Journal of Tropical Oceanography ›› 2021, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (3): 132-142.doi: 10.11978/2020064CSTR: 32234.14.2020064

• Marine Environmental Science • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Ecological risk assessment of thallium in Pearl River Estuary and network based on the SOM model

LAN Xuan1(), LI Feng1, ZHANG Chao1, DONG Hanying2(), YANG Qingshu3, YU Minghui4, WEN Rubing1, YANG Yujie1   

  1. 1. School of Civil Engineering and Transportation of South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China
    2. School of Atmospheric Sciences of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 519082, China
    3. School of Marine Engineering and Technology of Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai 519082, China
    4. State Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Science of Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
  • Received:2020-06-16 Revised:2020-07-15 Online:2021-05-10 Published:2020-07-21
  • Contact: DONG Hanying E-mail:494350120@qq.com;eesdhy@mail.sysu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    National Key R&D Program of China(2016YFC0402604);Key Project of Water Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province of China(2017-21)

Abstract:

The study of thallium concentration in the Pearl River Delta is of great significance for water resources protection in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The table, middle and bottom layers of 11 sections at the estuary and network of the Pearl River were simultaneously sampled and monitored during the four hydrological periods, including spring tide and neap tide of withered water period and high water period. The concentrations of thallium in different layers of the 11 sections were determined, and their temporal and spatial distribution were analyzed. The Self Organizing Maps (SOM) gene expression clustering analysis method was used to fit the 528 thallium monitoring data. In addition, based on the potential ecological risk evaluation method and selected corresponding coefficients, the potential ecological risk of thallium in the Pearl River Estuary and network was assessed by using the SOM model. The results show that the exposure level of thallium in the Pearl River Estuary and network is generally low. The order of thallium concentration are Modaomen > Silong > Makou > Lingdingyang > Humen > Sanshui and neap tide of high water period > spring tide of high water period > spring tide of withered water period > neap tide of withered water period. The SOM analysis results show that the potential ecological risks are overall low in the Pearl River Estuary and network with the order of Modaomen, Makou, Silong, Lingdingyang, Humen, and Sanshui. This study indicates that the SOM method is suitable for cluster analysis of heavy metal pollutants.

Key words: Pearl River Estuary and network, thallium, SOM model, ecological risk

CLC Number: 

  • X826