Deposition records of persistent organic pollutants and black carbon in dated sediment cores from China marginal seas: Implications for terrestrial sources and transport processes

Tian Lin; Yizhen Han; Zilan Wu; Limin Hu; Neil L Rose; Zhigang Guo

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113874

Deposition records of persistent organic pollutants and black carbon in dated sediment cores from China marginal seas: Implications for terrestrial sources and transport processes

Mar Pollut Bull. 2022 Aug:181:113874. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113874. Epub 2022 Jun 29.

Authors

Tian Lin¹, Yizhen Han², Zilan Wu³, Limin Hu⁴, Neil L Rose⁵, Zhigang Guo⁶

Affiliations

¹ College of Marine Ecology and Environment, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China. Electronic address: tlin@shou.edu.cn.
² College of Marine Ecology and Environment, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China.
³ State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Coastal Ecosystem, National Marine Environmental Monitoring Center, Dalian 116023, China.
⁴ College of Marine Geosciences, Key Laboratory of Submarine Geosciences and Prospecting Technology, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, China.
⁵ Environmental Change Research Centre, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
⁶ Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Institute of Atmospheric Sciences, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China.

PMID: 35777324
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113874

Abstract

Black carbon (BC) and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) were analyzed from three sediment cores collected offshore in the East China Marginal Seas. The results showed steadily increasing or stable BC concentrations and fluxes. By contrast, time trends of POPs fluxes were consistent with historical records of commercial production and use in China. Although the POP inventories decreased significantly with increase in offshore distance, the relatively consistent trends for individual POPs in different sea areas confirmed that the main sources are derived from mainland China and that atmospheric input was an important contribution. POPs inventories decreased by 59-91 % during transport from the Yellow Sea to the remote East China Sea and deposition to the sediment. This suggests that the source signal for POPs may be preserved under stable depositional environments, even though only a fraction of those pollutants are buried in open sea sediments.

Keywords: BC; Depositional fluxes; East China marginal seas; Inventory; POPs; Transport processes.

MeSH terms

Carbon / analysis
China
Environmental Monitoring
Environmental Pollutants*
Geologic Sediments
Oceans and Seas
Persistent Organic Pollutants
Soot
Water Pollutants, Chemical* / analysis

Substances

Environmental Pollutants
Soot
Water Pollutants, Chemical
Carbon