title: Spatial variation, environmental assessment and source identification of heavy metals in sediments of the Yangtze River Estuary.
abstract: In order to analyze the spatial distribution patterns, pollution sources and ecological risks of heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn), 30 sediment samples were taken from in the Yangtze River Estuary (YRE). The results indicated that the contamination ranking of heavy metals was As>Cr>Cd>Ni>Mn>Pb>Zn>Cu. In the various areas, the pollution magnitude decreased as follows: adjacent sea>river mouth>inner-region. Compared to data published for other regions, the YRE data indicated that the sediment was not severely contaminated by heavy metals. In the YRE, natural and anthropogenic inputs dominated the distribution patterns of the heavy metals. Beyond that, the hydrodynamic conditions, such as the Taiwan warm current, coastal current and Yangtze diluted water, also caused distribution variations in the study areas.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Water Environment Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, No. 19, Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing 100875, China.
authors.forename: Jiawei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Water Environment Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, No. 19, Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing 100875, China. Electronic address: liurm@bnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Ruimin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Water Environment Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, No. 19, Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing 100875, China.
authors.forename: Peipei
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Water Environment Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, No. 19, Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing 100875, China.
authors.forename: Wenwen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Water Environment Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, No. 19, Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing 100875, China.
authors.forename: Zhenyao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Water Environment Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, No. 19, Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing 100875, China.
authors.forename: Chenghong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Feng
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D063366:Estuaries; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry*; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000737:chemistry*; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D045483:Rivers; D014872:Water Movements; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D019216:Metals, Heavy; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Environmental assessment; Heavy metals; Source identification; Spatial variation; Yangtze River Estuary