title: Geochemical baseline level and function and contamination of phosphorus in Liao River Watershed sediments of China.
abstract: The quantitative assessment of P contamination in sediments is a challenge due to sediment heterogeneity and the lacking of geochemical background or baseline levels. In this study, a procedure was proposed to determine the average P background level and P geochemical baseline level (GBL) and develop P geochemical baseline functions (GBF) for riverbed sediments of the Liao River Watershed (LRW). The LRW has two river systems - the Liao River System (LRS) and the Daliao River System (DRS). Eighty-eight samples were collected and analyzed for P, Al, Fe, Ca, organic matter, pH, and texture. The results show that Fe can be used as a better particle-size proxy to construct the GBF of P (P (mg/kg) = 39.98 + 166.19 × Fe (%), R(2) = 0.835, n = 66). The GBL of P was 675 mg/kg, while the average background level of P was 355 mg/kg. Noting that many large cities are located in the DRS watershed, most of the contaminated sites were located within the DRS and the riverbed sediments were more contaminated by P in the DRS watershed than in the LRS watershed. The geochemical background and baseline information of P are of great importance in managing P levels within the LRW.
authors.affiliation: State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.
authors.forename: Shaoqing
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Chunye
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Mengchang
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Xitao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000535:Aluminum / Q000032:analysis; D002118:Calcium / Q000032:analysis; D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007501:Iron / Q000032:analysis; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000032:analysis*; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry; D062206:Spatial Analysis; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D014876:Water Pollution / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D010758:Phosphorus; D000535:Aluminum; D007501:Iron; D002118:Calcium
keywords: Background; Baseline; Contamination; Normalization; Phosphorus; Sediment