Sedimentation in the Three Gorges Dam and the future trend of Changjiang (Yangtze River) sediment flux to the sea

The Three Gorges Dam (TGD) on the upper Changjiang (Yangtze River), China, disrupts the continuity of Changjiang sediment delivery to downstream and coastal areas. In this study, which was based on 54 years of annual water and sediment data from the mainstream and major tributaries of Changjiang, sediment deposition induced by the TGD in 2003–2008 was quantified. Furthermore, we determined the theoretical trapping efficiency of the cascade reservoir upstream of the TGD. Its impact on Changjiang sediment flux in the coming decades is discussed. Results show that about 172 million tons (Mt) of sediment was trapped annually by the TGD in 2003–2008, with an averaged trapping efficiency of 75%. Most of the total sediment deposition, as induced by the TGD (88%), accumulated within the region between the TGD site and Cuntan. However, significant siltation (12% of the total sediment deposition) also occurred upstream of Cuntan as a consequence of the upstream extended backwater region of the TGD. Additionally, the Changjiang sediment flux entered a third downward step in 2001, prior to operation of the TGD. This mainly resulted from sediment reduction in the Jinshajiang tributary since the late 1990s. As the cascade reservoir is put into full operation, it could potentially trap 91% of the Jinshajiang sediment discharge and, therefore, the Jinshajiang sediment discharge would most likely further decrease to 14 Mt/yr in the coming decades. Consequently, the Changjiang sediment flux to the sea is expected to continuously decrease to below 90 Mt/yr in the near future, or only 18% of the amount observed in the 1950s. In the presence of low sediment discharge, profound impacts on the morphology of estuary, delta and coastal waters are expected

Severely declining suspended sediment concentration in the heavily dammed Changjiang fluvial system

As a key component of global change, dam-induced sediment reduction occurs in large rivers worldwide, which has profound implications on the fluvial systems. However, the systematic change of suspended sediment concentration (SSC) and its dynamic processes are not well known. We summarize typical SSC changes and propose a new sediment modelling framework for heavily dammed fluvial systems with the Changjiang (Yangtze River) as a background. We find that the fluvial SSC has declined by an order of magnitude, i.e., from ∼1.0 to ∼0.1 kg/m3, and even to ∼0.01 kg/m3 locally. The SSC distribution pattern along the mainstream has changed remarkably, with the sediment source/sink being partially reversed. Downstream of the Three Gorges Dam, the SSC recovery capacity gradually decreases with the sediment erosion quantity accumulated over time, and the SSC contribution rate of a linked large lake (Dongting) will change from negative (ca. -39%) to positive (ca. 17%), in the coming decades

Unique bacterial communities and lifestyles in deep ocean blue holes: Insights from the Yongle Blue Hole (South China Sea)

Deep ocean blue holes possess steep physicochemical gradients, especially low dissolved oxygen concentration, which shape the extraordinary microbial communities. However, the environmental responses of microorganisms with different lifestyles and knowledge of culturable microorganisms in the blue holes are still unknown. Here, we investigated the bacterial community structure with different lifestyles of the world’s deepest blue hole - the Yongle Blue Hole (YBH) in the South China Sea using both culture-dependent and -independent methods. YBH can be divided by oxygen content into an oxic zone, a suboxic zone and two anoxic zones. The abundance of bacteria, archaea, genes dsrB and soxB were all higher in the free-living (FL) lifestyle than in the particle-associated (PA) lifestyle, yet the diversity and richness of PA bacteria were higher than that of FL bacteria. More Gammaproteobacteria and less Alphaproteobacteria, Chloroflexi and Nitrospinae were observed within the FL fraction than within the PA fraction. The relative abundance of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria (SOB) was dominant between 100-140 m (anoxic zone I) in YBH, with a maximum of 90.0% (140 m FL fraction). The SOB in YBH were mainly colorless sulfur bacteria and purple non-sulfur bacteria, of which Thiomicrorhabdus and Sulfurimonas were the main representatives. In addition, a total of 294 bacterial strains were isolated on a variety of media and culture conditions, and 22.2% (18/81) of anaerobic strains were identified as potential novel species. Our study reveals a distinction between FL and PA bacteria in YBH. It contributes to further understanding of the bacterial community in deep ocean blue holes, and provides bacterial resources for subsequent studies on their adaptation to extreme marine environments

Seasonal variations and sources of various elements in the atmospheric aerosols in Qingdao, China

Seasonal variations and sources of various elements in the atmospheric aerosols of the North China coast were investigated by analyzing aerosol samples collected in Qingdao, China. 23 total suspended particulate (TSP) samples were collected from June 2001 to May 2002, including three samples gathered during Asian dust episodes (20 March and 7-8 April 2002). The concentrations of ten elements including iron (Fe), titanium (Ti), manganese (Mn), vanadium (V), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd) and sulfur (S) were measured by 3000 ICP-OES. All elements measured in the aerosols of Qingdao displayed a strong seasonal variation: the concentrations of Fe, Ti, Mn, V, Ni, Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd were the lowest in summer, and the highest in winter. During the Asian dust episodes, the concentrations of Fe, Ti, Mn, V, Ni, Cu increased remarkably. The concentrations of Pb, Zn, Cu, S also increased greatly during the Asian dust episodes, but they were still lower than those in winter. The enrichment factors (EFs) of all elements (with reference to crustal Fe) indicate that Ti and Mn are mainly from soil sources. V in the Qingdao aerosols is mainly derived from the soil, with a minor contribution from ship emissions. The anthropogenic sources have a relatively higher contribution to Ni and Cu compared with Fe, Ti, and Mn. The S, Pb, Zn and Cd are mainly from anthropogenic sources even during Asian dust episodes. Principal component analysis (PCA), and cluster analysis (CA) indicated that the natural sources contributed about 60\% to the sum of measured elements in all samples and anthropogenic sources contributed about 30\%, and these elements can be classified into three categories as follow: Fe, Ti, Mn, V, and Ni represent the soil source factor; Cu represents the factor of mixed sources of soil and pollution; and Pb, Zn, Cd and S represents the pollution factor. (C) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Distributions and sources of bulk organic matter and aliphatic hydrocarbons in surface sediments of the Bohai Sea, China

Surface sediment samples from a matrix of fifty-five sites covering virtually the entire Bohai Sea (Bohai), China were analyzed for total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), n-alkanes, unresolved complex mixture (UCM). biomarkers and stable carbon isotopic composition (delta C-13), and principal component analysis was performed for source identification of organic matter (OM). The distribution of organic carbon correlated well with sediment grain size with the finest sediments having the highest concentration, suggesting the influence of hydrodynamics on the accumulation of sedimentary organic matter (SOM). The corrected TOC/ON (organic nitrogen) ratios and delta C-13 indicated mixed marine and terrestrial sources of SOM. Results suggested that delta C-13 could be used as a potential indicator to observe the dispersion of Huanghe-derived sediments in Bohai. Total n-alkane concentrations varied over 10-fold from 0.39 to 4.94 mu g g(-1) (dry weight) with the maximum terrigenous/aquatic alkane ratio observed at the Huanghe River Estuary (HRE) due to more higher plant OM from riverine inputs. C-12-C-22 n-alkanes with even-to-odd predominance were observed in several central-eastern Bohai sites. The HRE and its adjacent area is the main sink for the Huanghe river-derived OC. The ubiquitous presence of UCM, biomarkers (hopanes and steranes) and PCA results indicated the presence of petroleum contamination in Bohai, mainly from offshore oil exploration, discharge of pollutants from rivers, shipping activities and atmospheric deposition. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Compound-specific carbon isotope compositions of individual long-chain n-alkanes in severe Asian dust episodes in the North China coast in 2002

The molecular compositions and compound-specific carbon isotope compositions of individual long-chain n-alkanes of atmospheric aerosols collected during two severe Asian dust episodes in Qingdao in spring of 2002 were analyzed using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and gas chromatography/isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC/IRMS). Typical plant wax n-alkanes (C-29 and C-31) had lower delta C-13 values than those from anthropogenic (engine exhaust) sources (C-21-C-23). The average delta C-13 value of plant wax n-alkane C-29 in non-dust episode periods was -30.5 parts per thousand. (-30.3 parts per thousand--31.9 parts per thousand), while -31.3 parts per thousand. (-31.1 parts per thousand - -31.5 parts per thousand) in dust episode periods; for C31, it was -31.4\%. (-31.1 parts per thousand - -33.0 parts per thousand) in non-dust episode periods, and -31.7 parts per thousand (-31.3 parts per thousand - -32.6 parts per thousand) in dust episode periods. Plant wax in the dust episode samples was mainly from herbaceous plants via long-range transport, while local plant wax was mainly from deciduous plants and woody plants. In North China coast, 83.3\% of the plant wax in the severe dust episode samples was from C-3 plants while 80.0\% for the non-dust samples, indicating that plant wax transported to the northwestern Pacific Ocean by airborne dust from East Asia was mainly from C-3 plants. The results suggest that the molecular and molecular-isotopic compositions of individual long-chain n-alkanes can, as an effective indicator, identify the terrestrial organic components in the dust from East Asia and sediments in the northwest Pacific Ocean

Seasonal and vertical variations of nutrient cycling in the world’s deepest blue hole

Nutrient cycling in anoxic seawaters is essential to marine ecosystem health and sustainability, yet it remains poorly understood. In this work, we analyzed dissolved inorganic nutrients as well as hydrochemical parameters in the Yongle Blue Hole (YBH) of the South China Sea in October 2019, which is the world’s deepest blue hole and is characterized by anoxia below the depth of 100 m. Nutrient data collected in two sampling campaigns in 2017 were also incorporated to examine the seasonal and vertical variations of nutrient cycling across steep redox gradients in the YBH. In response to the changes in redox conditions in different seasons, nutrients in the YBH showed significant seasonal variations. The nitrate maximum rose from a depth of 90 m in March 2017 to 60-80 m in October 2019, while the primary nitrite maximum concentration decreased from 0.5 μmol/L to 0.1 μmol/L. In October 2019, the nitrite decreased to below the detection limit at about 100 m, while in March 2017, it was 140 m. The regeneration of phosphate and silicate both started from around 40 m in October 2019 and from 80 m in March 2017. Silicate shows non-conservative adding behaviors relative to phosphate and DIN, and phosphate shows a similar but weaker adding behavior relative to DIN. The nutrient ratios also varied seasonally, especially for N/P, which fluctuated greatly on the surface at 80 m, while Si/N and Si/P fluctuated above 50 m. At the oxic-anoxic interface, extreme values of nutrient ratios were observed, and below 150 m, the N/P, Si/N, and Si/P were kept constant at about 17, 1.5, and 26, respectively. Seasonal and vertical variations of nutrient concentrations and ratios in the YBH reflect the impact of redox conditions on nutrient cycling in anoxic seawaters, especially during the transition from oxic to anoxic zone. And the high-resolution distributions of nutrients and hydrochemical parameters are helpful to better understand the nutrient cycling processes in highly dynamic coastal environments that are suffering deoxygenation