Trace Metal Contents in the Porites Corals of Peninsular Malaysia

The concentration contents of Ca, Mg, Sr and Zn in Porites corals from Pulau Langkawi, Pulau Redang and Pulau Tioman were presented. The corals were cleaned and the growth rate examined visually. The growth rate of Porites in Malaysia waters was between 5 to 25 mm yr -1 and each band was selected for determining the metal contents using the Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). The mean values of Ca (42.1 %), Mg (1184 µg/g), Sr (6276 µg/g) and Zn (60.6 µg/g) were calculated from each annual skeleton band representing the yearly growth. Porites coral from Pulau Langkawi shows a high content of Zn (118 µg/g) representing the water surrounding the island was highly polluted and also shows the uptake of Sr and Ca in the coral skeleton was related to the content of Zn, where Sr and Ca contents decreases when the concentration of Zn was more than 50 µg/g. Terrestrial runoff from Sumatera and west coast of Peninsular Malaysia are presumed to be the cause of pollution in Malacca Straits.