Shiyuan Xu

Potentially toxic metal contamination of urban soils and roadside dust in Shanghai, China.

A detailed investigation was conducted to understand the contamination characteristics of a selected set of potentially toxic metals in Shanghai. The amount of Pb, Zn, Cu, Cr, Cd and Ni were determined from 273 soil/dust samples collected within urban area. The results indicated that concentration of all metals except Ni in soils was significant, and metal pollution was even severer in roadside dust. A series of metal spatial distribution maps were created through geostatistical analysis, and the pollution hotspots tended to associate with city core area, major road junctions, and the regions close to industrial zones. In attempt of identifying the source of metals through geostatistical and multivariate statistical analyses, it was concluded as follows: Pb, Zn and Cu mainly originated from traffic contaminants; soil Ni was associated with natural concentration; Cd largely came from point-sourced industrial pollution; and Cr, Ni in dust were mainly related to atmospheric deposition.

Monitoring urban expansion and land use/land cover changes of Shanghai metropolitan area during the transitional economy (1979–2009) in China

This study explored the spatio-temporal dynamics and evolution of land use/cover changes and urban expansion in Shanghai metropolitan area, China, during the transitional economy period (1979–2009) using multi-temporal satellite images and geographic information systems (GIS). A maximum likelihood supervised classification algorithm was employed to extract information from four landsat images, with the post-classification change detection technique and GIS-based spatial analysis methods used to detect land-use and land-cover (LULC) changes. The overall Kappa indices of land use/cover change maps ranged from 0.79 to 0.89. Results indicated that urbanization has accelerated at an unprecedented scale and rate during the study period, leading to a considerable reduction in the area of farmland and green land. Findings further revealed that water bodies and bare land increased, obviously due to large-scale coastal development after 2000. The direction of urban expansion was along a north-south axis from 1979 to 2000, but after 2000 this growth changed to spread from both the existing urban area and along transport routes in all directions. Urban expansion and subsequent LULC changes in Shanghai have largely been driven by policy reform, population growth, and economic development. Rapid urban expansion through clearing of vegetation has led to a wide range of eco-environmental degradation.

Evaluation of the combined risk of sea level rise, land subsidence, and storm surges on the coastal areas of Shanghai, China

Shanghai is a low-lying city (3–4xa0m elevation) surrounded on three sides by the East China Sea, the Yangtze River Estuary, and Hangzhou Bay. With a history of rapid changes in sea level and land subsidence, Shanghai is often plagued by extreme typhoon storm surges. The interaction of sea level rise, land subsidence, and storm surges may lead to more complex, variable, and abrupt disasters. In this paper, we used MIKE 21 models to simulate the combined effect of this disaster chain in Shanghai. Projections indicate that the sea level will rise 86.6xa0mm, 185.6xa0mm, and 433.1xa0mm by 2030, 2050, and 2100, respectively. Anthropogenic subsidence is a serious problem. The maximum annual subsidence rate is 24.12xa0mm/year. By 2100, half of Shanghai is projected to be flooded, and 46xa0% of the seawalls and levees are projected to be overtopped. The risk of flooding is closely related to the impact of land subsidence on the height of existing seawalls and levees. Land subsidence increases the need for flood control measures in Shanghai.

China's Yangtze Estuary: I. Geomorphic influence on heavy metal accumulation in intertidal sediments

Five intertidal sites along the coast of the Yangtze Estuary, China were examined for concentrations of heavy metals including Cu, Zn, Pb, Ni, Mn and Fe in bulk surficial and core sediments. Differences in heavy metal concentrations are apparent between the sites, which are dependent on site-specific metal inputs and sediment grain size. With the exception of site A (Shidongkou), where the highest concentrations of Cu, Zn, Pb occur due to direct pollutant input from the nearby sewage outlet, heavy metal concentrations at other sites are largely determined by particle size characteristics. Clay-rich sediments, together with a downstream location relative to the sewage outlets, result in elevated concentrations of heavy metals at site C (Donghai). Within the intertidal zone at site C, the vegetated, upper marsh zone exhibits higher heavy metal concentrations in comparison with the bare mudflat. Monthly sampling (May to September) in the Scirpus marsh at site C records a temporal variation in heavy metal concentrations. Both of them can be related to the spatial and temporal variability of sediment grain size. A geomorphic understanding of the heterogeneity of sediment grain size is, therefore, vital to the assessment of sediment pollution in intertidal sediments. The present study reveals that the levels of heavy metals found in the Yangtze Estuary are relatively moderate compared with other estuaries in Asia and Europe. This is related to both the diluting effects of the huge volume of water and sediment in the estuary and a shorter period of industrialisation.

National assessment of coastal vulnerability to sea-level rise for the Chinese coast

Sea-level rise as a result of climate change increases inundation and erosion, which are affected by a complex interplay of physical environmental parameters at the coast. China’s coast is vulnerable to accelerated sea-level rise and associated coastal flooding because of physical and socio-economical factors such as its low topography, highly developed economy, and highly dense population. To identify vulnerable sections of the coast, this paper presents a national assessment of the vulnerability of the Chinese coast using 8 physical variables: sea-level rise, coastal geomorphology, elevation, slope, shoreline erosion, land use, mean tide range, and mean wave height. A coastal vulnerability index was calculated by integrating the differentially weighted rank values of the 8 variables, based on which the coastline is segmented into 4 classes. The results show that 3% of the 18,000-km-long Chinese coast is very highly vulnerable, 29% is highly vulnerable, 58% is moderately vulnerable, and 10% is in the low-vulnerable class. Findings further reveal that large amounts of land and population will be vulnerable to inundation by coastal flooding from sea level rise and storm surge. Finally, some suggestions are presented for decision makers and other concerned stakeholders to develop appropriate coastal zone management and mitigation measures.

Toxic heavy metal contamination and risk assessment of street dust in small towns of Shanghai suburban area, China

The aims of this paper were to quantify the heavy metal concentrations in street dust of small towns in Shanghai suburban area compared with those in urban area, and examine their seasonal and spatial variations, and to assess their risks to water environment and local populations. Street dust samples were collected from three small towns and urban area in Shanghai in different seasons. Levels of heavy metals were determined by atomic adsorption spectrophotometer analyzer. The method of potential ecological risk index and the health risk assessment model were used to evaluate the potential risks to water bodies and local residents, respectively. The mean metal concentrations in street dust of small towns were far above soil background values but still lower than those in the urban area. No significant seasonal change was observed except for Cr, Ni, and Zn concentrations. Higher metal concentrations tended to be located in central area of towns and township roads. The integrated metal contamination was high and posed a strong potential ecological risk. Children had greater health risk than adults. The carcinogenic risk probabilities were under the acceptable level. The hazard index values to children were close to the safe level. Street dust from the studied area has been contaminated by heavy metals. The contamination of these elements is related more to the pollution source than seasonal change. The combination of the six metals may threaten the water environment and has non-cancer health risk to children, but not to adults.

Nitrous oxide emissions in the Shanghai river network: implications for the effects of urban sewage and IPCC methodology

Global nitrogen (N) enrichment has resulted in increased nitrous oxide (N(2)O) emission that greatly contributes to climate change and stratospheric ozone destruction, but little is known about the N(2)O emissions from urban river networks receiving anthropogenic N inputs. We examined N(2)O saturation and emission in the Shanghai city river network, covering 6300 km(2), over 27 months. The overall mean saturation and emission from 87 locations was 770% and 1.91 mg N(2)O-N m(-2) d(-1), respectively. Nitrous oxide (N(2)O) saturation did not exhibit a clear seasonality, but the temporal pattern was co-regulated by both water temperature and N loadings. Rivers draining through urban and suburban areas receiving more sewage N inputs had higher N(2)O saturation and emission than those in rural areas. Regression analysis indicated that water ammonium (NH(4)(+)) and dissolved oxygen (DO) level had great control on N(2)O production and were better predictors of N(2)O emission in urban watershed. About 0.29 Gg N(2)O-N yr(-1) N(2)O was emitted from the Shanghai river network annually, which was about 131% of IPCCs prediction using default emission values. Given the rapid progress of global urbanization, more study efforts, particularly on nitrification and its N(2)O yielding, are needed to better quantify the role of urban rivers in global riverine N(2)O emission.

Modelling the combined impacts of sea-level rise and land subsidence on storm tides induced flooding of the Huangpu River in Shanghai, China

This paper presents a scenario-based study that investigates the interaction between sea-level rise and land subsidence on the storm tides induced fluvial flooding in the Huangpu river floodplain. Two projections of relative sea level rise (RSLR) were presented (2030 and 2050). Water level projections at the gauging stations for different return periods were generated using a simplified algebraic summation of the eustatic sea-level rise, land subsidence and storm tide level. Frequency analysis with relative sea level rise taken into account shows that land subsidence contributes to the majority of the RSLR (between 60xa0% and 70xa0%). Furthermore, a 1D/2D coupled flood inundation model (FloodMap) was used to predict the river flow and flood inundation, after calibration using the August 1997 flood event. Numerical simulation with projected RSLR suggests that, the combined impact of eustatic sea-level rise and land subsidence would be a significantly reduced flood return period for a given water level, thus effective degradation of the current flood defences. In the absence of adaptation measures, storm flooding will cause up to 40xa0% more inundation, particularly in the upstream of the river.

A review of advances in urban flood risk analysis over China

China’s urban environments are particularly vulnerable to flooding due to climate change and rapid urbanization. Study of the urban flood risk analysis has significantly increased over the past decade, and this paper therefore reviews the main results (i.e. theoretical basis, methods, techniques, case studies) obtained in the literature from China. We focus on the following topics: (1) urban flood hazard analysis, (2) exposure and vulnerability analysis, and (3) urban flood risk assessment. Recent advances made in the research area are presented with suggestions for further research to improve the availability and reliability of urban flood risk analysis.

Methane emission from Yangtze estuarine wetland, China

[1]xa0Yangtze estuary, lying in the subtropical monsoon region of China, is characterized by a unique environmental setting and endemic wetland plant species (Scirpus mariqueter). Methane (CH4) emission fluxes were measured at the Yangtze estuarine wetland, Chongming Dongtan (CD), by a static closed chamber technique from May 2004 to April 2005. The results showed that CD is the source of atmospheric CH4, and emission fluxes had significant diurnal and seasonal variation. The annual average CH4 emission flux was 2.06 mg m−2 h−1 at the CD marsh site and 0.04 mg m−2 h−1 at the CD bare tidal flat (nonvegetated). Wetland plant species (S. mariqueter) and temperature were the primary factors controlling the CH4 emission. The results of the light and dark chamber comparison and plant shoot clipping experiment suggest that molecular diffusion and convective gas flow methods were the two main mechanisms of CH4 transported via S. mariqueter plants in July. However, molecular diffusion was believed to be the primary transport mechanism from August to October, with leaf resistance as one of the factors regulating CH4 diffusion. There was significant correlation between CH4 fluxes and temperature, especially the 10 cm depth ground temperature (R2 = 0.7784). Although sediment organic carbon content did not determine CH4 fluxes, net ecosystem production was significantly correlated with CH4 fluxes, suggesting that the photosynthates of S. mariqueter effectively provided the substrate for methanogenic bacteria.