Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon, Institute of Coastal Environmental Chemistry, Inorganic Environmental Chemistry, Max-Planck Str. 1, 21502 Geesthacht, Germany; Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung, Fachbereich 1.1, Richard-Willstätter-Straße 11, 12489 Berlin, Germany.
Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon, Institute of Coastal Environmental Chemistry, Inorganic Environmental Chemistry, Max-Planck Str. 1, 21502 Geesthacht, Germany.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2022 Nov;184:114208. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.114208. Epub 2022 Oct 13.
The European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) requires good ecological status of the marine environment. This also includes the Wadden Sea located in the southeastern part of the North Sea and its chemical status of sediments. Based on results from campaigns conducted in the 1980s, 32 surface sediment samples were taken in 2014 to check whether the sampling strategy required for characterizing the trace element content in sediments is representative and to determine the degree of pollution and potential changes over the last decades. For this purpose the elemental mass fractions of 42 elements were assessed in the ≤20 μm grain size fraction of the surface sediments. Based on cluster analysis a clear correlation between the element distribution and the geographical location of the sampling locations of the German Wadden Sea could be found. As a result of the principal component analysis, three sub-catchments were significantly separated from each other by the characteristic element distributions in the sediments (Norderney and Weser, Elbe and offshore areas, and North Friesland). With the help of discriminant analysis, the classification was confirmed unambiguously. Small anomalies, such as potentially contaminated sites from WWII, could be identified. This proved that the sampling strategy for sediment characterization with reference to trace elements in the Wadden Sea of the German Bight is representative. The impact of regulation and changes on the overall sediment quality is most evident when looking at the environmentally critical elements such as As, Cd, Hg, and Cr. For these elements the mean mass fractions show a significant reduction over the last three decades. Current sediments feature only slightly elevated mass fractions of Ag, Cd, Ce, Cs, Nd, Pb and Se at some sampling locations.
欧洲海洋战略框架指令（MSFD）要求海洋环境具有良好的生态状况。这也包括位于北海东南部的瓦登海及其沉积物的化学状况。基于 20 世纪 80 年代开展的一系列研究活动的结果，2014 年共采集了 32 个表层沉积物样本，以检查用于描述沉积物中微量元素含量的采样策略是否具有代表性，并确定过去几十年间的污染程度和潜在变化。为此，评估了表层沉积物中≤20μm 粒级部分的 42 种元素的元素质量分数。基于聚类分析，可以发现元素分布与德国瓦登海采样点的地理位置之间存在明显的相关性。通过主成分分析，三个子流域通过沉积物中特征元素的分布明显彼此分开（诺德奈和威悉河、易北河和近海地区以及北弗里斯兰）。借助判别分析，可以明确确认分类。可以识别出小的异常情况，例如二战期间可能受到污染的地点。这证明了德国北海瓦登海参考微量元素进行沉积物特征描述的采样策略具有代表性。在研究环境关键元素（如 As、Cd、Hg 和 Cr）时，最能明显看出监管和变化对整体沉积物质量的影响。对于这些元素，过去三十年来其质量分数显著降低。在一些采样点，目前的沉积物仅略微升高了 Ag、Cd、Ce、Cs、Nd、Pb 和 Se 的质量分数。
