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Identification of sources, characteristics and photochemical transformations of dissolved organic matter with EEM-PARAFAC in the Wei River of China

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Abstract

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) in rivers is a critical regulator of the cycling and toxicity of pollutants and the behavior of DOM is a key indicator for the health of the environment. We investigated the sources and characteristics of DOM in surface water and sediment samples of the Wei River, China. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration and ultraviolet absorbance at 254 nm (UV254) increased in the surface water and were decreased in the sediment downstream, indicating that the source of DOM in the water differed from the sediment. Parallel factor (PARAFAC) analysis of the excitation-emission matrices (EEM) revealed the presence of terrestrial humus-like, microbial humus-like and tryptophan-like proteins in the surface water, whereas the sediment contained UVA humic-like, UVC humic-like and fulvic-like in the sediment. The DOM in the surface water and sediment were mainly derived from microbial metabolic activity and the surrounding soil. Surface water DOM displayed greater photodegradation potential than sediment DOM. PARAFAC analysis indicated that the terrestrial humic-like substance in the water and the fulvic-like component in the sediment decomposed more rapidly. These data describe the characteristics of DOM in the Wei River and are crucial to understanding the fluctuations in environmental patterns.

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Acknowledgements

The study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41977307).

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  1. These authors were equal to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, China

    Yuanyuan Luo, Yangyang Zhang, Mengfan Lang, Xuetao Guo, Tianjiao Xia, Tiecheng Wang, Hanzhong Jia & Lingyan Zhu

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  1. Yuanyuan Luo
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  2. Yangyang Zhang
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  3. Mengfan Lang
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  4. Xuetao Guo
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  7. Hanzhong Jia
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  8. Lingyan Zhu
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Correspondence to Xuetao Guo or Lingyan Zhu.

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Highlights

• The source of DOM in surface water and sediment is inconsistent.

• The DOC content changes differently in surface water and sediment.

• The content of DOC in the surface water is lower than that in the sediment.

• The DOM in the surface water had higher photodegradation potentials than sediment.

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Luo, Y., Zhang, Y., Lang, M. et al. Identification of sources, characteristics and photochemical transformations of dissolved organic matter with EEM-PARAFAC in the Wei River of China. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng. 15, 96 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-020-1340-z

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