Zinc Distribution in Sediments of the Shaxi River

Abstract

For the surficial sediments sampled from the Shaxi River in Sanming, Fujian Province, China, the distribution and fraction of heavy metal zinc in surficial sediments were researched. The microwave digestion result showed that the concentration of zincin surficial sediments ranged from 568 mg/kg to 2126 mg/kg. The results of modified BCR sequential extraction procedure showed that heavy metal zinc in the surficial sediment was mainly associated with residual and acid soluble fractions. The fractions of zinc sampled near the drain were in the order of residual > acid soluble > oxidizable > reducible > water soluble fraction, and in the order of residual > reducible > acid soluble > oxidizable >>water soluble fraction in samples away from the drain. The results indicated that the concentration and fraction of pollutant zinc were significantly correlative to the drain of some iron and steel factory around the Shaxi River, which varied obviously with the downstream distance increasing to the drain. The acid soluble and oxidizable fractions decreased with the downstream distance increasing to the drain of iron and steel factory, however, the residual and reducible fractions increased with the distance increasing.