In addition, the organic rich sediments showed
the high CEC values (r = 0.719) and also showed
good correlations with clay (r = 0.515) and silt (r =
0.671). This is because the CEC of soils or sediments
is attributable to organic matter and clay fractions,
and organic matter can also occur with clay
minerals (Sparks 1995). Therefore, the sediments
containing high organic matter, clay and silt had the
potential to retain heavy metals and high CEC of
the sediments could result in high metal concentrations.