Song Jinming

Organic carbon source and burial during the past one hundred years in Jiaozhou Bay, North china.

Organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (TN), and 210Pb in core sediment were measured to quantify the burial of organic carbon and the relative importance of allochthonous and autochthonous contributions during the past one hundred years in Jiaozhou Bay, North China. The core sediment was dated using 210Pb chronology, which is the most promising method for estimation of sedimentation rate on a time scale of 100-150 years. The variation of the burial flux of organic carbon in the past one hundred years can be divided into the following three stages: (1) relatively steady before 1980s; (2) increasing rapidly from the 1980s to a peak in the 1990s, and (3) decreasing from the 1990s to the present. The change is consistent with the amount of solid waste and sewage emptied into the bay. The OC:TN ratio was used to evaluate the source of organic carbon in the Jiaozhou Bay sediment. In the inner bay and bay mouth, the organic carbon was the main contributor from terrestrial sources, whereas only about half of organic carbon was contributed from terrestrial source in the outer bay. In the inner bay, the terrestrial source of organic carbon showed a steady change with an increase in the range of 69%-77% before 1990 to 93% in 2000, and then decreased from 2000 because of the decrease in the terrestrial input. In the bay mouth, the percentage of organic carbon from land reached the highest value with 94% in 1994. In the outer bay, the sediment source maintained steady for the past one hundred years.

Sediment flux and source in northern Yellow Sea by210Pb technique

Sedimentation of fine-grained deposits on coastal zones and continental shelves are important because of the association with chemical pollutants, and the implication to the impact on biological processes, the stratigraphic correlations, and changes in sedimentary environments. The Yellow Sea continental shelf receives large quantities of sediment from the Huanghe (Yellow) River. Unfortunately, little attention has been yet paid to the sedimentation on the shallow shelf and its features, and the vertical sediment flux in the area is poorly understood. In this study, nine cores were collected in northern Yellow Sea by theR/V Science 1 in September, 1998 and 1999 to examine the sedimentation rate, sediment flux and the provenance with210Pb analysis. The210Pb activity profiles showed that the vertical sediment flux ranged from 0.06 to 1.18 g/cm2·a in the region. In central part of the area, there was a patch of fine-grained mud, with the flux below 0.33 g/cm2·a. Most profiles were featured in two-segment model. Differences in the profiles reflected spatial and temporal variations in hydrodynamic and sedimentary processes. In order to determine the provenance and sedimentary setting in the area, the geochemistry of Ca, Fe, Sr, Cu, Ti and Rb in 11 surficial sediment samples were studied, which showed that in the central northern Yellow Sea, the mud deposit was from multi-source but mainly from the Huanghe River.

Transferable phosphorus in sediments of the Huanghe River estuary's adjacent waters

Based on a new idea for research on cycling of marine biogenic elements, this study showed that only the leachable form phosphorus in natural grain sizes marine sediments constitutes the transferable phosphorous in the sediments. The transferable phosphorus content in the natural grain sizes surface sediments in the Huanghe River estuary adjacent waters ranges from 58.5–69.8 μg/g, accounting for only 9.1%–11.0% of the total phosphorus content, whereas the leachable form (“transferable”) phosphorus content in the sediment after it was totally ground into powder was found to be 454.8–529.2 μg/g, accounting for 73.4%–89.1% of the total phosphorus. Analysis of the correlation between the biomass of benthos and the leachable form (“transferable”) phosphorus showed that most of the leachable form (“transferable”) phosphorus in the totally ground sediment did not participate in the marine biogeochemical cycling. Furthermore, a synchronous survey on benthos showed that the biomass of meio-and macro-benthos exhibited good positive correlation with the leachable form of phosphorus in the natural grain sizes sediment, but poorer correlation with the leachable form (“transferable”) phosphorus in the totally ground sediment, indicating that transferable phosphorus in marine sediment is the leachable form of phosphorus in the natural grain sizes sediments, and is not the previously known leachable form (“transferable”) phosphorus obtained from the totally ground sediment.

Forms of phosphorus and silicon in the natural grain size surface sediments of the southern Bohai Sea

The forms of phosphorus and silicon in the natural grain sizes surface sediments of the southern Bohai Sea were studied. In sediments, the organic matter bound form of phosphorus was the main form of transferable phosphorus and ranged from 0.37 μmol/g to 1.57 μmol/g, accounting for 10.7% of the total phosphorus, others were the carbonate bound form, iron-manganese oxide bound form and ion-exchange able form; the transferable form of phosphorus accounted for 19.2% of the total phosphorus. Silicon’s carbonate bound form was predominant over others among its transferable forms, and content ranged from 1.55 μmol/g to 8.94 μmol/g, accounting for 0.05% of the total silicon; the total amount of transferable silicon forms accounted for only 0.12% of the total silicon. Therefore, 19.2% of the total phosphorus and 0.12% of the total silicon contained in the surface sediments of the southern Bohai Sea could participate in the biogeochemical cycling.

Biogeochemical processes of phosphorus and silicon in southern Bohai Sea surface sediments

Based on the authors previously obtained results on P and Si forms in southern Bohai Sea surface sediments, this study mainly foucusing on the controlling factors, existence forms, and biogeochemical processes of P and Si showed that the transferable forms of phosphorus in sediments were mainly controlled by the mineralization of organic matters and the reduction of high-valence iron; whereas the transferable forms of silicon were possibly controlled by the dissolution and precipitation as well as biochemical processes of living organisms.

Grain-size related nitrogen distribution in southern Yellow Sea surface sediments

Forty-eight surface sediments of the southern Yellow Sea are separated into three grain-size fractions. Four forms of extractable nitrogen (nitrogen in ion-exchangeable form (Nie), nitrogen in weak-acid extractable form (Nwa), nitrogen in strong-alkali extractable form (Nsa) and nitrogen in strong-oxidant form (Nso)) are obtained by the sequential extraction. The results show that the contents and the distributions of the extractable nitrogen in the southern Yellow Sea surface sediments are closely related to sediment grain size. The distributions of Nie, Nso and total nitrogen (TN) present positive correlations with fine particles content, while Nwa and Nsa does not have such correlation. The net contents of all the forms of nitrogen increase with sediment grain size finer.

Spatial distribution and diurnal variation of chemical oxygen demand at the beginning of the rainy season in the Changjiang (Yangtze) River Estuary

A field observation was carried out in the Changjiang (Yangtze) River Estuary from May 19 to 26, 2003. A total of 29 stations, including 2 anchored stations, were occupied through almost the whole salinity gradient. Based on the observation data, biogeochemistry of chemical oxygen demand (COD) was examined. Spatial distribution pattern of COD shows that it decreased downstream. The COD concentration varied generally within a narrow range of 1.24–1.60 mg/L in the zone around the river mouth, beyond which it decreased rapidly to 0.20 mg/L. In the mixed water zone, the fluctuation in COD was smaller at 2 m above the bottom layer than at the surface layer in 48 h. In the seawater zone, the 48-h fluctuation at the surface was the largest, followed by that of 5 m below the surface and 2 m above the bottom layers in a range of from 2.50 to 0.55 mg/L. Freshwater discharge was the dominant source of COD in the estuary. The average COD beyond the river mouth was 2.7 mg/L, which accorded with the Chinese seawater quality Grade I. Relationships between dissolved oxygen and biogeochemical parameters such as suspended particulate matter, dissolved organic matter and chlorophyll-a were also discussed.

Dissolved oxygen distribution and O2 fluxes across the sea-air interface in East China Sea waters

This study on the sectional and vertical distribution of dissolved oxygen (DO) and the O2 fluxes across the sea-air interface in East China Sea (ESC) waters shows that the waters were in steady state and that the difference of DO was great in upper and bottom waters in Apr. 1994; but that seawater mixing was strong and the difference of DO was small in upper and bottom waters in Oct. 1994. The above conclusions were specially obvious in continental shelf waters under 100 m. The DO maximum in subsurface layer waters appeared only at several stations and in general the DO in the waters decreased with depth. The horizontal distributions of O2 fluxes across the sea-air interface appeared in stripes in Leg 9404 when most regions covered were supersaturated with O2 seawater to air flux was large, and that on section No. 1 was 1.594 L/m2·d. The horizontal distribution of O2 fluxes across the sea-air interface appeared lumpy in Leg 9410, when most regions covered were unsaturated with O2·O2 was dissolved from air to seawater, and the fluxes were 0.819 L/m2·d on section No. 1 in Leg 9310, 0.219 L/m2·d in Leg 9410. The main reasons for DO change in surface layer seawater were the mixture of upper and bottom layer water, and the exchange of O2 across the sea-air interface. The variation of DO by biological activity was only 20% of total change of DO.

A new biogenic sulfide chemical sensor for marine environmental monitoring and survey

A new convenient sulfide electrochemical sensor for marine environmental in-situ monitoring and real time survey was developed. The new sensor based on a solid Ag2S membrane electrode has outstanding chemical sensitivity and stability. It responds to the activity of sulfide ions according to a Nernstian slope of −31mV/decade. The sensor can be used to determine the total concentration of sulfides (CT) by calibrating the pH value of the solution to a standard pH. The practical measurement range for total sulfide concentration is 0.1–10 mg/L in seawater. The sensor has a very low potential drift (<4 mV) during two months in 0.1 mg/L sulfide seawater. This paper describes the preparation of the sensitive membrane and some main properties of the sensor.

Analysis of corrosive environmental factors of seabed sediment

The corrosivity of seabed sediment at spots at different distances from seashore was studied based onin situ investigations in the northern sea area of the Yellow River mouth. The results show that there is close relation between distance from seashore and corrosivity of seabed sediment.