Water Exchange and Spatial Distribution of Hg in Jiaozhou Bay

Abstract

μg L -1 , respectively. The two major Hg sources in Jiaozhou Bay were overland runoff and river flow, whose source strengths were 0.068-0.104 μg L -1 and 0.061-0.074 μg L -1 , respectively. A block diagram model was provided to reveal the changing of Hg contents during migration processes, i.e., human emission, overland transport, river flow transport and oceanic transport. Hg in Jiaozhou Bay was mainly input from major sources located in the west, north and east of the bay, and Hg contents in the bay were relative high. However, Hg contents in the open waters were still relative low. Hence, by means of water exchange, there was a equivalent peak surface (0.050 μg L -1 ) in the bay. These findings were showing the influence of water exchange on Hg contents in this semi-closed bay.Jiaozhou Bay is located in the south of Shandong Province, eastern China (35°55′-36°18′ N, 120°04′-120°23′ E), and is connected to the Yellow Sea in the south. The total area and average water depth are 446 km2 and 7 m, respectively, yet the width of the bay mouth was only 3 km. This bay is a semi-closed bay. There are a dozen of rivers including Dagu River, Haibo Rriver, Licun Rriver, and Loushan Rriver etc., all of which are seasonal rivers [12][13]. Data collectionThe investigation on Hg in surface waters in Jiaozhou Bay was carried on in