Skip to main content

Evidence of Human Activities from the Ornithogenic Sediments of the Xisha Islands

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Impact of Climate Change and Human Activity on the Eco-environment

Part of the book series: Springer Theses ((Springer Theses))

Abstract

Human activity is a factor that impose significant impacts to the natural environment, even in some remote areas, since onset of the Holocene. In this chapter, we will use proxy data to examine possible influences of anthropogenic activities on the Xisha Islands. Proxies that we use include heavy metal mercury (Hg) and black carbon (BC), which are closely related to human civilization.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Accardi-Dey A, Gschwend PM (2002) Assessing the combined roles of natural organic matter and black carbon as sorbents in sediments. Environ Sci Technol 36:21–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Biester H, Bindler R, Martinez-Cortizas A, Engstrom DR (2007) Modeling the past atmospheric deposition of mercury using natural archives. Environ Sci Technol 41:4851–4860

    Google Scholar 

  • Bucheli TD, Blum F, Desaules A, Gustafsson Ö (2004) Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, black carbon, and molecular marker in soils of Switzerland. Chemosphere 56:1061–1076

    Google Scholar 

  • Camargo JA (2002) Contribution of Spanish-American silver mines (1570–1820) to the present high mercury concentrations in the global environment: a review. Chemosphere 48:51–57

    Google Scholar 

  • Cao L (2005) Population ecology of the red-footed booby on the Xisha Archipelago. PhD dissertation. Lanzhou University

    Google Scholar 

  • Cao GL, Zhang XY, Wang YQ, Che HZ, Chen D (2006) Inventory of black carbon emission from China. Adv Clim Change Res 2(6):259–264 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooke CA, Balcom PH, Biester H, Wolfe AP (2009) Over three millennia of mercury pollution in the Peruvian Andes. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 106:8830–8834

    Google Scholar 

  • Dai SG (1997) Environmental chemistry. Higher Education Press, Beijing

    Google Scholar 

  • Dietz R, Outridge PM, Hobson KA (2009) Anthropogenic contributions to mercury levels in present-day Arctic animals—a review. Sci Total Environ 407:6120–6131

    Google Scholar 

  • Emslie SD, Patterson WP (2007) Abrupt recent shift in δ13C and δ15N values in Adelie penguin eggshell in Antarctica. Proc Natl Acad Sci 104(28):11666–11669

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernandes MB, Skjemstad JO, Johnson BB, Wells JD, Brooks P (2003) Characterization of carbonaceous combustion residues. I. Morphological, elemental and spectroscopic features. Chemosphere 51:785–795

    Google Scholar 

  • Feyte S, Tessier A, Gobeil C, Cossa D (2010) In situ adsorption of mercury, methylmercury and other elements by iron oxyhydroxides and organic matter in lake sediments. Appl Geochem 25:984–995

    Google Scholar 

  • Fitzgerald WF, Engstrom DR, Mason RP, Nater EA (1998) The case for atmospheric mercury contamination in remote areas. Environ Sci Technol 32:1–7

    Google Scholar 

  • Fu X, Feng X, Zhang G, Xu W, Li X, Yao H, Liang P, Li J, Sommar J, Yin R, Liu N (2010) Mercury in the marine boundary layer and seawater of the South China Sea: concentrations, sea/air flux, and implication for land outflow. J Geophys Res 115:D06303. doi:10.1029/2009JD012958

    Google Scholar 

  • Gelinas Y, Prentice KM, Baldock JA, Hedges JI (2001) Improved thermal oxidation method for the quantification of soot/graphitic black carbon in sediments and soils. Environ Sci Technol 35:3519–3525

    Google Scholar 

  • Gil C, Ramos-Miras J, Roca-Pérez L, Boluda R (2010) Determination and assessment of mercury content in calcareous soils. Chemosphere 78:409–415

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldberg ED (1985) Black carbon in the environment. Wiley, New York, pp 1–146

    Google Scholar 

  • González-Vila FJ, de la Rosa JM, González-Pérez JA (2009) Black carbon and other refractory forms in recent sediments from the Gulf of Cadiz, Spain. In: IOP conference series: earth and environmental science, vol 5, p 012009

    Google Scholar 

  • Guo Z, Lin T, Zhang G, Yang Z, Fang M (2006) High-resolution depositional records of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the central continental shelf mud of the East China Sea. Environ Sci Technol 40:5304–5311

    Google Scholar 

  • Gustafsson O, Gschwend PM (1998) The flux of black carbon to surface sediments on the New England continental shelf. Geochim Cosmochim Ac 62:465–472

    Google Scholar 

  • He Y, Zhang GL (2009) Historical record of black carbon in urban soils and its environmental implications. Environ Pollut 157:2684–2688

    Google Scholar 

  • Hong SM, Lee K, Hou S, Hur SD, Ren J, Burn LJ, Rosman KJ, Barbante C, Bountron CF (2009) An 800-year record of atmospheric As, Mo, Sn, and Sb in Central Asia in high-altitude ice cores from Mt. Qomolangma (Everest), Himalayas. Environ Sci Technol 43(21):8060–8065

    Google Scholar 

  • Hylander LD, Meili M (2003) 500 years of mercury production: global annual inventory by region until 2000 and associated emissions. Sci Total Environ 304:13–27

    Google Scholar 

  • Hylander LD, Meili M (2005) The rise and fall of mercury: Converting a resource to refuse after 500 years of mining and pollution. Environ Sci Technol 35:1–36

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobsen MZ (2002) Control of fossil-fuel particulate black carbon and organic matter, possibly the most effective method of slowing global warming. J Geophys Res 107:4410–4431

    Google Scholar 

  • Jia G, Peng P, Sheng G, Fu J (2000) Sedimentary records of black carbon in the sea area of the Nansha Islands since the last glaciations. Chin Sci Bull 45(17):1594–1598

    Google Scholar 

  • Jiang GB, Shi JB, Feng XB (2006) Mercury pollution in China. Environ Sci Technol 40(12):3672–3678

    Google Scholar 

  • Jiang XH, Chen YJ, Tang JH, Huang GP, Liu DY, Li J, Zhang G (2010) The distribution of black carbon in the surface sediments of coastal zone, Bohai Bay. Ecol Environ Sci 19(7):1617–1621 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Kamman NC, Engstrom DR (2002) Historical and present fluxes of mercury to Vermont and New Hampshire lakes inferred from 210Pb dated sediment cores. Atmos Environ 36:1599–1609

    Google Scholar 

  • Kang Y, Wang X, Dai M, Feng H, Li A, Song Q (2009) Black carbon and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in surface sediments of China’s marginal seas. Chin J Oceanol Limnol 27(2):297–308

    Google Scholar 

  • Kennamer RA, Stout JR, Colwell SV, Brisbin ILJR, Burger J (2005) Mercury patterns in wood duck eggs from a contaminated reservoir in South Carolina, USA. Environ Toxicol Chem 24(7):1793–1800

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim EY, Goto R, Tanabe S, Tanaka H, Tatsukawa R (1998) Distribution of 14 elements in tissues and organs of oceanic seabirds. Arch Environ Con Tox 35:638–645

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuhlbusch TAJ (1998) Black carbon and the carbon cycle. Science 280:1903–1904

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuhlbusch TAJ, Crutzen PJ (1995) Toward a global estimate of block carbon in residues of vegetation fires representing a sink of atmospheric CO2 and a source of O2. Global Biogeochem Cycle 9:491–501

    Google Scholar 

  • Lacerda LD (1997) Global mercury emissions from gold and silver mining. Water Air Soil Pollut 97:209–221

    Google Scholar 

  • Lam JCW, Tanabe S, Wong BSF, Lam PKS (2004) Trace element residues in eggs of Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) and Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) from Hong Kong, China. Mar Pollut Bull 48:378–402

    Google Scholar 

  • Lamborg CH, Fitzgerald WF, Damman AWH, Benoit JM, Balcom PH, Engstrom DR (2002) Modern and historic atmospheric mercury fluxes in both hemispheres: global and regional mercury cycling implications. Global Biogeochem Cycle 16:1104. doi:10.1029/2001GB1847

    Google Scholar 

  • Li P, Feng XB, Qiu GL, Shang LH, Li ZG (2009) Mercury pollution in Asia: a review of the contaminated sites. J Hazard Mater 168:591–601

    Google Scholar 

  • Lim B, Cachier H (1996) Determination of black carbon by chemical oxidation and thermal treatment in recent marine and lake sediments and cretaceous-tertiary clays. Chem. Geol. 131:143–154

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindeberg C, Bindler R, Bigler C, Rosén P, Renberg I (2007) Mercury pollution trends in subarctic lakes in the northern Swedish mountains. Ambio 36:401–405

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu Y, Shao M (2007) Estimation and prediction of black carbon emissions in Beijing City. Chin Sci Bull 52:1274–1281

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu GQ, Zhang G, Li XD, Li J, Peng XZ, Qi SH (2005) Sedimentary record of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in a sediment core from the Pearl River Estuary, South China. Mar Pollut Bull 51:912–921

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu XD, Zhao SP, Sun LG, Yin XB, Wang YH, Liu KX, Wu XH (2006) Geochemical evidence for the variation of historical seabird population on the Dongdao Island of South China Sea. J Paleolimnol 36:259–279

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu XD, Sun LG, Yin XB, Wang YH (2008) Heavy metal distributions and source tracing in the lacustrine sediments of Dongdao Island, South China Sea. Acta Geologica Sinica 82(5):1002–1014

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu XD, Sun J, Sun LG, Liu WQ, Wang YH (2011a) Reflectance spectroscopy: a new approach for reconstructing penguin population size from Antarctic ornithogenic sediments. J Paleolimnol 45:213–222

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu XD, Xu LQ, Sun LG, Liu F, Wang YH, Yan H, Liu Y, Luo YH, Huang J (2011b) Marine Pollut Bull 62:2205–2212

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu XD, Xu LQ, Chen QQ, Sun LG, Wang YH, Yan H, Liu Y, Luo YH, Huang J (2012) Historical change of mercury pollution in remote Yongle archipelago. Chemosphere 87:549–556

    Google Scholar 

  • Lockhart WL, Macdonald RW, Outridge PM, Wilikinson P, Delaronde JB, Rudd JWM (2000) Tests of the fidelity of lake sediment core records of mercury deposition to known histories of mercury contamination. Sci Total Environ 260:171–180

    Google Scholar 

  • Ma CX, Zhou XP, Chen XQ, Li Q, Lin QX (2005) The study of ultra-structure and element composition of eggshells in Egretta eulophotes. J Xiamen Univ (Nat Sci) 44(6):861–865

    Google Scholar 

  • Marlon JR, Bartlein PJ, Carcaillet C, Gavin DG, Harrison SP, Higuera PE, Joos F, Power MJ, Prentice IC (2008) Climate and human influences on global biomass burning over the past two millennia. Nat Geosci 1:697–702

    Google Scholar 

  • Martínez-Cortizas A, Pontevedra-Pombal X, García-Rodeja E, Novoa-Muñoz JC, Shotyk W (1999) Mercury in a Spanish Peat Bog: archive of climate change and atmospheric metal deposition. Science 284:939–942

    Google Scholar 

  • Masiello CA (2004) New direction in black carbon organic geochemistry. Mar Chem 92:201–213

    Google Scholar 

  • Masiello CA, Druffel EM (1998) Black carbon in deep-sea sediment. Science 280:1911–1913

    Google Scholar 

  • Menon S, Hansen J, Nazarenko L, Luo Y (2002) Climate effects of black carbon aerosols in China and India. Science 297:2250–2253

    Google Scholar 

  • Middelburg JJ, Nieuwenhuize J, van Breugel P (1999) Black carbon in marine sediments. Mar Chem 65:245–252

    Google Scholar 

  • Monteiro LR, Furness RW (1995) Seabirds as monitors of mercury in the marine environment. Water Air Soil Pollut 80:851–870

    Google Scholar 

  • Muir DCG, Wang X, Yang F, Nguyen N, Jackson TA, Evans MS, Douglas MSV, Köck G, Lamoureux S, Pienitz R, Smol JP, Vincent WF, Dastoor A (2009) Spatial trends and historical deposition of mercury in eastern and northern Canada inferred from lake sediment cores. Environ Sci Technol 43:4802–4809

    Google Scholar 

  • Muir G, Cermelj B, Faganeli J, Brancelj A (2002) Black carbon in Slovenian alpine lacustrine sediments. Chemosphere 46:1225–1234

    Google Scholar 

  • Muri G, Wakeham SG, Rose NL (2006) Records of atmospheric delivery of pyrolysis-derived pollutants in recent mountain lake sediments of the Julian Alps (NW Slovenia). Environ Pollut 139:461–468

    Google Scholar 

  • Nriagu JO (1994) Mercury pollution from the past mining of gold and silver in the America. Sci Total Environ 149:167–181

    Google Scholar 

  • Nys Y, Gautron J (2007) Structure and formation of eggshell. In: Rainer H, Rosina L-F, Marc A, Rüdiger S (eds) Bioactive egg compounds. Springer, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Oen AMP, Cornelissen G, Breedveld GD (2006) Relation between PAH and black carbon contents in size fractions of Norwegian harbor sediments. Environ Pollut 141:370–380

    Google Scholar 

  • Ohara T, Akimoto H, Kurokawa J, Horii N, Yamaji K, Yan X, Hayasaka T (2007) An Asian emission inventory of anthropogenic emission sources for the period 1980–2020. Atmos Chem Phys Discuss 7:6843–6902

    Google Scholar 

  • Outridge PM, Sanei H, Stern GA, Hamilton PB, Goodarzi F (2007) Evidence for control of mercury accumulation rates in Canadian high arctic lake sediments by variations of aquatic primary production. Environ Sci Technol 41:5259–5265

    Google Scholar 

  • Pacyna EG, Pacyna JM (2002) Global emission of mercury from anthropogenic sources in 1995. Water Air Soil Pollut 137:149–165

    Google Scholar 

  • Pacyna EG, Pacyna JM, Steenhuisen F, Wilson S (2006) Global anthropogenic mercury emission inventory for 2000. Atmos Environ 40:4048–4063

    Google Scholar 

  • Pacyna EG, Pacyna JM, Sundseth K, Munthe J, Kindbom K, Wilson S, Steenhuisen F, Maxson P (2010) Global emission of mercury to the atmosphere from anthropogenic sources in 2005 and projections to 2020. Atmos Environ 44:2487–2499

    Google Scholar 

  • Perry E, Norton SA, Kamman NC, Lorey PM, Driscoll CT (2005) Deconstruction of historic mercury accumulation in lake sediments, Northeastern United States. Ecotoxicology 14:85–99

    Google Scholar 

  • Phillips VJ, Louis VS, Cooke CA, Vinebrooke RD, Hobbs WO (2011) Increased mercury loading to western Canadian alpine lakes over the past 150 years. Environ Sci Technol 45:2042–2047

    Google Scholar 

  • Pietrelli L, Biondi M (2009) Notes on Little Egret breeding biology and on mercury content in egg shells and feather. Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei 20:219–224

    Google Scholar 

  • Pirrone N, Cinnirella S, Feng X, Finkelman RB, Friedli HR, Leaner J, Mason R, Mukherjee AB, Stracher GB, Streets DG, Telmer K (2010) Global mercury emissions to the atmosphere from anthropogenic and natural sources. Atmos Chem Phys Discuss 10:4719–4752

    Google Scholar 

  • Post DM (2002) Using stable isotopes to estimate trophic position: models, methods and assumptions. Ecology 83:703–718

    Google Scholar 

  • Ravichandran M (2004) Interactions between mercury and dissolved organic matter—a review. Chemosphere 55:319–331

    Google Scholar 

  • Renberg I (1986) Concentration and annual accumulation values of heavy metals in lake sediments: their significance in studies of the history of heavy metal pollution. Hydrobiologia 143:379–385

    Google Scholar 

  • Ribeiro LGL, Carreira RS, Wagener ALR (2008) Black carbon contents and distribution in sediments from the southeastern Brazilian coast (Guanabara Bay). J Braz Chem Soc 19:1277–1283

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts P, Chan R (1997) A tale of two regions: strategic planning for sustainable development in east and west. Int Plann Stud 2:45–62

    Google Scholar 

  • Roos-Barraclough F, Martinez-Cortizas A, García-Rodeja E, Shotyk W (2002) A 145,000 year record of the accumulation of atmospheric mercury in peat: volcanic signals, anthropogenic influences and a correlation to bromine accumulation. Earth Planet Sci Lett 202:435–451

    Google Scholar 

  • Sánchez-García L, Cato I, Gustafsson Ö (2010) Evaluation of the influence of black carbon on the distribution of PAHs in sediments from along the entire Swedish continental shelf. Mar Chem 119:44–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanei H, Outridge PM, Dallimore A, Hamilton PB (2010) Mercury-organic matter relationship in pre-pollution sediments of thermokarst lakes from the Mackenzie River Delta, Canada: the role of depositional environment. Biogeochemistry. doi:10.1007/s10533-010-9543-1

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt MWI, Noack NG (2000) Black carbon in soils and sediments: analysis, distributions, implications, and current challenges. Global Biogeochem Cycle 14:777–793

    Google Scholar 

  • Selin NE, Jacob DJ, Yantosca RM, Strode S, Jaeglé L, Sunderland EM (2008) Global 3-D land-ocean-atmosphere model for mercury: present-day versus preindustrial cycles and anthropogenic enrichment factors for deposition. Global Biogeochem Cycles 22:GB2011. doi:10.1029/2007GB003040

  • Shi J, Ip CCM, Zhang G, Jiang G, Li X (2010) Mercury profiles in sediments of the Pearl River Estuary and the surrounding coastal area of South China. Environ Pollut 158:1974–1979

    Google Scholar 

  • Shrestha G, Traina SJ, Swanston CW (2010) Black carbon’s properties and role in the environment: a comprehensive review. Sustainability 2:294–320

    Google Scholar 

  • Slemr F, Langer E (1992) Increase in global atmospheric concentrations of mercury inferred from measurements over the Atlantic Ocean. Nature 355:434–437

    Google Scholar 

  • Stern GA, Sanei H, Roach P, Delaronde J, Outridge PM (2009) Historical interrelated variations of mercury and aquatic organic matter in lake sediment cores from a subarctic lake in Yukon, Canada: further evidence toward the algal-mercury scavenging hypothesis. Environ Sci Technol 43:7684–7690

    Google Scholar 

  • Streets DG, Gupta S, Waldhoff ST, Wang MQ, Bond TC, Bo Y (2001) Black carbon emissions in China. Atmos Environ 35:4281–4296

    Google Scholar 

  • Streets DG, Bond TC, Carmichael GR, Fernandes SD, Fu Q, He D, Klimont Z, Nelson SM, Tsai NY, Wang MQ, Woo JH, Yarber KF (2003) An inventory of gaseous and primary aerosol emissions in Asia in the year 2000. J Geophys Res 108(D21):8809–8832

    Google Scholar 

  • Streets DG, Hao JM, Wu Y, Jiang JK, Chan M, Tian HZ, Feng XB (2005) Anthropogenic mercury emissions in China. Atmos Environ 39:7789–7806

    Google Scholar 

  • Streets DG, Zhang Q, Wu Y (2009) Projections of global mercury emissions in 2050. Environ Sci Technol 43:2983–2988

    Google Scholar 

  • Sun YL, Sun M, Wei GJ, Lee T, Nie BF, Yu ZW (2004) Strontium contents of a Porites coral from Xisha Island, South China Sea: a proxy for sea-surface temperature of the 20th century. Paleoceanography 19. doi:10.1029/2003PA000959

  • Sun LG, Zhao SP, Liu XD, Xie ZQ, Yin XB, Liu KX, Wu XH (2005) An eco-environmental report on Xisha Archipelago, South China Sea. Chin J Nat 27(2):79–84 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Sun LG, Yin XB, Liu XD, Zhu RB, Xie ZQ, Wang YH (2006) A 2000-year record of mercury and ancient civilizations in seal hairs from King George Island, West Antarctica. Sci Total Environ 368:236–247

    Google Scholar 

  • Sun XS, Peng P, Song JZ, Zhang G, Hu JF (2008) Sedimentary record of black carbon in the Pearl River estuary and adjacent northern South China Sea. Appl Geochem 23:3464–3472

    Google Scholar 

  • Szopka K, Karczewska A, Kabata C (2011) Mercury accumulation in the surface layers of mountain soils: a case study from the Karkonosze Mountains, Poland. Chemosphere. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2011.01.049

  • Tian HZ, Wang Y, Xue ZG, Cheng K, Qu YP, Chai FH, Hao JM (2010) Trend and characteristics of atmospheric emissions of Hg, As, and Se from coal combustion in China, 1980–2007. Atmos Chem Phys 10:11905–11919

    Google Scholar 

  • UNEP Chemicals Branch (2008) The global atmospheric mercury assessment: sources, emissions and transport. UNEP-Chemicals, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  • Verardo DJ, Ruddiman WF (1996) Late Pleistocene charcoal in tropical Atlantic deep-sea sediments: climatic and geochemical significance. Geology 24(9):855–857

    Google Scholar 

  • Wade E, Mizutani H, Minagawa M (1991) The use of stable isotopes for food web analysis. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 30(4):361–371

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang XC, Li AC (2007) Preservation of black carbon in the shelf sediments of the East China Sea. Chinese Sci Bull 52(22):3155–3161

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang X, Yang H, Gong P, Zhao X, Wu G, Turner S, Yao T (2010) One century sedimentary records of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, mercury and trace elements in the Qinghai Lake, Tibetan Plateau. Environ Pollut 158:3065–3070

    Google Scholar 

  • Wong CSC, Duzgoren-Aydin NS, Aydin A, Wong MH (2006) Sources and trends of environmental mercury emissions in Asia. Sci Total Environ 368:649–662

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu YH, Wang SM, Xia WL, Liu J (2005) Dating recent lake sediments using spheroidal carbonaceous particle (SCP). Chinese Sci. Bull. 50:1016–1020

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu Y, Wang SX, Streets DG (2006) Trends in anthropogenic mercury emissions in China from 1995 to 2003. Environ Sci Technol 40:5312–5318

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu YH, Jiang XZ, Liu EF, Yao SC, Zhu YX, Sun ZB (2008) The enrichment characteristics of mercury in the sediments of Dongjiu and Xijiu, taihu Lake catchment, in the past century. Sci China, Ser D Earth Sci 51(6):848–854

    Google Scholar 

  • Xie ZQ, Sun LG, Zhang PF, Zhao SP, Yin XB, Liu XD, Cheng BB (2005) Preliminary geochemical evidence of groundwater contamination in coral islands of Xi-Sha, South China Sea. Appl Geochem 20(10):1848–1856

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu B, Yang X, Gu Z, Zhang Y, Chen Y, Lv Y (2009) The trend and extent of heavy metal accumulation over last one hundred years in the Liaodong Bay, China. Chemosphere 75:442–446

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu LQ, Liu XD, Sun LG, Yan H, Liu Y, Luo YH, Huang J, Wang YH (2010) Distribution of radionuclides in the guano sediments of Xisha Islands, South China Sea and its implication. J. Environ. Radioactiv. 101(5):362–368

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu LQ, Liu XD, Sun LG, Yan H, Liu Y, Luo YH, Huang J (2011a) Geochemical evidence for the development of coral island ecosystem in the Xisha Archipelago of South China Sea from four ornithogenic sediment profiles. Chem Geol 286:135–145

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu LQ, Liu XD, Sun LG, Chen QQ, Yan H, Liu Y, Luo YH, Huang J, Wang YH (2011b) A 700-year record of mercury in avian eggshells of Guangjin Island, South China Sea. Environ Pollut 159:889–896

    Google Scholar 

  • Yan H, Sun LG, Wang YH, Liu XD, Qiu SC, Cheng WH (2010) A 2000-year record of copper pollution in South China Sea derived from seabird excrements: a potential indicator for copper production and civilization of China. J Paleolimnol 44:431–442

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang H, Rose N (2003) Distribution of mercury in six lake sediment cores across the UK. Sci Total Environ 304:391–404

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang HD, Battarbee RW, Turner SD, Rose NL, Derwent RG, Wu G, Yang R (2010a) Historical reconstruction of mercury pollution across the Tibetan Plateau using lake sediments. Environ Sci Technol 44:2918–2924

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang HD, Engstrom DR, Rose NL (2010b) Recent changes in atmospheric mercury deposition recorded in the sediments of remote equatorial lakes in the Rwenzori Mountains, Uganda. Environ Sci Technol 44:6570–6575

    Google Scholar 

  • Yin XB, Xia LJ, Sun LG, Luo HH, Wang YH (2008) Animal excrement: a potential biomonitor of heavy metal contamination in the marine environment. Sci Total Environ 399:179–185

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhao HT (1996) History of expeditions to Xisha Islands. Geographical Research 15(4):55–65 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Liqiang Xu .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Xu, L. (2015). Evidence of Human Activities from the Ornithogenic Sediments of the Xisha Islands. In: Impact of Climate Change and Human Activity on the Eco-environment. Springer Theses. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-45003-1_8

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics