Mercury profiles in sediments of the Pearl River Estuary and the surrounding coastal area of South China

Abstract

The spatial and historical changes of Hg in sediment reflect the industrial development and urbanization of the region in south China. a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c tThe spatial and temporal variations of mercury (Hg) in sediments of the Pearl River Estuary (PRE) and the surrounding coastal area (South China Sea) were studied. In surface sediments, the concentrations of Hg ranged from 1.5 to 201 ng/g, with an average of 54.4 ng/g, displaying a decreasing trend with the distance from the estuary to the open sea. This pattern indicates that the anthropogenic emissions from the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region are probably the main sources of Hg in this coastal region. Using the 210 Pb dating technique, the historical changes in the concentrations and influxes of Hg in the last 100 years were also investigated. The variations in Hg influxes in sediment cores obviously correlate with the economic development and urbanization that has occurred the PRD region, especially in the last three decades.

Distribution of mercury in coastal marine sediments of China: Sources and transport

“…This also suggests a significant influence of Hg discharges from nearby cities and coastal circulation currents. Compared to our previous survey on the PRE (Shi et al, 2010), the highest and average concentrations of Hg increased from 201 lg kg À1 to 398 lg kg À1 , and from 54.4 lg kg À1 to 166 lg kg À1 during the year 2002-2011, implying a significant increase of the anthropogenic emissions of Hg in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region. Compared with published data on the background values of sedimentary Hg in the whole SCS (Zhang and Du, 2005), Hg levels in sediments of the PRE is relatively higher, indicating a strong impact of landbased anthropogenic Hg emissions.…”

Spatial distribution of mercury in topsoil from five regions of China

“…However, there have been little available update data since the survey. Our recent studies in Pearl River Delta, one of the most industrialized and urbanized region in China, has shown that the concentrations of Hg in the sediments increased with the economic development in the last three decades (Shi et al , 2010. Studies also found high concentrations of Hg in the air and soil of some cities (Fang et al 2004;Feng et al 2003;Zhang et al 2004;Zhang and Wong 2007).…”

Mercury (Hg) speciation in coral reef systems of remote Oceania: Implications for the artisanal fisheries of Tutuila, Samoa Islands

“…In the Pearl River estuary (Shi et al, 2010) Hg concentrations decrease on moving seawards along the estuary. In Venezuela, Ramos et al (2009) linked increases of Hg in coral skeletons to rainfall and runoff from industrial sites, while in the Caribbean, Guzman and Garcia (2002) found elevated Hg concentrations in various components of the reef environment, and related these to burning and mining activities with some evidence of long distance movement.…”