ASSESSMENT OF WATER CONTAMINATION WITH TRACE ELEMENTS IN UPPER MOULOUYA MINING DISTRICTS (EASTERN MOROCCO)

For decades, Eastern Morocco was a source of different types of minerals with high mining activities. Nowadays, unfortunately, it represents the largest abandoned mining deposits in the country that generate significant amounts of toxic elements threatening the downstream environments of Moulouya watershed. The purpose of this study is to assess and monitor the contamination levels of trace elements (As, Cu, Pb, Sb, Se, Zn, Cd, Cr, Ni, and V) in Upper Moulouya River, contrasted to physicochemical and eutrophication parameters. Along the study area, 20 liters of water were sampled from 10 sites of which three are lakes resulted from mining excavation. The samples underwent specific treatments to assess the contamination levels of these trace elements. Our results showed large variability between sampling sites in term of contamination sources. Different factors seems to moderate the spatial distribution of these trace elements.