| Abstract:
Central and western coastal waters of the Persian Gulf along Hormuzgan province were investigated for site selection of artificial reefs installation. The grain size and organic carbon content of sediments were studied seasonally in the year 2007. For sampling, we stratified the area between the south of Qeshm Island to Hendorabi Island to 10 transects, and partitioned each to 3 sub-transects (Coastal line to 10, 10-20 and 20-30m deep), using a random design.
The maximum and minimum amount of silt were recorded in transects of Bandar Haseineh and Bandar Chiroyeah (45.39% and 38.79%), for sand transects of Bandar Masen and Bandar Haseineh showed the maximum and minimum (63.95% and 38.79%) and for clay transects of Bahman Jetty and Bandar Masen (23.47% and 9.02%) were recorded and the highest and lowest respectively. Also, the maximum and minimum amount of carbon organic content was determined in Bandar Kong transect (1.62%) and Hengum Island transect (0.63%), respectively. The results of one-way analysis of variance showed a significant difference in organic carbon content of sediments from transects of Hengum Island, Bandar Masen and Bandar Gourzeh in comparison with other transects (P<0.05), (95% confidence interval).
However, the difference was not significant for grain size and organic carbon of bottom sediments in all stations (P>0.05). Also, we found a significant correlation between silt (r=0.52), sand (r=-0.63) and clay (r=0.67) with organic carbon (P<0.01). Finally, the best transects for artificial reefs installation were defined based on bottom hardness (Hengum Island, Bandar Masen, Bandar Selakh and Bandar Chiroyeah), productivity (Hengum Island, Bandar Masen, Bandar Selakh, Bandar Bostaneh, Bandar Haseineh, Bandar Charak and Bandar Gourzeh) and organic carbon (Bahman Jetty, Bandar Selakh, Bandar Kong, Bandar Bostaneh, Bandar Haseineh and Bandar Charak).
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