Environmental Research Institute, Shandong University, Qingdao, China.
Laboratory for Marine Geology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266061, China.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2020 Jul;27(19):23812-23823. doi: 10.1007/s11356-020-08686-4. Epub 2020 Apr 16.
During the last few decades, sedimentary carbons gain great concerns of research interest among the scientific committee worldwide due to their adverse impact on aquatic chemistry, ecology, and hence human health along with global climate change. In the present study, we investigated the spatial distribution of mass concentration of sedimentary carbon (viz. black carbon: BC, and its components, char and soot) along with their burial fluxes in the surface sediments of the South Yellow Sea (SYS). The concentration of sedimentary carbon is measured by using an emerging method of thermal/optical reflectance. The observed BC concentration is found in the range of 0.02-1.02 mg g with a mean value of 0.49 ± 0.26 mg g. The mean burial fluxes of BC, char, and soot also have a similar spatial variation to their concentration with the mean value along with relative standard deviation (in bracket) 22.43 ± 12.49 (~ 56%), 5.90 ± 3.99 (~ 68%), and 16.53 ± 10.67 (65%), respectively. Relatively lower value of char/soot ratio, i.e., 0.48 ± 0.22, indicates the dominance of soot in surface sediments that could be mainly derived from the fossil fuel combustion which is further confirmed from emission inventory data suggesting maximum contribution, i.e., ~ 66-80%, of the total BC emission emitted from residential and industrial emission sources. The back trajectories analysis revealed a significant impact of long-range transportation on BC concentration in the surface sediments of SYS. Further study of BC concentrations in sea sediments and their interaction with other organic/inorganic compounds in continental shelves is highly needed for a better understanding of the global carbon cycle.
在过去的几十年中，由于其对水生化学、生态学以及全球气候变化的不利影响，进而对人类健康的影响，沉积碳在全球科学界的研究兴趣中引起了极大的关注。在本研究中，我们调查了南黄海（SYS）表层沉积物中沉积碳（即黑碳：BC 及其成分，炭和煤烟）的质量浓度及其埋藏通量的空间分布。沉积碳的浓度是通过使用热/光反射的新兴方法来测量的。观察到的 BC 浓度在 0.02-1.02mg/g 的范围内，平均值为 0.49±0.26mg/g。BC、炭和煤烟的埋藏通量也具有相似的空间变化，其平均值及其相对标准偏差（括号内）分别为 22.43±12.49（56%）、5.90±3.99（68%）和 16.53±10.67（65%）。相对较低的炭/煤烟比值，即 0.48±0.22，表明在表层沉积物中煤烟占主导地位，这主要可能来自化石燃料燃烧，这进一步从排放清单数据得到证实，表明来自住宅和工业排放源的总 BC 排放量中，最大贡献约为~66-80%。轨迹分析表明，远距离运输对 SYS 表层沉积物中 BC 浓度有重大影响。为了更好地了解全球碳循环，需要对大陆架上的海沉积物中的 BC 浓度及其与其他有机/无机化合物的相互作用进行进一步研究。
