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Chronological deposition record of trace metals in sediment cores from Chaohu Lake, Anhui Province, China

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Abstract

Lakes located in the mid-low reaches of the Yangtze River watershed have been subjected to various degrees of human perturbation that would have resulted in toxic metal concentrations and would pose potential risk to the natural habitats. Therefore, in the present study, two sediment cores from Chaohu Lake were collected to determine any such concentration, expressed as the enrichment characteristics of major and trace metals (Al, Fe, Mn, Cu, Pb, Zn, Cr, Cd, As, Hg, and Ni) in response to natural and anthropogenic changes. An approximate 180-year (1840–2021) deposition record of trace metals in sediment cores was obtained on the basis of 137Cs and 210Pb dating. Enrichment factors (EFs) and the geo-accumulation index (Igeo) were adopted to evaluate the enrichment state and pollution status of trace metals. The results showed that Cu and Zn were persistently more enriched in sediment, whereas Mn, Pb, Cd, and Hg has shown remarkable increasing trends in the west lake since the 1970s. Evaluation of the Igeo confirmed that sediment was moderately polluted with Cu and Zn within the whole lake and with Cd in the west lake area, whereas it was uncontaminated with Cr and slightly contaminated with other metals. Furthermore, source identification based on multivariate statistical analysis including correlation analysis, principal component analysis, and cluster analysis suggested similar pollution sources for the studied metals. Combined with the natural and anthropogenic changes within the watershed, enhanced soil erosion due to population expansion and agricultural intensification was a major contributor to sedimentary metals before the 1970s while industrial wastewater, urban runoff, and domestic sewage were predominant inputs of trace metals after the 1970s.

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Data availability

The datasets used or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51909001), Natural Science Foundation of the Education Department of Anhui Province (KJ2020A1204) and Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences (QNYC-202108, [(2021) 711]), and Science and Technology Department of Anhui Province (2008085QD169). We acknowledge the editors and reviewers for polishing the language of the paper and providing in-depth discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Life Sciences, Huaibei Normal University, Huaibei, 235000, China

    Xin Wang, Fei Liu, Xiuping Hong, Xiujie Zhou & Liqiang Sun

  2. Fisheries Research Institute, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei, 230000, China

    Na Gao, Yangyang Liang & Ting Fang

  3. School of Resources and Environment, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230000, China

    Hui Li

Authors
  1. Xin Wang
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  2. Na Gao
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  3. Yangyang Liang
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  4. Fei Liu
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  6. Xiujie Zhou
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  7. Liqiang Sun
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  8. Hui Li
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  9. Ting Fang
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Xin Wang, Na Gao, Yangyang Liang, Fei Liu, Xiuping Hong, Xiujie Zhou, Liqiang Sun, Hui Li, and Ting Fang. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Xin Wang and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ting Fang.

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Wang, X., Gao, N., Liang, Y. et al. Chronological deposition record of trace metals in sediment cores from Chaohu Lake, Anhui Province, China. Environ Monit Assess 194, 843 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-022-10506-w

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