Contamination history of suspended river sediments accumulated in oxbow lakes over the last 25 years |
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Authors: | Ondrej Bábek Klára Hilscherová Slavomír Nehyba Josef Zeman Martin Famera Juraj Francu Ivan Holoubek Jirí Machát Jana Klánová |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Geological Sciences, Masaryk University of Brno, Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic;(2) Department of Geology, Palacky University, Tř. Svobody 26, 77146 Olomouc, Czech Republic;(3) Research Centre for Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Masaryk University of Brno, Kamenice 126/3, 625 00 Brno, Czech Republic;(4) Czech Geological Survey, Leitnerova 22, 658 69 Brno, Czech Republic |
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Abstract: | Background, aims, and scope Embankment of meandering river systems in many industrial areas results in the formation of artificial oxbow lakes that may
act as perennial or intermittent traps for river sediments. Their deposits can be dated using a combination of historical
and stratigraphic data, providing a good means to study historical records of contamination transported by rivers. Contamination
history over the last few decades is of special significance for Central and Eastern Europe as it can reflect high pollutant
levels in the second half of the twentieth century and the subsequent improvement after the fall of the Iron Curtain. The
purpose of this study was to investigate recent sediments of an oxbow lake of the Morava River, Czech Republic, their stratigraphic
records, sediment architecture, and history of contamination.
Materials and methods Seven ground-penetrating radar (GPR) profiles and three sediment cores up to 4 m deep were studied. The stratigraphy of the
cores was inferred from visible-light spectrophotometry, X-ray radiography, grain size analysis, and semiquantitative modal
analysis of sandy fractions. The sediments were dated using the 137Cs mass activity and combinations of stratigraphic and historical data. The cores were sampled for concentrations of heavy
metals and persistent organic pollutants. Wet sampled, lyophilized, and sieved sediments were extracted and analyzed for heavy
metals by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) of aqua regia leachate and for persistent organic pollutants
by gas chromatography (GC-ECD and GC-MS).
Results Three distinct sedimentary sequences (S1, S2, and S3) were identified. The basal sequence S1 represents river channel sediments
deposited before the formation of the oxbow lake, most likely before the 1930s. The boundary between the S1 and S2 sequence
correlates with the level of sediment dredging from 1981 evidenced from historical data. The overlying sequences S2 and S3
represent a postdredging sediment wedge, which progrades into the lake. 137Cs dating revealed a distinct Chernobyl 1986 peak at ∼150 cm depth inferring sedimentation rates up to 7.7 cm/year. Sediment
contamination abruptly increased from the pre-1930s deposits to the post-1981 deposits. The concentration levels increased
two to five times for Pb, As, Zn, and Cu, about 10 to 15 times for Cr, Sb, and Hg, up to 34 times for Cd, and 25 to 67 times
for DDTs, PCBs, and PAHs. The concentrations of most contaminants remained approximately constant until the late 1980s when
they started to decrease slowly. The decreasing trends were most prominent for heavy metals and anthracene, less prominent
for DDTs, and almost absent for PCBs and most PAHs.
Discussion Different temporal and spatial patterns for various contaminants make it possible to distinguish between anthropogenic point
sources from local industry (anthracene, Cr, Cd), possible diffuse sources (most PAHs), and geological background (V, Co,
Ni, and Mo). The observed recent trends in heavy metal and persistent organic pollutant contamination are generally consistent
with data from other Central European rivers. The roughly balanced contamination levels in sediments from the lake and the
adjacent river channel suggest that the oxbow lake deposits reflect immediate levels of the contamination bound to suspended
particulate matter passing through the river.
Conclusions The investigated oxbow lake accumulated suspended sediment from Morava River, developing a thick sedimentary body. The sediments
offer a good time framework to study historical contamination of the river on a decade time scale. Continuous contamination
trends can be traced back to the early 1980s. The results show that stratigraphic analysis of cores has a good potential for
identification of uninterrupted historical trends and unconformities, e.g., due to dredging.
Recommendations and perspectives Oxbow lakes may provide an alternative to floodplains and reservoir deposits when studying river contamination history. High
sedimentation rates of up to 7.7 cm/year offer a very good stratigraphic resolution, making it possible to study contamination
patterns on annual or even seasonal time scales. On the other hand, oxbow lakes may represent long-term contamination stores,
which are unlikely to be redistributed by river erosion and, hence, may possess significant environmental risks for the farther
future. |
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Keywords: | Alluvial sediments Czech Republic Danube catchment area Heavy metals Morava River Oxbow lakes Persistent organic pollutants POPs Reservoir deposits River sediments Sediment dating Stratigraphic architecture Temporal patterns |
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