『Abstract
The Huanghe River (Yellow River) had been the second largest
river in the world in terms of sediment load to the sea; however,
the river water discharge and sediment flux to the sea and their
seasonal variability have been significantly altered by the dam
activities and recent water-sediment regulation. These changes
are believed to have important impacts on the flux of phosphorus
that is generally transported in particulate form. In this article,
the samples of suspended particulate matter (SPM) were collected
at the Lijin Station during two high-discharge events in 2005
and were separated by particle size. Sequential extractions were
applied to determine the forms of P in different particle size
fractions and to assess the potential bio-availability of particulate
phosphorus (PP). Based on the in-laboratory measurement, the impacts
of different hydrological regimes on the source of PP and its
bioavailability were also analyzed. The results indicate that
exchangeable, organic, authigenic, and refractory P were preferentially
associated with clay, very fine, and fine silt fractions. Detrital
P was mainly associated with the medium and coarse silt fractions.
Detrital P and authigenic P (two forms of calcium bound phosphorus)
were the dominant fractions in all samples. Thus, the potential
bio-available PP (exchangeable P and organic P) was mainly associated
with the finer particles, such as clay. Higher content of exchangeable,
organic, authigenic, and residual P and lower content of detrital
P were found during the period of rainstorm compared to that of
WSR. P forms and partitioning of P forms among different particle
size fractions were assumed to depend on the sources of SPM. It
is likely that the pathways and fates of PP forms were controlled
by damming and by the related changes of hydrological regime.
Therefore, anthropogenic changes of hydrological regime and particle
size dominated the amount and distribution pattern of bio-available
P transportation to the estuary and the adjacent sea, which will
have profound impacts on the marine ecosystems at the Huanghe
River Estuary and even the Hohai Sea.
Keywords: Suspended particulate matter (SPM); SPM size classes;
Phosphorus form; Controlled water and sediment release; Huanghe』
Introduction
Study site
Materials and methods
Results
Hydrology
Phosphorus forms during the water-sediment regulation and rainstorm
Phosphorus forms in different particle size class
Discussion
Influence of particle size on P forms
Changes in particulate phosphorus composition
Fluxes of particulate phosphorus and its bioavailability
Conclusions
Acknowledgments
References