A 59-year sedimentary record of metal pollution in the sediment core from the Huaihe River, Huainan, Anhui, China.
An approximately 59-year (1955-2014) sedimentary record of metal elements (Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni, Co, Mn, and Fe) in a sediment core, collected from the Huaihe River, Huainan City, Anhui Province, China, was reconstructed by using210Pb geochronology. Copper, Zn, Ni, Co, and Mn evaluated by enrichment factor (EF) indicated minor contamination due to water pollution accidents of the Huaihe River that occurred in 1990s and 2004. Lead presented the most severe pollution among the metals studied, especially during 1957-1974. The use of leaded petrol and atmospheric deposition of coal combustion flue gases could have contributed to Pb contamination. In spite of the general good quality (mean sediment pollution index (SPI) 35.69) of the sediment core evaluated by SPI based on the principal component analysis, worse sediment qualities in the upper section (<6 cm, 2004) were still observed, suggesting intensive human activities causing the increasing concentrations of metals in recent decades.
CAS Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and the Environments, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China.|State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710075, China.|State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution, Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR, People's Republic of China.
Jie
J
Wang
CAS Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and the Environments, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China. lgj@ustc.edu.cn.|State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710075, China. lgj@ustc.edu.cn.
Guijian
G
Liu
CAS Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and the Environments, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China.
Jiamei
J
Zhang
CAS Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and the Environments, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China.
Houqi
H
Liu
State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution, Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR, People's Republic of China.
Paul K S
PK
Lam
D002681:China; D002947:Cities; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis*; D045483:Rivers; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical
D019216:Metals, Heavy; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
210Pb geochronology; Enrichment factor; Huaihe River; Sediment core; Sediment pollution index; Trace metal