title: Distribution and accumulation of mercury and copper in mangrove sediments in Shenzhen, the world's most rapid urbanized city.
abstract: To investigate the influence of mangrove forest on heavy metal accumulation and storage in intertidal sediments, core sediments from natural mangrove, restored mangrove, and adjacent mud flat spanning the intertidal zone along the south coastline of the most heavily urbanized Deep bay, Guangdong province, China were analyzed. The average concentrations of mercury (Hg) in surface sediments of natural mangrove and restored mangrove were 172 and 151 ng g(-1), whereas those of copper (Cu) were 75 and 50 μg g(-1), respectively. Compared to those from other typical mangrove wetlands of the world, the metal levels in Shenzhen were at median to high levels, which is consistent with the fact that Shenzhen is in high exploitation and its mangrove suffer intensive impact from human activities. Hg and Cu concentration profiles indicated a higher metal accumulation in surface layers of sediments, in agreement with enrichment of organic matter contents. Maximum concentration, enrichment factors, and excess (background-deducted) concentration inventories of metals (Hg and Cu) were substantially different between environments, decreasing from natural mangrove sediments to restored mangrove sediments to mud flat. Furthermore, metal inputs to Futian mangrove decreased in the order natural mangrove > restored mangrove > mud flat, indicating that mangrove facilitated the accumulation and storage of Hg and Cu in sediment layers.
authors.affiliation: Shenzhen Key Laboratory for Heavy Metal Pollution Control and Reutilization, School of Environment and Energy, Shenzhen Graduate School of Peking University, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
authors.forename: Ruili
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Neilingding Futian National Nature Reserve, Shenzhen, 518000, China.
authors.forename: Hualin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, PKU-HKUST Shenzhen-HongKong Institute, Shenzhen, 518057, People's Republic of China. chaiminwei9@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Minwei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chai
authors.affiliation: School of Environment and Energy, Shenzhen Graduate School of Peking University, Shenzhen, 518055, China. qiugy@pkusz.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Guo Yu
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Qiu
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D002947:Cities; D003300:Copper / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry*; D006802:Human Activities; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis*; D014507:Urbanization / Q000639:trends; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D053833:Wetlands
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D003300:Copper; D008628:Mercury
keywords: Copper; Mangrove; Mercury; Sediments