Distribution and origination of zinc contamination in newly reclaimed heterogeneous dredger fills: Field investigation and numerical simulation

Linbo Wu; Jianxiu Wang; Xiangjun Pei; Graham E Fogg; Tianliang Yang; Xuexin Yan; Xinlei Huang; Zipeng Liu; Rui Qi

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.110496

Distribution and origination of zinc contamination in newly reclaimed heterogeneous dredger fills: Field investigation and numerical simulation

Mar Pollut Bull. 2019 Dec:149:110496. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.110496. Epub 2019 Aug 16.

Authors

Linbo Wu¹, Jianxiu Wang², Xiangjun Pei³, Graham E Fogg⁴, Tianliang Yang⁵, Xuexin Yan⁵, Xinlei Huang⁵, Zipeng Liu⁶, Rui Qi¹

Affiliations

¹ College of Civil Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China.
² College of Civil Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China; Key Laboratory of Geotechnical and Underground Engineering of Ministry of Education, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China; State Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geo-environmental Protection, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China; Key Laboratory of Land Subsidence Monitoring and Prevention, Ministry of Land and Resources, Shanghai 201204, China. Electronic address: wang_jianxiu@163.com.
³ State Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geo-environmental Protection, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China. Electronic address: peixj0119@tom.com.
⁴ Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, University of California, Davis 95616, US.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Land Subsidence Monitoring and Prevention, Ministry of Land and Resources, Shanghai 201204, China; Shanghai Institute of Geological Survey, Shanghai 200072, China.
⁶ College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China.

PMID: 31425848
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.110496

Abstract

Heavy metal elements, including Zn, Cd, As, Ni, Cu, Pb and Cr, were detected in soils (no deeper than 75 m) from newly reclaimed zones of Shanghai, China. The Zn concentration exceeded soil quality limits. The Zn contamination was tested in both dredger fills and sedimentary layers (①₃_-₃, ②₃, ④ and ⑤₁_-₁). However, it was not detected in layer ⑤₁_-₂-⑨. PCA and HCA analysis show that exogenous Zn probably was the contaminant source of dredger fills before the fills were dredged from the neighboring waters. Stochastic heterogeneity of the dredger fills affects the Zn-depollution remarkably. Numerical simulations show both acid precipitation and widespread drainage channels in the zones contributed to Zn-decrease in the dredger fills no deeper than 1.2 m. Acid rainstorms work better than acid constant precipitation in Zn-remediation for layers below 0.4 m. To remove Zn contamination in deep dredger fills, un-consolidation of the fills should be utilized.

Keywords: Field investigation; Heterogeneous dredger fills; Land reclamation; Numerical simulation; Stochastic modeling; Zn contamination.

MeSH terms

China
Environmental Monitoring
Metals, Heavy / analysis
Risk Assessment
Soil
Soil Pollutants* / analysis
Zinc* / analysis

Substances

Metals, Heavy
Soil
Soil Pollutants
Zinc