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Heavy metal distribution in different soil aggregate size classes from restored brackish marsh, oil exploitation zone, and tidal mud flat of the Yellow River Delta

  • Soils, Sec 2 • Global Change, Environ Risk Assess, Sustainable Land Use • Research Article
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose

Heavy metal distribution in soils is affected by soil aggregate fractionation. This study aimed to demons trate the aggregate-associated heavy metal concentrations and fractionations in “sandy,” “normal,” and “mud” soils from the restored brackish tidal marsh, oil exploitation zone, and tidal mudflat of the Yellow River Delta (YRD), China.

Materials and methods

Soil samples were sieved into the aggregates of >2, 0.25–2, 0.053–0.25, and <0.053 mm to determine the concentrations of exchangeable (F1), carbonate-bound (F2), reducible (F3), organic-bound (F4), and residual fraction (F5) of Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn.

Results and discussion

The 0.25–2 mm aggregates presented the highest concentrations but the lowest mass loadings (4.23–12.18 %) for most metal fractions due to low percentages of 0.25–2 mm aggregates (1.85–3.12 %) in soils. Aggregates <0.053 mm took majority mass loadings of metals in sandy and normal soils (62.04–86.95 %). Most soil aggregates had residual Cr, Cu, Ni, Zn, and reducible Cd, Pb dominated in the total Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn concentrations. Sandy soil contained relatively high F4, especially of Cu (F4) in 0.25–2 mm aggregates (10.22 mg kg−1), which may relate to significantly high organic carbon contents (23.92 g kg−1, P < 0.05). Normal soil had the highest total concentrations of metals, especially of Cu, Ni, and Pb, which was attributed to the high F3 and F5 in the <0.053 mm aggregates. Although mud soil showed low total concentrations of heavy metals, the relatively high concentrations of bioavailable Cd and Cu resulted from the relatively high Cd (F2) and Cu (F2) in the >2 mm aggregates indicated contribution of carbonates to soil aggregation and metal adsorption in tidal mud flat.

Conclusions

Soil type and aggregate distribution were important factors controlling heavy metal concentration and fractionation in YRD wetland soil. Compared with mud soil, normal soil contained increased concentrations of F5 and F3 of metals in the 0.053–0.25 mm aggregate, and sandy soil contained increased concentrations of bioavailable and total Cr, Ni, and Zn with great contribution of mass loadings in the <0.053 mm aggregate. The results of this study suggested that oil exploitation and wetland restoration activities may influence the retention characteristics of heavy metals in tidal soils through variation of soil type and aggregate fractions.

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Acknowledgments

This study was financially supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant BLX2013001 to RX), the National Basic Research Program (Grant 2013CB430400 to BSC and Grant 2013CB430406 to JHB), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant TD-JC-2013-1 to FHY). The authors gratefully acknowledge Prof. Baoshan Cui and Prof. Junguo Liu for their helps.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. School of Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China

      Rong Xiao, Mingxiang Zhang, Xinying Yao, Ziwen Ma & Feihai Yu

    2. State Key Laboratory of Water Environment Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China

      Junhong Bai

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    1. Rong Xiao
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    Correspondence to Rong Xiao.

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    Responsible editor: Fabio Scarciglia

    Rong Xiao and Mingxiang Zhang contributed equally to this work.

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    Xiao, R., Zhang, M., Yao, X. et al. Heavy metal distribution in different soil aggregate size classes from restored brackish marsh, oil exploitation zone, and tidal mud flat of the Yellow River Delta. J Soils Sediments 16, 821–830 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-015-1274-4

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