Spatial and temporal distributions of nitrogen, phosphorus and heavy metals in the intertidal sediment of the Chang jiang River Estuary in China

Abstract

Spatial and temporal distributions of nutrients (N and P) and heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Pb and Cd) in the intertidal sediments at Dongtan wetland of the Changjiang River (Yangtze River) Estuary were examined by laying one transect running seaward to landward during January, April, June, August and October of 2005. Total nitrogen (TN) and heavy metal concentrations in the intertidal sediment showed an increasing trend from open bare flat to the high marsh, with the maximum concentrations in the high marsh and the minimum values in open bare flat. In contrast, sediment total phosphorus (TP) concentrations changed little among sampling sites. One-way ANOVA found that there were significantly temporal variations of nutrients and heavy metals concentrations in the intertidal sediment (P <0.05). The concentrations of heavy metals generally showed an increasing trend from January to October. As compared with other large estuaries, heavy metal contamination in the intertidal sediment of the Changjiang River Estuary was relatively low.

Distribution of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in coastal wetland soil related land use in the Modern Yellow River Delta

“…Compared to the reported results of coastal wetlands, the soil N contents in present study were much lower than those in Yangtze Estuary (southern China)333940 and coastal wetlands of southern India41. In contrast, the very high soil TP contents were observed in study region, even about 2 times of that in marsh soils of river marginal wetlands333942.…”

“…Similar to the most of wetland ecosystems34394546, the high nutrient contents of N and C were observed in topsoil and decreased with depth in soil profiles under functions of vegetation enrichment (Table 1, Fig. 6).…”

“…The significant relation of TP and TOC in soil profile was not observed in the study. The previous studies demonstrated that organic P in the coastal sediment of the estuary was less than 20%3948 and the distribution and accumulation of P in the estuary was independent of the grain size and the organic matter of the sediment39.…”

Oyster and Associated Benthic Macrofaunal Development on a Created Intertidal Oyster (Crassostrea Ariakensis) Reef in the Yangtze River Estuary, China

“…Water temperature and dissolved oxygen at the reef were determined seasonally in situ during 2007 and 2008 (Hach Instruments, Sension5 model). Mean water temperature varies at the reef, from 4.2°C in winter to 30.8°C in summer, and dissolved oxygen ranges between 5.56 mg/L and 8.79 mg/L (Quan et al 2010).…”

Heavy Metal Signatures of Highly Anthropogenic Developments from the Dongjiang River Basin in Southeastern China

“…CA is used to exhibit both high of internal homogeneity and external heterogeneity [6]. Table I summarizes the statistical results of the heavy metals concentration of 51 water samples in Dongjiang river, while comparing with water quality standards of China [7], and other Environmental Guidelines [8,9], and other study results [10,11,12]. In China, the environmental quality standards for surface water are divided into five classes.…”