Temporal and Spatial Distribution of DIN and DIP Concentrations and Source Apportionment Along the Bohai Sea of China During 2015-2022

The Bohai Sea is one of the most polluted sea areas in China. In this study, we used 2184 integrated concentrations of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) in the Bohai Sea of China during spring (March, April, and May), summer (June, July, and August), and autumn (October and November) from 2015 to 2022 to explore the trends and sources of nutrients variations. From 2015 to 2022, DIN showed a downward trend until 2020 and then an upward trend, whereas DIP exhibited a stable trend with a slight decrease. The concentrations of DIN and DIP had similar seasonal pattern which was the highest in autumn (0.292 +/- 0.247 mg/L for DIN and 0.013 +/- 0.016 mg/L for DIP) but lower in spring (0.267 +/- 0.238 mg/L for DIN and 0.006 +/- 0.010 mg/L for DIP) and summer (0.263 +/- 0.324 mg/L for DIN and 0.008 +/- 0.010 mg/L for DIP). Sources of DIN and DIP apportioned by the positive matrix factorization (PMF) model were riverine input, sediment resuspension, sewage discharge, atmospheric deposition, and underground input. During 2015-2022, the largest contributor to DIN was sewage discharge (28.7%) and the largest contributor to DIP was sediment resuspension (44.6%). Seasonally, DIN in spring and autumn was dominated by sewage discharge (45.4% and 27.8%, respectively). Whereas in summer, it was dominated by riverine input (32.4%) and atmospheric deposition (29.7%). DIP was dominated by sediment resuspension during all three seasons (35.8%-52.5%). In addition, the increase in DIN concentrations in 2021 and 2022 were mainly due to the incremental input of river discharge and atmospheric deposition caused by increased precipitation during summer and autumn.