Characterization of Sedimentary Environments of Surface Sediments and Medium Energy in Om Al-Toyour Area – Latakia

Abstract

A sedimentary study of Om Al-Toyour Coast, located to the north of Latakia City, has been carried out in order to determine the sediment distribution and classify it. Thirty-six surface sedimentary samples were collected during June 2021 and grain size analyzes were conducted on them. Four sedimentary types were identified (Gravel; Sandy gravel; Gravely sand; Slightly gravely sand). The grain size parameters indicated that the sediments varied from coarse sand to fine gravel, well sorted to very poorly sorted, coarse to fine skewed, mesokurtic to platykurtic. The interrelationship between the parameters showed the domination of sediments with bimodal nature that contains a mixture of sand and gravel in different proportions, a high medium energy in general, its intensity changes along the study area. The Linear Discriminate Function analysis (LDF) analyses indicated the dominance of beach and shallow marine deposition environments with an influence of turbidity and fluvial processes. The CM plots indicated that sediments were transported on the bottom by rolling and are located within the coastal environment. This confirms the occurrence of deposition under high-energy conditions, in which waves and currents were dominated, sufficient to transport sediments by rolling along the study area.