Geochemical factors affecting chronological reconstruction of a historical arsenic pollution accident in Lake Qionghai, Southwest of China

Authors

  • Xinyu Wang Geochemistry Department of Chengdu University of Technology, Sichuan Province, 610059, China
  • Zeming Shi Geochemistry Department of Chengdu University of Technology, Sichuan Province, 610059, China
  • Shijun Ni Geochemistry Department of Chengdu University of Technology, Sichuan Province, 610059, China
  • Wei Xu Geochemistry Department of Chengdu University of Technology, Sichuan Province, 610059, China
  • Ruilin Wang College of Materials and Chemistry & Chemical Engineering of Chengdu University of Technology, Sichuan Province, 610059, China

Keywords:

heavy metal peak, sediment, dating

Abstract

To explore geochemical factors affecting the chronological reconstruction of a historical arsenic pollution accident in Lake Qionghai at southwest of China, heavy metals and radionuclides (210Pbex and 137Cs) in two sediment cores were sampled and analyzed. Our study revealed that (1) industrialization and urbanization of Xichang since the mid-20th Century, aggravated soil erosion in the catchment and resulted in a significant and lasting increase in the sedimentation rate of Lake Qionghai; (2) sharp arsenic peaks in two sediment cores recorded an arsenic pollution accident in 2006 in which a large amount of arsenic was discharged into the lake from a chemical plant. Arsenic peaks in sediment cores A and B were dated to 1988 ± 3.5, 2006 ± 3.1, respectively. Only the arsenic peak time in core B: 2006 ± 3.1, agreed with the real pollution accident time of 2006. Linear correlation analysis suggested that arsenic sorption by Fe/Mn minerals and organic materials in sediment core A probably changed the depth distribution of the peak and affected the accuracy of chronological reconstruction. This case study suggested that sorption of heavy metals by Fe/Mn minerals and organic materials should be assessed before the chronological reconstruction of the metal pollution accident in the lake.

References

Abrahim, G. M. S., Parker, R. J., 2008. Assessment of heavy metal enrichment factors and the degree of contamination in marine sediments from Tamaki Estuary, Auckland, New Zealand. Environ. Monit. Assess. 136(1-3), 227–238.

Alonso-Hernandez, C. M., Diaz-Asencio, M., Muñoz-Caravaca, A., Delfanti, R., Papucci, C., Ferretti, O., Crovato, C, Alonso-Hernandez, C. M., Diaz-Asencio, M., Muñoz-Caravaca, A., 2006. Recent changes in sedimentation regime in Cienfuegos Bay, Cuba, as inferred from 210Pb and 137Cs vertical profiles. Cont. Shelf. Res. 26(2), 153–167.

Appleby, P. G., Oldfield, F., 1978. The calculation of 210Pb dates assuming a constant rate of supply of unsupported 210Pb to the sediment. Catena. 5, 1–8.

Appleby, P. G., Oldfield, F., 1983. The assessment of 210Pb data from sites with varying sediment accumulation rates. Paleolimnology, pp. 29–35. Springer Netherlands.

Cambray, R. S., Cawse, P. A., Garland, J. A., Gibson, J.A.B., Johnson, P., Lewis, G.N.J., Wade, B. O., 1987. Observations on radioactivity from the Chernobyl accident. Nuclear energy 26(2), 77–101.

Catalano, J. G., Luo, Y., Otemuyiwa, B., 2011. Effect of Aqueous Fe(II) on Arsenate Sorption on Goethite and Hematite. Environ. Sci. Technol. 45(20), 8826–8833.

Cundy, A. B., Croudace, I. W., Cearreta, A., Irabien, J., 2003. Reconstructing historical trends in metal input in heavily-disturbed, contaminated estuaries: studies from Bilbao, Southampton Water and Sicily. Appl. Geochem. 18(2), 311–325.

Deschamps, E., Ciminelli, V.S.T., Weidler, P. G., Ramos, A. Y., 2003. Arsenic sorption onto soils enriched in Mn and Fe minerals. Clay. Clay. Miner. 51(2), 197–204.

Garcia-Orellana, J., Cañas, L., Masqué, P., Obrador, B., Olid, C., Pretus, J., 2011. Chronological reconstruction of metal contamination in the Port of Maó (Minorca, Spain). Mar. Pollut. Bull. 62(8), 1632–1640.

GBT11743-2013, 2013. National Standard of China about determination of radionuclides in soil by gamma spectrometry.

Ho, H. H., Swennen, R., Cappuyns, V., Vassilieva, E., Neyens, G., Rajabali, M., Van Tran, T., 2013. Assessment on pollution by heavy metals and arsenic based on surficial and core sediments in the Cam River Mouth, Haiphong Province, Vietnam. Soil and Sediment Contamination: An International Journal 22(4), 415–432.

Jeter, H. W., 2000. Determining the ages of recent sediments using measurements of trace radioactivity. Terra et Aqua. 78, 21–28.

Ji, Y. X., Luo, D. R., Guan, T., 2007. Survey on acute arsenic poisoning event (Written in Chinese). Modern Preventive Medicine. 34(16), 3090–3091.

Lee, T., Yao, C. L., 1970. Abundance of chemical elements in the earth's crust and its major tectonic units. Int. Geol. Rev. 12(7), 778–786.

Lu, X., Higgitt, D. L., 1998. Recent Changes of Sediment Yield in the Upper Yangtze, China. Environ. Manage. 22(5), 697–709.

Magninu, A., Christian, U., Barth, M., Schmitz, W., Stabel, H. H., 1990. Pathways and residence times of radionuclides in Lake Constance. In: M. M. Tilzer, C. Serruya (Eds.), Large Lakes: Ecological Structures and Functions, pp. 245–264, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg.

McDonald, C.P, Urban, N. R., 2007. Sediment radioisotope dating across a stratigraphic discontinuity in a mining-impacted lake. J. Environ. Radioactiv. 92(2), 80–95.

Putyrskaya, V., Klemt, E., 2007.Modeling 137Cs migration processes in lake sediments. J. Environ. Radioactiv. 96(1), 54–62.

Schumacher, B. A., 2002. Methods for the determination of total organic carbon (TOC) in soils and sediments. Environmental Protection Agency: Washington, D.C., USA.

Shi, Z. M., Wang, X. Y., Ni, S. J., 2015. Metal Contamination in Sediment of One of the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River: Mianyuan River in Longmenshan Region, Southwest of China. Soil and Sediment Contamination: An International Journal. 24(4), 368–385.

USEPA, 1996a. Method 3052. Microwave assisted acid digestion of siliceous and organically based matrices. Environmental Protection Agency: Washington, D.C., USA.

USEPA, 1996b. Method 3050B. Acid digestion of sediments, sludges, and soils. Environmental Protection Agency: Washington, D.C., USA.

Wan, G. J., Bai, Z. G., Qing, H., Mather, J. D., Huang, R. G., Wang, H. R., Tang, D. G., Xiao, B. H., 2003. Geochemical records in recent sediments of Lake Erhai: implications for environmental changes in a low latitude-high altitude lake in southwest China. J. Asian Earth Sci. 21, 489–502.

Wan, G. J., Chen, J. A., Wu, F. C., Xu, S. Q., Bai, Z. G., Wan, E. Y., Wang, C. S., Huang, R. G., Yeager, K. M., Santschi, P. H., 2005. Coupling between 210Pbex and organic matter in sediments of a nutrient-enriched lake: An example from Lake Chenghai, China. Chem. Geol. 224(4), 223–236.

Wang, X. Y., Ni, S. J., Shi, Z. M., 2014. Uranium distribution in the sediment of the Mianyuan River near a phosphate mining region in China and the related uranium speciation in water. Chem. Erde-Geochem. 74(4), 661–669.

Xiang, L., Lu, X. X., Higgitt, D. L., Wang, S. M., 2002. Recent lake sedimentation in the middle and lower Yangtze basin inferred from 137Cs and 210Pb measurements. J. Asian Earth Sci. 21, 77–86.

Yang, H., Rose, N., 2005. Trace element pollution records in some UK lake sediments, their history, influence factors and regional differences. Environ. Int. 31(1), 63–75.

Downloads

Published

2017-10-02

Issue

Vol. 20 No. 4 (2017): Aquatic Ecosystem Health & Management

Section

Research article

License

Manuscripts must be original. They must not be published or be under consideration for publication elsewhere, in whole or in part. It is required that the lead author of accepted papers complete and sign the MSU Press AEHM Author Publishing Agreement and provide it to the publisher upon acceptance.