Arid Zone Research ›› 2022, Vol. 39 ›› Issue (4): 1270-1281.doi: 10.13866/j.azr.2022.04.27

• Ecology and Environment • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Distribution characteristics of heavy metals in river sediments and their relationship with land use types in Xi’an City

HU Changtong1(),YANG Tao1,2(),WAN Xuhao1,SUN Laikang1,ZHENG Yiwen1,YAN Xuerong1   

  1. 1. School of Geography and Tourism of Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an 710119, Shaanxi, China
    2. International Joint Research Centre of Shaanxi Province for Pollutant Exposure and Eco-Environmental Health, Xi’an 710062, Shaanxi, China
  • Received:2021-11-24 Revised:2022-02-26 Online:2022-07-15 Published:2022-09-26
  • Contact: Tao YANG E-mail:hctong@snnu.edu.cn;tyang@snnu.edu.cn

Abstract:

Typical urban rivers in Xi’an (Ba River, Chan River, Feng River, and Hei River) were selected as the research object to understand the impact of different land-use types on the distribution of heavy metals in river sediments. The spatial distribution, environmental risks, and sources of heavy metals (Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, and As) in river sediments were analyzed and evaluated using potential ecological risk (RI), pollution load index (PLI), correlation analysis, and principal component analysis. Results showed that the content of heavy metals in the sediments of the four rivers was presented in the following order: Chan River > Ba River > Hei River > Feng River. The RI results showed that Cd remarkably contributed to the pollution, and the four rivers were all at moderate potential ecological risk. The PLI results showed that the H1 sample site in Hei River was moderately polluted, which was the highest. The RI and PLI results showed that the sample sites in the Chan River were the most polluted, and they were concentrated in the middle and lower reaches where the proportion of artificial ground and intensity of human activities were high. In addition, the results of correlation analysis and principal component analysis showed that most heavy metals came from human activities such as emissions from industrial and agricultural production and traffic pollution. Therefore, attention should be paid to the prevention and control of Cd pollution, particularly in the middle reaches of Feng River and Hei River, to prevent further pollution.

Key words: urban rivers, heavy metals in sediments, spatial distribution, land use types, ecological risks