Contamination and spatial distribution of heavy metals in soil of Xiangxi River water-level-fluctuating zone of the Three Gorges Reservoir,China

The Three Gorges Reservoir is the largest hydroelectric project in China. It forms water-level-fluctuating (WLF) zones with a water level difference which can reach 30 m and a total area of 349 km² along the Yangtze River. To determine the pollution level and spatial distribution of heavy metals in WLF regions, Xiangxi River (XXR), the largest first-order tributary, was selected as the study area. Both single-factor and multi-factor evaluation methods were employed to assess the contamination indices of heavy metals in soil. The results showed that the pollution degree for sampling sites varied from slight to moderate pollution levels, where 64% were in slight pollution degree and 4% were in moderate pollution degree. Approximately 68% of the sites were polluted. The ranking of 6 different kinds of heavy metals according to pollution degree was Cd > Pb > Cr > Hg > Ni > Cu. While Cd and Pb contributed the most to the pollutions, the contributions of the other four remained minor. Furthermore, a spatial distribution map of the comprehensive contamination index for the XXR basin is generated. The concentrations of heavy metals in sediments along 4 transects showed an overall decreasing trend with increasing elevation.