IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i19p12902-d936558.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Heavy Metals Enrichment Associated with Water-Level Fluctuations in the Riparian Soils of the Xiaowan Reservoir, Lancang River

Author

Listed:
  • Ronghua Zhong

    (Institute of International Rivers and Eco-Security, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China)

  • Yun Zhang

    (Institute of International Rivers and Eco-Security, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China)

  • Xingwu Duan

    (Institute of International Rivers and Eco-Security, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China)

  • Fei Wang

    (Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China)

  • Raheel Anjum

    (Department of Economics, Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan 23200, Pakistan)

Abstract

The cascade hydropower development in the Lancang River has significantly modified the hydrologic regime and is consequently responsible for many local environmental changes. The influence of the altered hydrological regime on heavy metals accumulation in the soils of the riparian zone was evaluated for the Xiaowan Reservoir (XWR). Specifically, this study focused on investigating the trace metals As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn and their concentrations in the riparian soils. Furthermore, this research aimed to examine the contamination levels of heavy metals by employing the geoaccumulation index ( I geo ) and the ecological risk index ( RI ), respectively. Additionally, the relationship between heavy metals and water level fluctuations as caused by the dam operation was explored. The results showed that heavy metals deposits occurred in relatively low levels in the riparian soils of XWR, even though several of these metals were revealed to occur in higher concentrations than the local background value. The I geo assessment indicated that the riparian soils exhibited slight pollution by Hg at the Zhujie wharf (ZJW) and Cr at the transect of the Heihui River (HHR), and moderate contamination by As at ZJW. Moreover, the RI revealed that As in riparian soils is moderately hazardous while Hg poses a high risk at ZJW. The polluted water and sediments from upstream and upland of the riparian zone may be contributing to the changed concentrations of heavy metal in the riparian soils. The present study inferred that the WLFs due to reservoir impoundment play a vital role in the accumulation of trace metals in the riparian zone. However, more exhaustive investigations are necessary for verification.

Suggested Citation

  • Ronghua Zhong & Yun Zhang & Xingwu Duan & Fei Wang & Raheel Anjum, 2022. "Heavy Metals Enrichment Associated with Water-Level Fluctuations in the Riparian Soils of the Xiaowan Reservoir, Lancang River," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-16, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:19:p:12902-:d:936558
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/19/12902/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/19/12902/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wei Zhang & Jinghua Long & Xueru Zhang & Weining Shen & Zhongyi Wei, 2020. "Pollution and Ecological Risk Evaluation of Heavy Metals in the Soil and Sediment around the HTM Tailings Pond, Northeastern China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-10, September.
    2. Xiuling Li & Henglun Shen & Yongjun Zhao & Weixing Cao & Changwei Hu & Chen Sun, 2019. "Distribution and Potential Ecological Risk of Heavy Metals in Water, Sediments, and Aquatic Macrophytes: A Case Study of the Junction of Four Rivers in Linyi City, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-13, August.
    3. Fernando Santos-Francés & Antonio Martínez-Graña & Carmelo Ávila Zarza & Antonio García Sánchez & Pilar Alonso Rojo, 2017. "Spatial Distribution of Heavy Metals and the Environmental Quality of Soil in the Northern Plateau of Spain by Geostatistical Methods," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-20, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jaskaran Kaur & Sartaj Ahmad Bhat & Navdeep Singh & Sandip Singh Bhatti & Varinder Kaur & Jatinder Kaur Katnoria, 2022. "Assessment of the Heavy Metal Contamination of Roadside Soils Alongside Buddha Nullah, Ludhiana, (Punjab) India," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-24, January.
    2. Fengxu Li & Jiquan Zhang & Tiehua Cao & Sijia Li & Yanan Chen & Xuanhe Liang & Xin Zhao & Junwei Chen, 2018. "Human Health Risk Assessment of Toxic Elements in Farmland Topsoil with Source Identification in Jilin Province, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-15, May.
    3. Minsi Xiao & Shitong Xu & Bing Yang & Guangcong Zeng & Lidan Qian & Haiwei Huang & Sili Ren, 2022. "Contamination, Source Apportionment, and Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Farmland Soils Surrounding a Typical Copper Tailings Pond," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-15, November.
    4. Songtao Liu & Furong Yu & Jianuo Zhang, 2022. "Heavy-Metal Speciation Distribution and Adsorption Characteristics of Cr (VI) in the Soil within Sewage Irrigation Areas," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-18, May.
    5. Yanhong Li & Liquan Xie & Tsung-chow Su, 2019. "Bio-Capture of Solid Pollutants by Vegetation Canopy Cave in Shallow Water Flow," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-16, December.
    6. Yanbo Qu & Haining Zong & Desheng Su & Zongli Ping & Mei Guan, 2021. "Land Use Change and Its Impact on Landscape Ecological Risk in Typical Areas of the Yellow River Basin in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-26, October.
    7. Dongyue Li & Yilan Liao, 2018. "Spatial Characteristics of Heavy Metals in Street Dust of Coal Railway Transportation Hubs: A Case Study in Yuanping, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-21, November.
    8. Marco Criado & Antonio Martínez-Graña & Javier Sánchez San Román & Fernando Santos-Francés, 2018. "Flood Risk Evaluation in Urban Spaces: The Study Case of Tormes River (Salamanca, Spain)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-19, December.
    9. Guoqi Lian & Xinqing Lee, 2021. "Concentrations, Distribution, and Pollution Assessment of Metals in River Sediments in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-20, June.
    10. Fernando Santos-Francés & Antonio Martinez-Graña & Pilar Alonso Rojo & Antonio García Sánchez, 2017. "Geochemical Background and Baseline Values Determination and Spatial Distribution of Heavy Metal Pollution in Soils of the Andes Mountain Range (Cajamarca-Huancavelica, Peru)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-22, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:19:p:12902-:d:936558. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.