Feature and Origin of Suspended Barite in the Yangtze River Estuary and Its Adjacent Areas

Key words: 
• Yangtze River Estuary /
• suspension /
• barite /
• primary productivity

Abstract: Formation and preservation of barite are essential to the biogeochemical processes of Ba in marine environment, which have important value in the field of paleooceanopraphy research. However, researches were mainly concentrated on the deep sea and ocean waters for many years and rarely mentioned in estuaries and coastal waters. In this study, suspended mineral barites were observed systematic by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry about five sections including 36 stations in the Yangtze River Estuary and its adjacent areas. Barite particle type, spatial distribution and influencing factors were researched. The results indicate that barite particles can be classified into euhedral crystal, elongated crystal, irregular crystal and aggregate, containing a small amount of Sr, occurring erosion phenomena on most of the barite surface. The size of barite particle is mainly in 0.5~3 μm. Barite particle is more in the surface water than the bottom water and is increasing from shore to the open sea, whose formation is related to microenvironment affected by biological processes. The primary productivity and the settling rate of barite particle are two main factors to influencing the barite distribution in that area.