The accumulation of heavy metals and nutrients in estuarine systems is well known. Estuaries are dynamic hydrological systems and support a diversity of ecosystems and habitats.

However there is growing concern that estuaries in South Africa are deteriorating as a result of impacts upstream. A current UCT study on the Berg River is designed to examine the accumulation of heavy metals in the sediments in the estuary.

Mustafa Benamer, an environmental chemist from Libya, is studying the mobility of heavy metals in the lower Berg in order to understand how salinity and pH affects the precipitation of particles in the estuary. He is being jointly supervised by Professor Graham Jackson (chemistry) and Dr Kevin Winter (Environmental and Geographical Science