Mercury profiles in surface sediments from ten bays along the coast of Southern China

Weihai Xu; Wen Yan; Weixia Huang; Zhong Chen; Shuhong Wang; Li Miao; Lifeng Zhong; Han Chen

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2013.07.047

Mercury profiles in surface sediments from ten bays along the coast of Southern China

Mar Pollut Bull. 2013 Nov 15;76(1-2):394-9. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2013.07.047. Epub 2013 Aug 12.

Authors

Weihai Xu¹, Wen Yan, Weixia Huang, Zhong Chen, Shuhong Wang, Li Miao, Lifeng Zhong, Han Chen

Affiliation

¹ CAS Key Laboratory of Marginal Sea Geology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China.

PMID: 23948092
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2013.07.047

Abstract

Spatial and temporal variations of mercury (Hg) were investigated from ten representative bays along the coast of Southern China. The total Hg (THg) in surface sediments varied widely with concentrations from 25 to 264 ng/g. As a whole, Hg pollution in several bays occupied by busy sea traffic and industrial activities, such as Shantou (ST) Bay and Dapeng (DP) Bay were remarkably more serious than others, which reflected the direct effects of anthropogenic activities around the coastal areas. Hg variations in sediment cores clearly display upcore rising trend which obviously correlates with the trend of economic development and urbanization in the last five decades. No significant correlations were found between Hg and organic matter and particle size, suggesting that the distribution of Hg is not fully controlled by these variables.

Keywords: Bays; Mercury; Southern China; Surface sediments.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Bays / chemistry*
China
Environmental Monitoring*
Geologic Sediments / chemistry*
Mercury / analysis*
Water Pollutants, Chemical / analysis*
Water Pollution, Chemical / statistics & numerical data

Substances

Water Pollutants, Chemical
Mercury