Distribution,fractionation,and contamination assessment of heavy metals in offshore surface sediments from western Xiamen Bay,China

Surface sediment samples were collected at 21 offshore sites in western Xiamen Bay, Southeast China. Total concentrations of Li, V, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, St, Mn, Pb, Ba, Fe, and Ti were determined by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry; Hg was determined by atomic fluorescence spectrometry. A modified BCR sequential extraction procedure was used to extract fractions of the above elements. Concentrations of Pb, Cr, and Hg at most sites met the primary standard criteria of Marine Sediment Quality except site S12 for Pb and S7 for Cr, while concentrations of Zn at 17 sites and Cu at seven sites exceeded the criteria. The mean concentration of Hg was three times higher than the background, with a possible source being the Jiulong River. Fe, Ti, Ba, Co, V, and Li dominated the residual phase, mainly from terrestrial input. Ni, Cr, Pb, and Hg in the non-residual phase varied largely between sites. Sr, Mn, Cu, and Zn were mainly in the non- residual fraction. Most sites showed considerable ecological risk; exceptions were site S7 （very high） and sites S10, S11, and S14 （moderate）. Cu showed moderate-to-high pollution and Pb exhibited no-to-low pollution, while other metals had a non-pollution status according to their ratios of secondary phase to primary phase （RSP）. Results of two assessment methods showed moderate pollution and a very high ecological risk for Cu, Zn, Ni, and Cr at site S7, which might be due to the local sewage treatment plant.

Spatial variability of summer and autumn phytoplankton community structure in Xiamen Western Bay based on pigment analysis

The spatial variations of phytoplankton community structure in the Xiamen Western Bay during the summer and autumn cruises in 2001 were investigated based on HPLC analysis of photosynthetic pigments in algal cells and CHEMTAX processing of pigment data. The Chl a concentration reached 18.9 μg/L in the summer and declined to 0.28–2.17 in the autumn, respectively, consistent with the observation of diatom blooms in June. Among the accessory pigments, fucoxanthin was consistently the most abundant, ranging from 0.172 to 8.46 μg/L, with the maximum concentrations in June. 19’- hexfucoxanthin and alloxanthin were the other two abundant pigments in the summer and autumn. In addition, 19’-butanoyloxyfucoxanthin or peridinin was also important in late autumn. Generally the biomass of all the phytoplankton or each group was higher in the inner part than the mouth of this bay, represented by Chl a. CHEMTAX processing revealed the dominance of diatoms with their contribution of 14.6%–52.5% to the total Chl a, but its importance decreased in the autumn. Cryptophytes and Haptophytes, with an average contribution of 16.9%–31.4% and 12.1%–26.3%, were the other two important groups, especially in the autumn. On the contrary, Dinoflagellates and Chlorophytes were the minor groups, but the former became important sporadically in the autumn. It was suggested that there was distinctive variation in both the phytoplankton community structure and biomass between summer and autumn in the Xiamen Western Bay and the latter was coupled to the changes in temperature and dissolved oxygen. However, the spatial variation of the phytoplankton community structure was not as clear as the trend in the biomass of phytoplankton among all the sites in this bay.

DISTRIBUTION AND COMPOSITION OF PAHs IN SURFACE WATERS, POREWATER AND SEDIMENTS FROM XIAMEN WESTERN BAY

Xiamen Western Bay’s water and sediment quality were studied by determining the levels of sixteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in water, porewater and sediment samples from nine locations in the bay. Total PAH concentrations varied from 106 to 945 ng/l in water, below detection to 3548 ng/l in porewater, and 247 to 480 ng/g dry weight in surface sediments. PAHs levels in porewater were higher than those in surface water, due to the preference of these hydrophobic compounds for sedimentary phase instead of water. Such a concentration gradient implies a potential flux of pollutants from sediments to overlying water. The PAHs levels in sediments were one to several orders of magnitude lower than those in 1993, suggesting their decreased input in recent years and possible degradation with time.