Distribution, sources, and fluxes of heavy metals in the Pearl River Delta, South China

Riverine samples were collected at various locations in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) to determine the concentrations of heavy metals (Cr, Ni, Cu, Mn, Zn, Cd, and Pb) in time and space and to estimate the fluxes of heavy metals to the coastal waters off South China. Most of the elements exhibit clear...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine pollution bulletin 2015-12, Vol.101 (2), p.914-921
Main Authors: Geng, Junjie, Wang, Yiping, Luo, Hanjin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
China
Distribution
Environmental Monitoring - methods
Estuaries
Flux
Heavy metals
Marine
Metals, Heavy - analysis
Metals, Heavy - chemistry
Pearl River
Principal Component Analysis
Rivers - chemistry
Solubility
Source
Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis
Water Pollutants, Chemical - chemistry
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Riverine samples were collected at various locations in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) to determine the concentrations of heavy metals (Cr, Ni, Cu, Mn, Zn, Cd, and Pb) in time and space and to estimate the fluxes of heavy metals to the coastal waters off South China. Most of the elements exhibit clear temporal and spatial trends. Principal component analysis shows that surface erosion is the major factor affecting metal concentrations in particulates in the PRD. Natural geology is an important source of these heavy metals. The annual fluxes of Cr, Ni, Cu, Mn, Zn, Cd, and Pb in upstream and downstream were 445, 256, 241, 3293, 1279, 12, and 317t/year and 1823, 1144, 1786, 15,634, 6183, 74, and 2017t/year, respectively. A comparison indicated that the annual fluxes of Mn accounted for 1.3% of the global river fluxes, whereas other elements contribute
ISSN:0025-326X
1879-3363
DOI:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.10.066