Characteristics of surface marine sediments of Bintuni Bay, West Papua

¹ Graduate student of Marine Science, IPB University, Bogor 16680, Indonesia
² Department of Marine Science Technology, IPB University, Bogor 166980, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract

Sediment composition reflects prevailing environmental conditions and the capacity to store organic matter. Bintuni Bay, located in West Papua is a semi-enclosed coastal area with diverse sedimentation processes. This study examined surface sediment characteristics of Bintuni Bay, focusing on grain size and organic matter content from the inner to outer parts of the bay. Sediment samples were collected from 5 sampling points. Grain size analysis was conducted using dry sieving (> 0.063 mm) and pipetting (< 0.063 mm) methods, while organic matter content was determined using the Loss on Ignition (LOI) technique. Sediment aggregation and statistical parameters were analyzed using the Gradistat 9.1 software. Sediment water content ranged from 20.77% to 48.47%, with the highest value recorded in the inner part of the bay. The sediments were dominated by fine and very fine sand, indicating that the bay is a relatively depositional environment. The total organic matter showed positive correlation with finer grain fractions (silt and clay), indicating that finer grains are more effective at storing organic matter. Statistically, the sediments exhibited poor sorting, suggesting a dominance of fine particles and high kurtosis values with a leptokurtic distribution shape.