A 50-year sedimentary record of heavy metals and their chemical speciations in the Shuangtaizi River estuary (China): implications for pollution and biodegradation

doi:10.1007/s11783-011-0352-0

Front Envir Sci Eng Chin

2011, Vol. 5

Issue (3) : 435-444 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-011-0352-0

RESEARCH ARTICLE

A 50-year sedimentary record of heavy metals and their chemical speciations in the Shuangtaizi River estuary (China): implications for pollution and biodegradation

Baolin LIU¹(

), Ke HU¹, Zhenglong JIANG¹, Fengge QU², Xin SU¹

1. School of Marine Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China; 2. Pingdingshan Uinversity, Pingdingshan 467000, China

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Abstract

Two parallel sediment cores collected from tidal flat located in the Shuangtaizi River estuary were analyzed for heavy metal concentrations and chemical speciations. Based on the ¹³⁷Cs activity profile, mean sedimentation rate at the sampling site during the past 50 years was estimated to be 1.3 cm·a^-1. Correlation analyses show that almost all the metals are associated with each other, suggesting that these metals might be derived from same sources and/or affected by same geochemical processes. Influence of total organic carbon (TOC) content on the concentrations of Cr, Ni, Cu and Cd is evident. Silt and clay contents, instead of sand content, play an important role in the distribution of these metals. The dominant binding phases for most of the metals (except for Cd) are the residual. The relative decrease of the residual fraction of Cd and Pb in the upper 66 cm of the core is striking. The distribution of chemical fraction confirms that the residual fractions of these metals have a natural origin, while only the non-residual fractions of Cd and Pb increased upward the core due to pollution in the past five decades. Pollution assessment on these heavy metals based on Index of Geoaccumulation (I_geo) also demonstrates that most of the metals are unpolluted. The weak pollution as observed in the sediments is perhaps related to a local plant, the Suaeda heteroptera Kitag, which may have played a significant role in the biodegradation of these metals and the metal distribution in the estuary.

Keywords Shuangtaizi River estuary sediment core heavy metals pollution

Corresponding Author(s): LIU Baolin,Email:liubaolin@cugb.edu.cn

Issue Date: 05 September 2011

Cite this article:

Baolin LIU,Ke HU,Zhenglong JIANG, et al. A 50-year sedimentary record of heavy metals and their chemical speciations in the Shuangtaizi River estuary (China): implications for pollution and biodegradation[J]. Front Envir Sci Eng Chin, 2011, 5(3): 435-444.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-011-0352-0
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2011/V5/I3/435

Fig.1 Geographic map showing study area and sampling location map

Tab.1 Method accuracy and recovery of measured heavy metals in standard sediment (GBW 07303)

Fig.2 Down core variations of Cs in the sediment core PJII (the data come from [])

Fig.3 Down core variations of mean grain size (Mz), contents of sand, silt and clay, pH and TOC in the sediment core PJI (the particle size data come from Ref. [])

Tab.2 Concentrations of heavy metals in the sediment core (PJI) from the Shuangtaizi River estuary and their corresponding background values/(mg·kg)

Fig.4 Down core variations of heavy metals in the sediment core PJI (the data come from Ref. [])

Tab.3 Correlation matrix among the heavy metals concentrations, grain size, pH and TOC ( = 20) of the sediments

Fig.5 Chemical fraction variations of heavy metals in the sediment core PJI

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