Distribution and Controlling Factors of Dissolved Gaseous Mercury and Reactive Mercury in Seawater Near Yangtze River Estuary

Complex hydrocultural conditions in the estuary affect the migration and transformation of mercury.Using two voyages in July and October 2018,Dissolved Gaseous Mercury(DGM)and Reactive Mercury(RHg)were determined to explore the source,transformation and influence of DGM content in the adjacent waters of Yangtze River Estuary in summer and autumn.The results showed the contents of DGM and RHg in summer were higher than those in autumn,and both of them were higher than those in open sea.In summer and autumn,the Yangtze River brought a higher concentration of DGM,and different flow direction and runoff resulted in differences in the high value region of the surface.The emergence of low-oxygen zones in summer was conducive to the production of DGM.In autumn,windy weather allowed seawater disturbances to promote the release of mercury from the underlying sediments,especially in shallow sea in northwest.RHg showed a higher concentration in the offshore than in the open sea in summer,but there was no such trend in autumn,reflecting the influence of less runoff input.DGM is the main product of RHg reduction,and there was a significant positive correlation between DGM and RHg in summer(r=0.356,P<0.05),while the correlation between DGM and RHg was not significant in autumn due to the influence of light intensity,wind speed and nutrients.The exchange flux of mercury in the adjacent waters of the Yangtze River Estuary was higher than that in the open sea.There was no significant difference of the release flux of mercury in summer and autumn.This article highlighted that the input of mercury from the Yangtze River runoff promotes the release of mercury in seawater,and the hypoxic zone caused by eutrophication is conducive to the production of DGM.

THE RESEARCH ON MAXIMUM TURBIDITY OF YANGTZE RIVER ESTUARY AND URBAN GROWTH OF SHANGHAI USING TM CCT DATA

Based on the research on the diffusion of suspended sediments discharged outside of Yangtze River estuary and the landuse of Shanghai using Landsat MSS images in several years, the authors analysed the characteristics of TM CCT data of Shanghai scene, pointed out concrete range of maximum turbidity and growth of urban boundary of Shanghai through the information extraction.The feature vector combination method is used in the research process. The result is getting nice.

Diel,seasonal,and annual variations of fish assemblages in intertidal creeks of the Changjiang River estuary

The use patterns of salt marsh habitats by fish assemblages were investigated in two welldeveloped intertidal creeks in the Changjiang(Yangtze)River estuary on spatial and temporal scales.Samples were collected using fyke nets at two sites during day and night in each season throughout four years.Notable changes in fish assemblages were detected over seasonal and interannual cycles,with many more marine species present in winter assemblages,whereas freshwater and estuarine species characterized the other seasonal samplings.The appearance of catadromous species in intertidal creeks mainly depended upon their specific physiological requirements,such as spawning migration.No significant diel shifts were observed in fish assemblages.This diel pattern may be a combined consequence of avian predation pressure and other drivers(i.e.,inherent living behaviors,food availability,and predation by piscivorous fishes).The spatial difference in fish community was insignificant even though the two intertidal creeks were different in size.Intertidal creeks with different size could possess similar ecological value for fish fauna.Redundancy analysis(RDA)showed that biological factors exerted greater effects on fish assemblages than physical variables.Temporal variations were strongly facilitated by food availability,but negatively impacted by avian predation.Salinity,water temperature,and river runoff had weak influence on temporal variations of fish communities.The lengthfrequency distribution showed that the fish collected in these two sites mainly consisted of young-of-year and juvenile fish,which confirmed that the creeks provided important nursery and forage roles in the process of fish ontogenetic development.Further,we proposed that salt marsh conservation management should be equally applied to all well-developed intertidal creeks regardless of creek size.

Concentrations and sinking rates of transparent exopolymer particles(TEPs)in a coastal sea:the Changjiang River(Yangtze River)Estuary

Transparent exopolymer particles(TEPs)are ubiquitous throughout the oceans,and their sedimentation is considered an efficient biological carbon sink pathway.To investigate the role of coastal TEPs in sinking carbon from the upper layer,samples were collected in the spring and summer of 2011 in the Changjiang River(Yangtze River)Estuary,a typical coastal water.The concentrations and sinking rates of TEPs were measured,and potential sedimentation flux of TEPs was estimated.TEPs concentrations ranged from 40.00μg/L to 1040.00μg/L(mean=(209.70±240.93)μg/L)in spring and 56.67μg/L to 1423.33μg/L(mean=(433.33±393.02)μg/L)in summer,and they were higher at bloom stations than at non-bloom stations during both cruises.A significant positive correlation between TEPs concentration and chlorophyll a(Chl a)concentration was detected,suggesting that phytoplankton was the primary source of TEPs in this area.TEPs sinking rates ranged from 0.08 m/d to 0.57 m/d with a mean of(0.28±0.14)m/d in spring and 0.10 m/d to 1.08 m/d with a mean of(0.34±0.31)m/d in summer.The potential sedimentation flux of TEP-C ranged from 4.95 mg/(m2·d)to 29.40 mg/(m2·d)with a mean of(14.66±8.83)mg/(m2·d)in spring and 6.80 mg/(m2·d)to 30.45 mg/(m2·d)with a mean of(15.71±8.73)mg/(m2·d)in summer,which was^17.81%to 138.27%(mean=65.15%±31.75%)of sedimentation flux of phytoplankton cells in the study area.Due to the increase of TEPs concentrations and their sinking rates,sedimentation fluxes of TEPs at the bloom station were obviously higher than at the non-bloom station during both cruises.This study indicates that TEPs serve as a carbon sink in the Changjiang River Estuary,especially during bloom events,and their sedimentation should be taken into account when we study the carbon sedimentation in the coastal sea.

Validation and application of soil moisture active passive sea surface salinity observation over the Changjiang River Estuary

Using sea surface salinity(SSS)observation from the soil moisture active passive(SMAP)mission,we analyzed the spatial distribution and seasonal variation of SSS around Changjiang River(Yangtze River)Estuary for the period of September 2015 to August 2018.First,we found that the SSS from SMAP is more accurate than soil moisture and ocean salinity(SMOS)mission observation when comparing with the in situ observations.Then,the SSS signature of the Changjiang River freshwater was analyzed using SMAP data and the river discharge data from the Datong hydrological station.The results show that the SSS around the Changjiang River Estuary is significantly lower than that of the open ocean,and shows significant seasonal variation.The minimum value of SSS appears in July and maximum SSS in December.The root mean square difference of daily SSS between SMAP observation and in situ observation is around 3 in both summer and winter,which is much lower than the annual range of SSS variation.In summer,the diffusion direction of the Changjiang River freshwater depicted by SSS from SMAP is consistent with the path of freshwater from in situ observation,suggesting that SMAP observation may be used in coastal seas in monitoring the diffusion and advection of freshwater discharge.

Larva fish assemblage structure in three-dimensional floating wetlands and non-floating wetlands in the Changjiang River estuary

Fish populations have declined in many estuarine and freshwater ecosystems in part due to the loss of habitat in recent decades.Reconstructing lost habitat for larvae fish is a potential method for recovering larvae fish populations.Three-dimensional artificial floating wetlands(AFWs)on which Phragmites australis was planted were experimentally deployed to recover the lost habitat in the Changjiang(Yangtze)River estuary from May to July 2018.The AFW area was characterized by slow velocity,high transparency,low dissolved oxygen,and relatively constant water temperature.The total individuals of larvae fish in the AFW area(12122 in total)was higher than that in the non-AFW area(1250 in total),and the densities of most larvae fish species were higher in the AFW habitat than in the non-AFW area.The distributions of larvae fish species were positively influenced by habitat type because they were strongly related to the negative part of the first axis of the redundancy analysis,and Cyprinus carpio and Cyprinus auratus were inclined to habitat in the slow velocity and high transparency AFW habitat area.These results indicate that larvae fish species are inclined to inhabit the AFW habitat.The use of three-dimensional P.australis AFWs would be a potential method for enhancing the habitat of larvae fish in the degraded habitats along the estuary.

A Comparative Study of Fish Community in Four Main Estuaries of China Southeastern Coastal Areas and Their Adjacent Waters

Based on literature and survery data of fish composition collected by bottom trawl investigation from 2006 to 2007 infour main estuaries of China southeastern coastal areas and their adjacent waters,changes of the taxonomic diversity across spatialand temporal scales of fish community were analyzed by taxonomic diversity indices.The results are as follows:a total number of1397 fish species(including some freshwater species),belonging to 2 classes,42 orders,186 families and 593 genera,were collected inthe studied sea areas.The species richness increased with lower latitudes,particularly so with Perciformes.There were 339 fish spe-cies in the Yangtze River Estuary and adjacent waters,belonging to 2 classes,31 orders,101 families and 231 genera.There were 535fish species in the Minjiang River Estuary and adjacent waters,belonging to 2 classes,33 orders,133 families and 323 genera.A totalnumber of 803 fish species were collected in the Jiulongjiang River Estuary and adjacent waters,which belonged to 2 classes,35 orders,155 families and 419 genera.And 1021 fish species which belonged to 2 classes,32 orders,153 families,and 466 genera were collectedin the Pearl River Estuary and adjacent waters.The numbers of orders and families of fish species from the northern to the southern wa-ters first increased and then decreased.The average variation in taxonomic distinctness(Λ+)gradually decreased with lower latitudes inthe four estuaries and adjacent waters.There were no significant differences in the average taxonomic distinctness(△+)among the fourestuaries and adjacent waters,and fish fauna were closely related with each other,and all of them belonged to the same zoogeographicalfauna(Indian-Malaysia fauna).Fish composition in the Minjiang River Estuary and adjacent waters was more similar to that in the Jiu-longjiang River Estuary and adjacent waters among the four estuaries.Compared with the historical data,the average taxonomic dis-tinctness of fish community showed a great decrease in the Minjiang River Estuary and the Jiulongjiang River Estuary and their adjacentwaters.

Influence Factors on Photochemical Production of Methyl Iodide in Seawater

Methyl iodide(CH3I)is an important trace greenhouse gas in the atmosphere and an ozone-depleting substance.The influence of different environmental factors,such as the duration of illumination;the strength of illumination;the concentrations of humic acid,ferric ion(Fe^3+),and iodide ion(I−);and pH,on the photochemical production of CH3I in artificial seawater(ASW)were tested by simulated solar irradiation.In addition,Yangtze River Estuary waters from inshore to offshore were used to explore the relationship between the photochemical production of CH3I and different sources of dissolved organic matter(DOM)in natural seawater(NSW).The results revealed that higher concentrations of humic acid and I−,as well as higher strengths of illumination and longer illumination durations,promoted the photochemical formation of CH3I in ASW.The addition of Fe^3+accelerated the photochemical production of CH3I,but high concentrations of Fe^3+inhibited the formation of CH3I.Experiments on NSW obtained from the Yangtze River estuary spiked when concentrations of DOM were high,confirming that DOM plays an important role in facilitating the photochemical production of CH3I within the Yangtze River Estuary.The photochemical production of CH3I in the seawater was significantly higher under light conditions relative to dark conditions,indicating that illumination accelerated the production of CH3I.