Distribution characteristics and controlling factors of typical heavy metals in Huanghe River estuary, China -- Journal of Oceanology and Limnology,2023,41(1):150-165

	Cite this paper:
	Yuxi LU, Dawei PAN, Tingting YANG, Chenchen WANG. Distribution characteristics and controlling factors of typical heavy metals in Huanghe River estuary, China[J]. Journal of Oceanology and Limnology, 2023, 41(1): 150-165

Distribution characteristics and controlling factors of typical heavy metals in Huanghe River estuary, China

Yuxi LU^1,2, Dawei PAN^2,3, Tingting YANG⁴, Chenchen WANG²

1 Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China;
2 CAS Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Shandong Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes, Research Center for Coastal Environment Engineering Technology of Shandong Province, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, China;
3 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China;
4 College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yantai University, Yantai 264005, China

Abstract:

The geochemical characteristics and potential controlling factors of colloidal Zn, Cd, and Pb in Huanghe (Yellow) River estuary (HRE), China were investigated. The three metals were highly variable over a range of spatiotemporal scales, comprehensively forced by various physical and biological processes. Total dissolved Zn, Cd, and Pb varied from 200.1 to 321.7, 2.6 to 4.1, and 0.5 to 1.0 nmol/L, respectively. Only one near-estuarine station of Zn had contamination factor values >1, which indicate the lower contaminant levels. Five dissolved species of Zn, Cd and Pb were fractionated, namely <1 kDa, 1–3 kDa, 3–10 kDa, 10–100 kDa, and 100 kDa–0.45 μm. The <1 kDa truly dissolved phase was the main fraction of the three dissolved metals (50%–62%), while the 100-kDa–0.45-μm high molecular weight colloidal fraction was dominant in their respective colloidal phase. Territorial input and sediment acted as important sources of strong ligands and natural colloids for the HRE water system. <3-kDa Zn and Pb were susceptible to the dissolved oxygen, the behaviors of colloidal Zn and 3–10-kDa Pb were related to dissolved organic carbon (DOC). However, no significant correlation between each dissolved fraction of Cd and salinity, pH, temperature, colloidal organic carbon, and DOC was found in this study. Overall, these findings, completed by the evaluation of the dissolved species of Zn, Cd, and Pb at 10 sites over the river-sea mixing zone, provided new insights into the colloidal heterogeneity that affect metals geochemical features, migration and fate in estuaries.

Key words: colloidal heavy metal|size fraction|Huanghe (Yellow) River estuary|geochemical feature

Received: 2021-09-30 Revised:

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