Phosphorus fractions and bioavailability in relation to particle size characteristics in sediments from Lake Hongfeng, Southwest China

Information on the chemical composition of phosphorus (P) fractions in sediments is fundamental to understanding P bioavailability and eutrophication in lake ecosystems. Phosphorus fractions and its bioavailability in sediments cores of Lake Hongfeng, southwest China, were investigated using a chemical sequential extraction scheme. Relationships between P fractions, P bioavailability and particle sizes were discussed. P fractions concentrations were ranked in the order: Residual-P > NaOH–rP > NaOH–NRP > HCl–P > BD–P > NH₄Cl–P, and all of them decreased with increasing sediment depth. Statistical analysis showed that concentrations of bioavailable P (BAP) which includes the NH₄Cl–P, BD–P, NaOH–rP and NaOH–NRP fractions ranged from 404.68 to 1,591.99 mg/kg and accounted for 26.8–71.8 % of the concentrations of total phosphorus (TP) in the top 5 cm sediments, whereas in the whole sediment cores, their concentrations ranged from 239.70 to 1,591.99 mg/kg and accounted for 26.8–76.0 % of TP. The results suggested that the sediments were a large potential source of P for algae blooms in Lake Hongfeng. Phosphorus fractions and their potential bioavailability were influenced by the sediment particle sizes, especially the bioavailability of the NH₄Cl–P fraction, which was strongly affected by the presence of fine particle sizes in the sediments.     

散落核素7Be和137Cs在洱海和红枫湖沉积物中蓄积对比

沉积物柱芯分别采自滇西地区的洱海和黔中地区的红枫(及百花)湖,散落核素7Be和137Cs在沉积物中的蓄积特征对比分析表明,7Be在洱海及红枫湖沉积物中的累计值分别为(237±73)Bq/m2和(783±44)Bq/m2;按校正到沉降年代的数值,1986年以前137Cs的累计值分别为(519±26)Bq/m2及(3704±56)Bq/m2.由模式计算获知,(1)7Be和137Cs在红枫湖沉积物中的蓄积以侵蚀影响为主;在洱海的蓄积受直接散落控制.(2)在洱海和红枫湖地区7Be大气散落累计值分别为(0.07±0.02)Bq/cm2及(0.08±0.01)Bq/cm2;1986年以前137Cs大气散落累计值分别为(0.11±0.01)Bq/cm2及(0.37±0.01)Bq/cm2,显示出滇西与黔中地区之间137Cs散落的地区差异.这一现象可能反映出青藏高原对滇西地区存在着全球性大气扩散污染物散落的屏蔽效应.     

PCBs and OCPs in sediments from Hongfeng Reservoir in Guizhou Province, China

In this research, chlorinated hydrocarbons （polychlorinated biphenyls and organochlorine pesticides） were measured by GC-ECD in sediments from the Hongfeng Reservoir area. The concentrations of total PCBs range from 3.2 to 31.6 ng/g, among which PCB28, PCB52 are the major congeners with the concentrations from 0.5 to 4.6 ng/g, and from 0.4 to 28.1 ng/g, respectively. The concentrations of these pollutants decrease from surface to bottom, while the concentrations at 1-4 cm are lower than at 5-8 cm, suggesting the decline of PCBs input. TOC concentrations of sediment are found in a significant positive correlation with those of PCBs, suggesting that PCBs are mainly adsorbed on organic matter and particles. HCHs and DDTs are the predominant organochlorine pesticides with the concentrations ranging from 1.6 to 8.9 ng/g （average 3.2 ng/g） and 0.9 to 25.7 ng/g （average 7.8 ng/g）, respectively. β-HCH and γ-HCH （lindane） are the predominant HCH isomers from sediments, and p, p＇-DDE and p, p＇-DDT are the predominant DDT isomers. DDT/DDE＋DDD and α-HCH/γ-HCH ratios range from 0.6 to 0.9 and 0.1 to 3.0, respectively, which indicates more use of lindane than technical mixtures of HCHs before, and also suggests changes in HCHs and DDTs in the environment. The high values of β-HCH and p, p＇-DDE also show that atmospheric input is one of the important sources of the Hongfeng Reservoir, because β-HCH and p, p＇-DDE are stable and have low Sw and Pv so that they can be easily transferred over a long range in atmosphere.     

Erratum to: Geochemical and environmental magnetic characteristics of high arsenic aquifer sediments from Datong Basin,northern China

Geochemical and environmental magnetic studies were carried out to identify the effect of iron oxyhydroxides on arsenic mobilization in high arsenic aquifer system. Using high arsenic sediment samples from two boreholes, specifically drilled for this study, chemical composition and magnetic properties including magnetic susceptibility, saturation remnant magnetization, and isothermal remnant magnetization were measured. Results of correlation analysis of element contents show that arsenic and iron are closely associated with each other (r ² = 0.40, α = 0.05, n = 21). In contrast, the correlation of phosphorus with iron (r = 0.11, α = 0.05, n = 21) and arsenic (r ² = 0.18, α = 0.05, n = 21) was poor, which might result from competitive adsorption of phosphorus and arsenic on the surface of Fe-oxyhydroxides. The high correlation coefficients between arsenic contents and magnetic parameters suggest that the ferrimagnetic minerals including maghemite and hematite are the dominant carrier of arsenic in aquifer sediments. The results of sequential extraction experiments also revealed the association of arsenic with reducible iron oxides, such as maghemite and hematite in aquifer sediments. Therefore, under reducing conditions, reductive dissolution and desorption of arsenic from Fe-oxyhydroxides into the aqueous phase should be the dominant geochemical processes for its enrichment in groundwater at Datong. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Phosphorus distribution in the sediments of a shallow eutrophic lake,Lake Chaohu,China

In this study, the sediment profiles of total phosphorus (TP), inorganic phosphorus (P_i), organic phosphorus (P_o), C/P and N/P were used to investigate time-dependent P distribution changes in Lake Chaohu. The characteristics of P_i and P_o fractions in the surface sediments were studied and the difference between east and west lake region was also discussed. The P_i and P_o contents displayed a clear gradient from east to west in sediments of Lake Chaohu, and the P_o/P ratios were lower in sediments with industrial and urban pollution sources input in west lake region. The study indicated that different sediments area had diverse concentrations and distributions of P_o fractions due to their different drainage basin and pollution sources. The profile distribution of the C/P and N/P ratios decreased with increasing depths and stayed relatively constant ratios at the depths of 15–30 cm. The C/P and N/P ratios were always below Redfield ratios in sediment profile, indicating P enrichment but likely due to the preferential loss of carbon in respect to phosphorus. The rank order of P_i-fractions extracted was HCl-P_i > NaOH-P_i > NaHCO₃-P_i in surface sediments. The relative distribution of NaHCO₃-P_i and HCl-P_i was in agreement with the trophic conditions of the regions studied. Among the sequentially extracted P_o forms, the rank order of P_o fractions was residual P_o > HCl-P_o > fulvic acid-P > humic acid-P > NaHCO₃-P_o, with mean relative proportion of 5.4:3.4:2.2:1.1:1.0.     

Phosphorus in suspended matter and sediments of a hypertrophic lake. A case study: Lake Dianchi,China

From June 2004 to December 2004, Lake Dianchi, which had large scale of cyanobacterial blooms was investigated in order to study P-fractionation in the suspended matter and the sediment. The investigation improves our understanding of phosphorus in Lake Dianchi and the relationship between phosphorus and cyanobacterial blooms. It contributes to the available literature on the behavior of P in hypertrophic lakes. The distribution of P-fractions in Lake Dianchi was not uniform from northwest to south, but was closely related to the trophic status of the whole lake. The concentrations of total phosphorus, labile P (NH₄Cl-P), Organic P (NaOH-NRP) and loss on ignition in suspended matter were positively correlated with the strength of cyanobacterial blooms. Total phosphorus in suspended matter was relatively stable for almost half an year and closely related to Chl. a concentration. The main content of organic phosphorus is in the cyanobacterial blooms. The concentrations of phosphorus bound to metal oxides and carbonates (NaOH-SRP and HCl-P) in sediment were similar to NaOH-SRP and HCl-P in the corresponding suspended matter. The latter two forms of P in suspended matter were not affected by cyanobacterial blooms, indicating that the inorganic phosphorus is derived from the sediment after resuspension from the sediment due to wind and wave action. The contribution of the different P-fractions to TP in sediment and in suspended matter indicates that NH₄Cl-P in the suspended matter is an important buffer for maintaining dissolved phosphorus in water.     

Chemical and mineralogical forms of lead,zinc and cadmium in particle size fractions of some wastes,sediments and soils in Korea

Forms of Pb, Zn and Cd in the different size fractions (<2 μm, 2–53 μm and >53 μm) of waste dumps, stream sediments and surrounding soils from a former Au mine in Korea, were investigated chemically by sequential extraction analysis and mineralogically by XRD and analytical SEM, so as to clarify the relationships between chemical and mineralogical forms. Total concentrations for the waste dumps and the stream sediments range from 655 to 2920 mg/kg for Pb, 565 to 1191 mg/kg for Zn, and 24.4 to 71.4 mg/kg for Cd, while those for the surrounding soils do not exceed the natural background levels. Direct observations on the heavy mineral fractions of the waste dumps and the stream sediments indicates that the primary sphalerite is still the main pool of the Zn and Cd, while a large part of the primary galena has been changed into a carbonate-bound form. This is in a good agreement with the partitioning of chemical forms in the coarse fractions, in which most of the Zn (75.3 to 79.4% for the waste dumps) and Cd (54.8 to 60.1% for the waste dumps) are associated with the oxidizable form, while most of the Pb (68.8 to 71.0% for the waste dumps) is in the acid (NaOAc)-extractable form. On the other hand, the partitioning of metal forms in the clay fraction is characterised by the highest proportion of the reducible form for all metals (56.6 to 73.8% for Pb, 60.2 to 68.4% for Zn, and 27.1 to 36.8% for Cd in the waste dumps), suggesting precipitation of easily to moderately reducible oxides and hydroxides from the other forms during weathering. With the increase of pH, the dramatic changes of the acid-extractable Pb, the oxidizable Zn and Cd in the coarse fractions, and the exchangeable form, especially for Cd in the clay fraction indicate that pH is the prime factor controlling the partitioning of heavy metals.     

Geochemical characteristics of trace elements in sediments of Dongting Lake, central China

Although eutrophication and trace element contamination are two key environmental problems in Dongting Lake, a systematic study of the distribution of trace elements in sediments of this lake has not previously been undertaken. In order to identify the current levels of trace metal contamination in Dongting Lake, the concentrations of trace elements （Cd, Cr Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, As and Hg） in the sediments at 53 locations were investigated in this study. The lake, the second largest fresh-water lake in China, boasts three China wetlands of international importance. Dongting Lake which lies in the south of the middle Yangtze River is the most important reservoir lake in the Yangtze River drainage area, and is characterized by fast flow-through water, large runoff volume and short period of exchanging water （no more than 20 days）. The granulometric analysis result of sediments shows that a large proportion of the sediments measures at 2-63 μm in size; the result of mineralogical analysis shows that original mineral is the main composition of the sediments, followed by clay mineral and carbonate. The contents of copper, lead, zinc, cadmium, arsenic and mercury are higher than the background levels of soil （ Ⅰ Soil） in China, but lower than the threshold values for severely polluted soil （Ⅲ Soil） in China except Cd higher than that in Ⅲ Soil. The concentrations of trace elements analyzed are higher than the Threshold Effect Level of Interim Sediment Quality Guideline by Canada EPA and are lower than the Probable Effect Level. The assessment by geoaccumulation index shows that the contamination of Cd reached strong level in Dongting Lake. Study on speciation of metals by a BCR procedure indicates that the trace elements （Cu, Zn, Cr, and Ni） analyzed are mainly distributed in residual phases but Pb in Fe/Mn oxhydroxide phase and Cd in soluble and carbonate-bound fraction. The potential risk was the highest in East Dongting Lake based on the calculated contamination factors which are mostly probably caused by the deposition of the trace element pollutants via the Xiangjiang River and the discharge of the pollution sources in the vicinity of East Dongting Lake.     

强水动力湖泊夏季分层期氮的生物地球化学循环初步研究:以贵州红枫湖南湖为例

湖泊在夏季由于藻类生长而消耗大量硝酸盐,水体硝酸盐含量一般要低于春季。而红枫湖南湖水体硝酸盐含量却高于春季(比平均含量高0.83mg/L),说明尚有其他重要的硝酸盐来源。据估算,南湖水体硝酸盐含量升高0.83mg/L约需要1.66×105kg硝酸盐,另外有约10.1×105kg硝酸盐随下泻水输出南湖,再加上夏季藻类生长(生产的chla量约为640kg)所消耗的硝酸盐3.52×105kg,共消耗硝酸盐15.28×105kg。扣除河流输入的4.42×105kg硝酸盐,南湖尚存在约10.86×105kg硝酸盐的亏空。利用氮稳定同位素示踪技术,结合硝酸盐及叶绿素a(chla)含量、溶解氧(DO)等的变化,认为这部分硝酸盐来自湖泊中下部(斜温层)有机质的大量矿化(硝化),是水动力驱动高DO的上部水体下沉从而引起下部有机质(硝化)的结果。南湖这种强水动力湖泊整个夏季分层期氮的生物地球化学循环是斜温层有机质矿化(硝化)释放硝酸盐和变温层藻类生长同化硝酸盐为有机质同时发生的特殊类型。     

Enzymatic and Microbial Degradation of Organic Matter in Lake Hongfeng, Guizhou Province, China

1IntroductionEnzymaticandmicrobialdegradationoforganicmatterhasabearingnotonlyonearlydiagene sis,butalsoonelementcyclingandmicrobedistributioninlakesediments.Somereportsshowedtheabundancevariationsoforganicmatterinsediments (BurdigeandGardner,1998;ArthurandDean ,1998;WanGuojiangetal.,2 0 0 0 ) .However,duetothecomplexchemicalcompositionoforganicmatter,mechanismsofenzymaticandmicrobialdegradationandvariationsofeachchemicalcomponentneedtobestudiedfurther.Underanoxiccondition ,SO2 -4 isanimpo…     

Phosphorus fractions in sediment profiles and their potential contributions to eutrophication in Dianchi Lake

Dianchi Lake is a eutrophic lake in southwestern China. Sediment and the bottom water samples were taken from six sites in the east, west, south, north and center of the lake, respectively, in December 2002. Total phosphorus (TP) concentrations in sediments were high and reached a maximum value of 6.66 g/kg. There was a soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) concentration gradient at the sediment–water interface. In the present study, sediment P was divided into loosely adsorbed P (NH₄Cl-P), redox-sensitive P (BD-P), metal oxides bound P (NaOH-P), calcium bound P (HCl-P), and organic P (Org-P). At three of the six sites selected, the concentrations of different P forms in sediments followed the order: NaOH-P, Org-P>HCl-P>BD-P>NH₄Cl-P in the profile, and in the southern lake the order was HCl-P>NaOH-P, Org-P>BD-P>NH₄Cl-P in the top 15 cm layers of the sediments. The sediment profiles showed that different forms of P had an increasing trend upward toward the sediment surface. There is a considerable potential for release from the sediment into the overlying water and sediment P could be the dominant factor determining the trophic status of the lake if the external load is reduced. An erratum to this article can be found at     

硝化和反硝化对湖泊有机质沉积成岩前降解作用的研究

贵州红枫湖10月叶绿素a(chla)和NO3^-含量均比7月明显降低。利用氮同位素等数据对此进行了研究，结果表明，含量的降低是由不同的生物地球化学作用引起的。chla含量的降低主要是水体中有机质降解(硝化)所致，而NO3^- 含量的降低则是缺氧季节湖泊沉积物表层反硝化作用的结果。缺氧季节表层水体仍然能发生较强烈的硝化作用。硝化作用和反硝化作用分别发生在热分层湖泊的上层和沉积物表层。反硝化作用不仅消耗大量的NO3^-，而且还造成了一定量的有机质降解(有机碳作为电子受体)。据估算，在红枫湖后五测点和大坝测点，总有机碳在沉积成岩前分别降解了78％和68％。其中由硝化作用引起的总有机质降解量分别为35．8%和25．9％，而反硝化作用则分别为13．4％和9．2％。     

Phosphorus fractionation in surficial sediments of Pandoh Lake,Lesser Himalaya,Himachal Pradesh,India

The fractionation of P in Pandoh Lake surface sediments has been investigated for the first time in order to understand its environmental availability and sources, and the eutrophication status of this lake. Inorganic-P is present mainly as authigenic-P (step-III). The authigenic P concentration is higher in winter relative to the summer and monsoon seasons and ranged from 35.9 to 46.9 μg/g. The loosely sorbed or exchangeable-P (step-I), Fe(III)-bound-P (step-II) and detrital inorganic-P (step-IV) were higher in the monsoon season and varied from 3.70 to 11.1 μg/g, 16.9 to 32.0 μg/g and 9.89 to 17.0 μg/g, respectively. Organic-P reached a maximum in the summer season and ranged from 8.00 to 14.9 μg/g. Authigenic-P and detrital inorganic-P show seasonal changes, as pH influences the interaction between P and CaCO₃ in the water column. In the winter season, phosphate is precipitated out of the water column and fixed in the sediments as a result of an increase in pH. Calcite-bound-P in the sediments may be redissolved by decreasing pH in the summer season. Relatively high rates of mineralization during the monsoon results in the seasonal pattern of organic-P fractionation to sediment as follows: monsoon = winter < summer. Iron, Ca, organic matter and silt and clay contents seem to play a significant role in regulating the seasonal P budget. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to identify the factors which influence sedimentary P in the different seasons.     

Trace metals in Daihai Lake sediments, Inner Mongolia, China

A total of 29 surface sediments were collected from the Daihai Lake, China. Concentrations of metals (Cu, Pb, Zn, and Cd) were determined using HR-ICP-MS after digestion with the mixture of HNO₃–HF–HCl (aqua regia), and chemically fractionated according to the modified the European Community Bureau of Reference sequential extraction procedure. Total organic carbon contents and grain size were also analyzed. Average concentrations (ppm) for Cu (39.4 ± 10.6), Pb (29.9 ± 6.1), Zn (102.6 ± 23.3), and Cd (0.21 ± 0.07) were found in the sediments. The concentrations of metals are relatively higher in the central area of lake, while lower nearby the area with a shallower water depth. Sequential extraction results show that Cu and Zn are mainly distributed in the residual fraction, while Cd is dominantly in the non-residual fraction. Enrichment factor values and geoaccumulation indexes suggest that there are not obvious enrichments of Cu, Pb, and Zn in the sediments, but Cd pollution can be found in most of the area of Daihai Lake. The sources for Cu, Pb, and Zn are attributed to atmospheric deposition, which might be mainly associated with coal combustion. Agricultural runoff in polluted soils and coal combustion might be main sources of the Cd pollution in the lake.     

Heterogeneous distribution of copper in different grain size and density fractions of contaminated surface sediment from Nansi Lake (China)

The copper (Cu) distributions and speciation in the surface sediment collected from Nansi Lake (NL) (China) were investigated by chemical and physical fractionation methods. Sediment was first fractionated into four grain size fractions (< 63, 78–163, 163–280, and > 280 μm) in wet condition. Each fraction was then further divided into two density sub-fractions (low and heavy) by flotation in sodium-polytungstate solution (ρ = 2.0 g/cm³). In addition, a three-stage extraction procedure following the European Communities Bureau of Reference (BCR) protocol was applied to study the speciation distribution of Cu among grain size fractions. It was found that the speciation distributions of Cu among different grain size fractions were quite close to each other, although the total Cu concentrations were different in the individual fractions. Moreover, Cu mainly occurred in the coarser, low density, OC-rich fractions. Extractable Cu, which was dominated by reducible and oxidizable parts, occupied almost 80% of the total Cu concentration. Total Cu concentrations in grain size fractions and density sub-fractions ranged from 29.6 to 72.9 and from 21.4 to 156 mg/kg dw, respectively. It was noted that low-density fractions had 4–7 times higher Cu concentrations and 5–12 times higher organic carbon (OC) content than those in high-density fractions. The results demonstrated that OC was a main factor influencing Cu distributions in either grain size or density fractionated sediment. This study suggests that the role of the Cu-rich fraction should be considered when conducting the remediation of Cu contamination in NL.     

Modeling bioavailable phosphorus via other phosphorus fractions in sediment cores from Jiulongkou Lake, China

Bioavailable phosphorus (BAP) plays an important role in phosphorus (P) release from lake and river sediments, as well as serves as an indicator for the potential P-release risk in sediment. Developing a feasible model which could predict BAP via other P fractions is needed for the lakes and reservoirs without regular BAP monitoring. The algal available P (AAP), NaHCO₃ extractable P (Olsen-P), water soluble P (WSP) and readily desorption P (RDP) are four fractions of BAP. The vertical and spatial distributions of BAP fractions of three sediment cores from Jiulongkou Lake were analyzed. In addition, the P fractions, including total P (TP), organic P (OP), inorganic P (IP), non-apatite inorganic P (NAIP), and apatite P (AP) were measured to develop a model for predicting BAP. The model for each BAP fraction was developed based on datasets from Jiulongkou Lake and validated by the datasets collected from Wujin and Wugong Lake. The results showed that all of the four BAP fractions decreased with depth, along the direction of contaminant transport. Their rank order was AAP > Olsen-P > WSP > RDP in all samples. The concentration of BAP was affected by the anthropogenic input and aquatic macrophyte growth. Each of the four BAP fractions could be simulated by different P fractions: both AAP and Olsen-P were expressed by NAIP and OP, WSP had a significant relationship with OP, and RDP had significant relationship with IP. NAIP and OP were the major sources of the BAP fraction. The simulated results in two other lakes further illustrated that this model could be used to successfully predict the BAP concentrations in lakes in the study area, and holds promise for predicting the BAP levels in other lakes and reservoirs as well.