Chronological deposition record of trace metals in sediment cores from Chaohu Lake, Anhui Province, China

• Published in: Environmental monitoring and assessment Vol. 194; no. 11; p. 843
• Main Authors: Wang, Xin, Gao, Na, Liang, Yangyang, Liu, Fei, Hong, Xiuping, Zhou, Xiujie, Sun, Liqiang, Li, Hui, Fang, Ting
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01-11-2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aluminum; Analysis; Anthropogenic changes; Anthropogenic factors; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Cadmium; Caesium 137; Cesium 137; Cesium isotopes; Cesium radioisotopes; Chromium; Cluster analysis; Copper; Cores; Correlation analysis; Deposition; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecology; Ecotoxicology; Enrichment; Environment; Environmental Management; Environmental monitoring; Environmental science; Heavy metals; Household wastes; Industrial wastes; Industrial wastewater; Intensive farming; Iron; Lake sediments; Lakes; Lead; Lead isotopes; Manganese; Mercury; Mercury (metal); Metal concentrations; Metals; Monitoring/Environmental Analysis; Multivariate statistical analysis; Perturbation; Pollution sources; Population growth; Principal components analysis; Sediment; Sediments; Sewage; Soil contamination; Soil erosion; Statistical analysis; Statistical methods; Trace metals; Urban runoff; Wastewater; Watersheds; Zinc; Chaohu Lake; China; Anhui China; Enrichment assessment; Human perturbation; Pb dating; Sediment cores; Cs and; Trace metals
• ISSN: 0167-6369; 1573-2959
• DOI: 10.1007/s10661-022-10506-w

Lakes located in the mid-low reaches of the Yangtze River watershed have been subjected to various degrees of human perturbation that would have resulted in toxic metal concentrations and would pose potential risk to the natural habitats. Therefore, in the present study, two sediment cores from Chaohu Lake were collected to determine any such concentration, expressed as the enrichment characteristics of major and trace metals (Al, Fe, Mn, Cu, Pb, Zn, Cr, Cd, As, Hg, and Ni) in response to natural and anthropogenic changes. An approximate 180-year (1840–2021) deposition record of trace metals in sediment cores was obtained on the basis of
137
Cs and
210
Pb dating. Enrichment factors (EFs) and the geo-accumulation index (
I
geo
) were adopted to evaluate the enrichment state and pollution status of trace metals. The results showed that Cu and Zn were persistently more enriched in sediment, whereas Mn, Pb, Cd, and Hg has shown remarkable increasing trends in the west lake since the 1970s. Evaluation of the
I
geo
confirmed that sediment was moderately polluted with Cu and Zn within the whole lake and with Cd in the west lake area, whereas it was uncontaminated with Cr and slightly contaminated with other metals. Furthermore, source identification based on multivariate statistical analysis including correlation analysis, principal component analysis, and cluster analysis suggested similar pollution sources for the studied metals. Combined with the natural and anthropogenic changes within the watershed, enhanced soil erosion due to population expansion and agricultural intensification was a major contributor to sedimentary metals before the 1970s while industrial wastewater, urban runoff, and domestic sewage were predominant inputs of trace metals after the 1970s.