Abstract
Surface sediments of Dongting Lake wetland were collected from ten sites to investigate variation trend, risk and sources of heavy metal distribution in dry seasons of 2011∼2013. The three-year mean concentrations (mg/kg) of Cr, Cu, Pb, Cd, Hg and As were 91.33, 36.27, 54.82, 4.39, 0.19 and 25.67, respectively, which were all higher than the corresponding background values. Sediment quality guidelines (SQGs) and Geo-accumulation index (Igeo) were used for the assessment of pollution level of heavy metals. The pollution risk of Cd, Hg and As were great and that of Cr needed urgent attention because of its obvious increase. Pollution load index (PLI) and geographic information system (GIS) methods were conducted to assess spatial and temporal variation of heavy metal contamination. Results confirmed an increased contamination contribution inflow from Xiang River. Multivariate statistical analyses were applied to identify contribution sources of heavy metal, which showed anthropogenic origin mainly from mining, smelting, chemical industry and agricultural activity.
Funding
This research was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51009063, 51479072 and 51039001), the State Council Three Gorges Project Construction Committee Projects (SX2010-026), the National Key Science and Technology Project for Water Environmental Pollution Control (2009ZX07212-001-06), the Dongting Lake Water Resources Administration Bureau of Hunan Province Projects (DGJ-KY-2013-05) and the Growth of Young Teachers Program of Hunan University.