Abstract
Suspended matter (SM) samples were collected from hydrologic stations along the Huang He, Chang Jiang and Zhu Jiang Rivers and their tributaries during flood periods. The concentration of highly mobile elements in SM, such as Ca and Na, decreased from north to south, while the concentration of other metals, such as Al, Fe, Ti, Mn, Cu, Pb, Cd and Hg, increased. For the Huang He, Chang Jiang and Zhu Jiang (limestone area), respectively, the ratio of element concentration in SM to that in fresh rock for the highly mobile elements was 1.0, 0.7 and 0.1 for Ca, and 0.7, 0.6 and 7.8 for Na. Relative to Na, the leaching of dominant Ca from limestone in the hot, wet climate of the Zhu Jiang basin produced SM which was impoverished in Ca. Suspended matter is enriched in other elements, even the highly mobile Na. Enrichment factors suggest that there may be heavy metal pollution at some locations. The non-residual fraction of SM was extracted by 0.5 N HCl. Mobilities of heavy metals were estimated using ratios of non-residual concentration to total element concentration. Metal mobility is higher in the subtropical Chang Jiang and Zhu Jiang basins than in the temperate Huang He, and is also higher at lower than at higher elevation. The mobilities of Cd and Pb exceed those of Cu and Zn.
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