Assessment of heavy metals in sediment cores from Xiangjiang River, Chang-Zhu-Tan region, Hunan Province, China

Samples were collected from two core sediments (C1 and C2) of Xiangjiang River, Chang-Zhu-Tan region, Hunan Province, China. The heavy metal contents are relatively higher, especially for the surface or near the surface layers. The calculated anthropogenic factor values indicate that all the heavy metals except for Cr in the core samples are enriched, especially for Cd, with the maximum enriching coefficients of 119.44, and 84.67 in C1 and C2, respectively. The correlation of heavy metals with sulphur indicates that they are precipitated as metal sulphides. Correlation matrix shows significant association between heavy metals and mud. Factor analysis identifies that signified anthropogenic activities affect the region of Xiangjiang River.