Using sedimentary archives to reconstruct pollution history and sediment provenance: The Ohre River, Czech Republic

0461497 - ÚACH 2017 RIV NL eng J - Journal Article
Matys Grygar, Tomáš - Elznicová, J. - Kiss, T. - Smith, H. G.
Using sedimentary archives to reconstruct pollution history and sediment provenance: The Ohre River, Czech Republic.
Catena. Roč. 144, SEP (2016), s. 109-129. ISSN 0341-8162. E-ISSN 1872-6887
R&D Projects: GA ČR GA15-00340S
Institutional support: RVO:61388980
Keywords : Polluted floodplains * Pollution history * Fluvial archives * Sediment provenance * Environmental geochemistry
Subject RIV: DD - Geochemistry
Impact factor: 3.191, year: 2016

In industrialised areas rivers and their floodplains are often highly polluted. The historic contamination of flood plains offers an important archive of past polluting activities and fluvial sediment dynamics. It can also present a significant threat to contemporary aquatic ecosystems and water quality resulting from the remobilisation of sediment-associated pollutants from floodplain secondary sources. Therefore, knowledge of the type and level of pollutants present and their spatial distribution in floodplains is essential for supporting measures to mitigate future impacts. Here, we outline an approach for reconstructing pollution history and extent by using floodplains as archives of historic chemical contamination coupled with geochemical and geomorphological analyses to account for variations in sediment provenance and depositional processes. The study is situated in the Ohre River (total catchment area of 5606 km(2)), which provides an excellent test case given its complex pollution history, heterogeneous geology and variable deposition patterns.

Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0261131