title: Contamination trends of trace metals and coupling with algal productivity in sediment cores in Pearl River Delta, South China.
abstract: Several sediment cores from the Pearl River Delta were collected to investigate the relationship of trace metal contamination with algae-derived organic matter in the last 50 years. Trace metals were analyzed with ICP-MS, and algal organic matter (AOM) was measured with Rock-Eval pyrolysis. It was found that Cu, Zn, Ag, Cd, and As were elevated in the last three decades from three reservoirs, while all of the target metals showed no significant enrichment in estuarine sediment cores. Cu, Cr, Co, Cd, Zn, Ag, Ni, As, and Mn normalized to Ti were strongly associated with AOM in the sediments of eutrophic reservoirs, suggesting that AOM played an important role in controlling the accumulation of trace metals. Principal component analysis (PCA) and enrichment factor (EF) were also used to assess the enrichment of trace metals. The above result indicated that the sedimentary process of As, Cd, Cu, Zn, Ni, Cr, Co, Ag, and Mn was significantly affected or/and controlled by primary productivity in eutrophic, non-point polluted reservoirs.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510640, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors.forename: Dandan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510640, China. Electronic address: yran@gig.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ran
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510640, China.
authors.forename: Hefa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, Guizhou 550002, China.
authors.forename: Jing'an
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, Guizhou 550002, China.
authors.forename: Guojiang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wan
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry*; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis*; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry*; D012624:Seaweed / Q000737:chemistry*; D014131:Trace Elements / Q000032:analysis*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D019216:Metals, Heavy; D014131:Trace Elements; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Algal organic matter; Aquatic ecosystem; Sediment core; Sedimentary history; Trace metals