a). Hence, a decrease in calcification in the GOAE would be
indicated by an increase of total alkalinity concentration in the entire basin as indicated by Figure
3-9. Assuming that the measurements are reliable, the long term increasing trend in total alkalinity
observed at station A suggests that calcification in the Gulf and probably the Red Sea as well has
decreased substantially over the last 20 years. Alternatively, an increase in residence time of water
in the Gulf that would entail an increase in salinity would also result in increased total alkalinity
(Figure 3-10). Such an increase would be a positive feedback to a certain extent on the decrease in
pH. Alternatively, this trend could also be the result of increasing carbonate dissolution either in coral
reefs or deep carbonate rich sediments. Thus, by assuming a constant flux of total alkalinity through
the Tiran Strait coupled with projected changes in atmospheric CO2 it would be possible to estimate
the overall effect of acidification and abstraction of water at the head of the Gulf using the EBOX box
model (Silverman and Gildor, 2008) also assuming equilibrium of surface seawater with atmospheric
CO2.
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2.65
AT (mmol · kg-1)
2.60
2.55
2.50
2.45
2.40
2.35
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
Figure 3-9 Total alkalinity measured at station A at discrete depths ≤20 m (red squares) and
≥200 m (blue diamonds). Note that after 2005 there is no increasing trend in total alkalinity
and it remains stable at ~2.5 mmol·kg-1.
26
41.1
T
25
S
41
40.9
40.8
40.7
23
40.6
22
40.5
S (PSU)
T (ºC)
24
40.4
21
40.3
20
40.2
19
1987
1990
1993
1995
1998
2001
2004
2006
40.1
2009
Figure 3-10 Salinity and temperature measurements at station A below 200 m depth. Note that
the increase in temperature is accompanied by an increase in salinity suggesting that the
cause is an increase of residence time of water in the GOAE. The salinity trendline indicates
an increase of 0.17 PSU, which is equivalent to an alkalinity increase of 7 mmol·kg-1 using the
relations developed by Brewer et al. (1997).
Available trends in warming and acidification from the literature will be used to examine their effect
on the CaCO3 budget of coral reefs near the canal intake and the Gulf of Eilat/Aqaba in general.
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Effect of warming and acidification on corals
Concerning the effects on corals, some experimental data are available in the literature. In a recent
study (2004-2006; Amar et al., 2007), reproductive seasonality in Stylophora pistillata peaked during
April to June and surprisingly, planulae were also collected in August months, compared to a
previous decade-long survey (1974-1983; Rinkevich and Loya 1987) in which reproductive
seasonality peaked during March to May without any planulation in August. Similarly, in four out of
ten years of a previous survey (1974-1983), none of the examined colonies released any planulae in
July, whereas during the recent survey planulae were obtained in all 3 July months. Another
significant difference between this 3-year study (Amar et al., 2007) and the former 10-year works
(Rinkevich and Loya 1987) is the average number of colonies that were reproductive. Whereas two
to three decades ago, 100% of colonies in the wild released planulae during March months, in the
more recent study less than 88% of colonies released planulae. Planulae were always obtained
during the months of April to June in both surveys (1974-1983 survey and 2004-2006 survey) and an
additional survey (1998 and 2003; Amar and Rinkevich, 2007). While the reef in Eilat have gone
many changes during the last four decades that may influence coral reproductive activities, one
possible explanation for this research outcomes is the steady increase in Eilat’s seawater
temperature (positive linear trend of 0.02ºC/year calculated for the data obtained during 1975-2003;
Gertman and Brenner, 2004). These results therefore indicate a probable shift in the sexual
reproductive seasonality of S. pistillata during the last three decades, potentially connected to global
changes. Impacts of ocean acidification on coral reproduction is, however, still unclear. For example,
laboratory experiments revealed that ocean acidification has negative impacts on the fertilization,
cleavage, larva, settlement and reproductive stages of several marine calcifiers, including
echinoderm, bivalve, coral and crustacean species (Kurihara, 2008). On the other hand, short term
studies revealed no significant difference in production of gametes by the coral Montipora capitata
after 6 months of exposure to the treatments (Jokiel et al., 2008).
Several studies (summarized in Cooley et al., 2009) further revealed that fleshy macroalgae and
seagrasses became dominant in scenarios where pH decline was followed over years. Prolonged
exposures to elevated CO2 concentrations increase the concentrations of non-structural
carbohydrates (like starch), rates of vegetative shoot proliferation and flowering, and reduces light
requirements for plant survival. Consequently, seagrass populations are likely to respond positively
to CO2-induced acidification of the coastal ocean, which may have significant implications for carbon
dynamics in shallow water habitats and for the restoration of seagrass populations.
In conclusion, based on the currently estimated effects of abstraction on water quality in the GOAE
(section 3.2) and what is currently known from the literature on the effect of warming and acidification
on corals and coral reefs, it is likely that abstraction will amplify the effects of warming and
acidification trends.
Sea level rise
Due to the steep slopes of the GoA along the east and west coast lines, the place where sea level
rise can have an effect which is relevant to RDC is (perhaps) the north beach. It should be taken into
account in the Final Report and recommendations.
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Cumulative impacts of other future abstractions planned in
the area
Several projects are ongoing or planned in the area foreseeing water abstractions from the Gulf.
Their impact on water circulation is going to be evaluated according with the requests expressed in
the Terms of References and the indications provided by the Study Management Unit.
Particularly, abstractions foreseen by Ayla Oasis Project and Saraya Aqaba Project will be
considered in all scenarios, included those described at section 3.1.1, since they are de facto already
built.
The following simulation scenarios will be tested in order to evaluate the cumulative effects of water
abstractions in the area (Table 3-3).
It should be noted that the Jordanian government did not confirm any plan concerning the nuclear
power plant in Aqaba. The data indicated in the table are known by informal contacts.
Figure 3-11 indicates the location of the projects mentioned in Table 3-3.
Table 3-3 Modelling scenarios to be considered to evaluate cumulative effects of RDC project
and other future abstraction – yearly total abstraction rates are given.
RDC intake
position
RDC
abstraction
rate
Jordan Red
Sea Project
abstraction
rate*
Ayla Oasis
Project
abstraction
rate
Saraya Aqaba
Project
abstraction
rate
Nuclear power
plant Aqaba
Area
abstraction rate
SCENARIO 14
none
-
0.4 billion m3
268 million m3
(MAX)
104 million m3
189 million m3
SCENARIO 15
NORTHERN
INTAKE
1.6 billion m3
from northern
intake
0.4 billion m3
268 million m3
(MAX)
104 million m3
189 million m3
SCENARIO 16
EASTERN
INTAKE
2 billion m3
from eastern
intake
0.4 billion m3
268 million m3
(MAX)
104 million m3
189 million m3
SCENARIO
* This flow rate has been indicated by the Word Bank (Study Management Unit). The Jordanian Government did
not confirm this figure. Communications from Jordanian Government previous to the indications received by the
WB-SMU indicated a planned abstraction rate of 2.15 billion m3/y for the Jordan Red Sea Project.
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Figure 3-11 Location of projects involving water abstraction from the Gulf of Aqaba/Eilat.
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Preliminary description of water quality supply to
the intake in different scenarios
The quality of the water at the proposed intake sites (eastern and northern shores of the GOAE) of
the RSDSC is affected to a great degree by the water quality in the open water, which in turn is
determined by the density structure of the water column (Genin et al., 1995; Lazar et al., 2009). The
extent of influence on the density structure of the open sea water column will be determined using
the hydrodynamic models to simulate the large-scale full Gulf circulation, the intermediate scale
northern Gulf circulation, and the small circulation in the vicinity of the suggested intakes.
Based on the information provided by the FS consultant, the eastern intake is planned to be located
~25 m above the bottom in order to minimize any potential effects of resuspended sediments due to
the force of extraction of water at the intake. Furthermore the bottom depths to be evaluated are 48
m and 145 m which are well below the depth affected by wind and wave action. At the proposed
northern intake the bottom depth is 17 m.
During southerly storms, the typical wind speed is around 5 m/s. If we consider the most extreme
southerly winds of 10-15 m/s, which occur at most once or twice a year (between October and May)
and last for a period of 12 hours or less (metereological data recorded at IUI station in Eilat), the
estimated maximum significant wave height at the northern end of the Gulf could reach 2.6-4.3 m.
These waves would break in water depth of less than 6 m and could cause some sediment
resuspension in the nearshore zone. Thus wind and wave induced sediment resuspension is not
expected to be a major factor in the vicinity even the shallower northern intake location, also if the
water remains turbid for about 2-3 days after such storms (visual observations at IUI station).
After extreme events such as infrequent winter flooding some suspended sediments are introduced
along the northern shore (see example in Figure 2-31). These sediments may remain suspended in
the water column for a few days (visual observations at IUI station) and could be an issue for
operation of the intake. However such events occur only once every few years. Research of
additional data and information of this topic is still on-going and further details colud become
available during the progress of the study.
Depending on the intake design (surface or sub thermocline) and the modelling results we will make
a qualitative assessment of water quality at the intake when the system becomes operational. The
effects of various pumping scenarios and intake designs on the nutrient dynamics will be assessed
taking into account the results of the physical modelling (water circulation, upwelling/downwelling).
This will enable assessment of the potential short and long-term impacts on the water quality
transported towards the Dead Sea and the consequent potential down-channel biological dynamics.
Currently, the preliminary results of the study, which are based on a simple box model of the GOAE,
suggest that there will be small to negligible changes in the density structure of the water column
(see abstraction effects on water quality section) and therefore it is expected that the changes in
open sea water quality will be negligible as well. If the predictions of the box model are correct it is
safe to assume that the current state of water quality at the proposed intake sites will also apply to
the varying scenarios (depth and location of abstraction). It is also assumed that engineering
measures will be taken to reduce resuspension of sediments and the concentration of suspended
solids will remain unchanged at the any of the proposed intake sites.
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In Table 4-1 we summarize the available water quality data at or near the proposed abstraction sites
that were obtained from the databases of the JNMP and INMP. These sources include
measurements made along the north and east shores of the northern GOAE since 1999 and at
deeper station about 3 km offshore across from the eastern shore by the JNMP since 1999. We
categorize the water quality parameters into location (east/north shore of the GOAE) and depth of
abstraction (<50 m = shallow, >200 m = deep).
Considering the importance of variations in suspended matter and algae for the design of the pretreatment for the reverse osmosis (possible high concentrations during some periods e.g. during
heavy rainfall or due to algal blooms), it can be taken into consideration that average rates of
particulate matter (TSS) in coastal waters of the Gulf of Aqaba is about 6 mg/L, and 0.2 µg/L for Chl
a. These values are enhaced (doubled as maximum, in the case of chl-a) during March/April when
algal bloom happened as a consequence of deep water mixing.
The increase or decrease of these parameters is seasonal and it has nothing to do with events of
extreme elevation of these parameters. Unusual algal blooms that might affect the desalination plant
was never observed in Aqaba. Certainly, this is proved from the data on monitoring as well as the
nature of Aqaba waters being oligotrophic and no rainfall that might enrich the seawater with these
nutrients needed for algal blooms.
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Table 4-1 Summary of water quality parameters measured since 1999 by the INMP and JNMP
near the proposed abstraction sites. In all the table entries made by the INMP the values
indicate the minimum/median±1STD/maximum values of all the measurements made during
the period 1999-2009. In all the table entries made by the JNMP the values indicate the ranges
(minimum-maximum) of the parameters measured at these stations during the period 19992009.
East
shore
deep
intake
WQ
Parameter
North shore
shallow intake
North shore
deep intake
East Shore
shallow
intake
Stations
FF (INMP)
WA (JNMP)
OS (INMP)
PP (JNMP)
PP
(JNMP)
Temperature
(ºC)
20.6/23.1±1.9/27.3
20.8-27.2
21.04/21.38±0.45/22.82
20.9-27.1
20.6-27.1
Salinity (PSU)
40.27/40.70±0.12/41.04
40.42- 40.76
40.57/40.72±0.06/40.88
40.4-40.77
40.240.77
DO (mmol·l-1)
184/209±9/234
195-208
182/200±7/216
192-208
172-208
pH
8.118/8.201±0.025/8.247
8.1-8.4
8.15/8.17±0.01/8.20
8.1-8.4
8.0-8.4
AT (mmol·kg-1)
2377/2509±18/2545
2476/2503±10/2530
NO2 (mmol·l-1)
0.00/0.04±0.11/0.39
0.01-0.45
0.00/0.05±0.13/0.48
0.01-0.48
0.01-0.45
NO3 (mmol·l-1)
0.00/0.21±0.47/3.30
0.15-1.1
0.15/1.85±0.85/3.79
0.15-1.15
0.15-3.95
NH4 (mmol·l-1)
0.01/0.12±0.68/3.42
0.15-0.8
0.15-0.75
0.15-0.8
PO4 (mmol·l-1)
0.00/0.04±0.05/0.32
0.02-0.13
0.01/0.10±0.04/0.19
0.02-0.15
0.02-0.24
Si(OH)4
(mmol·l-1)
0.34/0.96±0.61/3.80
0.95-2.55
0.30/0.99±0.28/1.90
0.95-2.65
0.95-3.5
Chl_a (ug·l-1)
0.07/0.32±0.15/1.18
0.1-0.8
0.00/0.01±0.12/0.33
0.1-0.5
0.1-0.6
Particulate
matter (mg ·l-1)
6.5±2.4
Secchi depth
(m)
14/23±5/33
24-32
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