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Simulation of total mercury content variability in wetland sediments in the Liaohe Estuary
Received:October 01, 2017  
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KeyWord:Liaohe estuary;total mercury;salinity of the flooding water;temperature;wetland
Author NameAffiliationE-mail
LI Hang Environmental College, Shenyang University, Shenyang 110044, China
Key Laboratory of Eco-restoration of Regional Contaminated Environment, Ministry of Education, Shenyang University, Shenyang 110044, China 
 
ZHENG Dong-mei Environmental College, Shenyang University, Shenyang 110044, China
Key Laboratory of Eco-restoration of Regional Contaminated Environment, Ministry of Education, Shenyang University, Shenyang 110044, China 
zhengdm126@163.com 
MA Huan-chi Environmental College, Shenyang University, Shenyang 110044, China
Key Laboratory of Eco-restoration of Regional Contaminated Environment, Ministry of Education, Shenyang University, Shenyang 110044, China 
 
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Abstract:
      Using a laboratory incubator to simulate the culturing process, we studied the change of total mercury content in response to changing salinity of flood water(CK, 0.5%, 1.5%, and 1.8%), environmental temperature(10℃, 20℃, and 30℃), and flooding conditions(full inundation or semi-inundation) for both the exposed surface and bottom layer(0~10 cm and 10~20 cm) of the mudflats sediments in the Liaohe estuary. The results showed that under the full inundation condition, the mercury content of the sediments in both layers reached the lowest level at a water salinity of 1.80% and culturing temperature of 30℃, reflecting a 0.095 mg·kg-1 and 0.098 mg·kg-1 concentration for the surface layer and the bottom layer, respectively. Under semi-inundation conditions, the mercury content of the sediments in both layers also reached its lowest level at the same salinity and temperature as the full inundation condition, resulting in concentrations of 0.103 mg·kg-1 and 0.101 mg·kg-1 for the surface layer and bottom layer, respectively. Under both inundation conditions, the overall trends of mercury content with salinity and temperature were generally the same. The concentration of total mercury in both layers gradually decreased with the rising salinity of the flooding water, while at a given salinity, the total mercury concentration decreased with the rising temperature from 10~30℃. The full inundation condition was more favorable than the semi-inundation condition in driving the release of inorganic mercury from sediments.