Environmental quality assessment of heavy metals in the Rongcheng offshore area, Shandong Peninsula, China.

Eighteen surface sediment samples collected from the Rongcheng offshore area of China in 2021 were analyzed for heavy metal concentrations, sources, and pollution status. The Cu, Zn, Cr, Cd, As, and total organic carbon (TOC) distributions were similar. In contrast, the distributions of Pb and Hg were irregular, and high concentrations appeared in two or several areas. Occasional adverse effects were observed from pollution caused by Cu, Pb, and As, and none of the heavy metal concentrations exceeded the probable effect level (PEL). The Pearson's correlation coefficient, geoaccumulation index, and principal component analysis were used to distinguish the sources and assess the pollution risk of heavy metals. The results showed that heavy metals did not pollute the surface sediments in the Rongcheng offshore area and that the metals were mainly derived from natural sources.

Impact of tidally induced residual circulations on chemical oxygen demand (COD) distribution in Laizhou Bay, China.

To understand the impact of hydrodynamics on pollutant transport in Laizhou Bay, China, we conducted numerical simulations using Mike 21. The model was calibrated with good agreements to field monitoring data at various monitoring stations. The simulation results show a clockwise and an anti-clockwise tidally-induced residual circulation in the western and eastern bay, respectively. Historical COD monitoring data also indicate two rings of high COD concentration in the same regions of the bay. This suggests that the hydrodynamics of tidal and residual currents is the main cause of the ring-shaped high COD concentration field in the bay. Pollutant inputs from inland rivers are also important for the COD distribution, making the near-shore side of the COD ring higher than the offshore side. Regions with higher retention time in the bay are usually associated with higher COD concentrations. This study is useful in understanding the mechanism of pollutant spatial distribution and subsequent pollution control in a sea bay.