Physical Characterization of the Superficial Layers of Akouedo Landfill, Ivory Coast and Assessment of Heavy Metals Pollution Risk of the Underlying Aquifer

Article history: Received 08 August 2019 Accepted 23 August 2019 Available online 10 September 2019 The present study aims to quantify heavy metals in the Akouedo landfill soil and evaluate the extent of contamination to better understand the risk of continental terminal groundwater contamination. The granulometric characteristics of six soil samples and three batches of auger samples at different depths up to 6 m showed that sand fraction was between 60.61 and 73.10 % with the average values between 63.91 and 67.19%. The fine particle content that reflects the rate of clay was between 26.90 and 39.39% with mean values between 32.81 and 36.09%. The chemical analyses showed that Akouedo landfill is rich in Zn (33.32-9440.00 ppm), Cr (55.60-4240.00), Cu (17.36-2800.00) and Pb (46.80-2580.00). The concentrations and the distribution of the different heavy metals in the auger samples vary with depth. The values were high in the surface layers and decreased in the deep layers. But chromium had higher mobility and could reach groundwater easily and to cause a contamination of this resource.