Depth Distribution of Chlorinated and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Floodplain Soils of the River

Abstract

Depth profiles of various organic micropollutants were measured in floodplain soils of the river Elbe, Germany. The study area lies in the former East Germany (GDR) and displays elevated concentrations of pesticides and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Depth distributions were found to vary at different sampling points and among the individual compounds, which could only partly be explained by comparing normalized concentrations (organic carbon). Metabolization, mobilization, and effects of sedimentation and erosion also need to be taken into account to understand the contaminant patterns found in the different profiles. Tiefenverteilung von chlorierten und polycyclischen aromatischen Kohlenwasserstoffen in Auenböden der ElbeEs wurden Tiefenverteilungen verschiedener organischer Spurenstoffe in Auenböden der Elbe bestimmt. Das Untersuchungsgebiet befindet sich am Mittellauf des Flusses und zeigt erhöhte Konzentrationen an Pestiziden und polycyclischen aromatischen Kohlenwasserstoffen. Unterschiedliche Tiefenverteilungen wurden an den verschiedenen Probenahmestellen und für die verschiedenen Verbindungen gefunden, die sich nur teilweise nach einer Normierung auf den organischen Kohlenstoffgehalt erklären lassen. Metabolisierung, Mobilisierung sowie Sedimentations-und Erosionseffekte müssen zusätzlich berücksichtigt werden, um die unterschiedlichen Schadstoffmuster zu verstehen.

Status Quo of Soil Contamination with Inorganic and Organic Pollutants of the River Oka Floodplains (Russia)

“…The DDX concentrations of the samples Ry 2 to 4 were similar to the DDX concentrations of the German Elbe (Witter et al 1998), Czech Elbe and Morava and Russian Yachroma River, but were lower than the German Elbe (Witter et al 2003) and Spittelwasser River floodplain soils. The HCB concentrations of this study were comparable to the Czech Elbe and Dřevnice River floodplain soils, but two orders of magnitude lower than the concentrations in the floodplain soils of the German Elbe (Witter et al 1998(Witter et al , 2003. The methoxychlor concentrations in the Oka River floodplain soils were higher by a factor of 5 compared with the German Elbe River floodplain soils.…”

“…The contamination of the Oka River catchment with PCBs was in the same order of magnitude as the Czech Morava and Elbe River floodplain soils, but only the sample Ry 2 was comparable to the data from the German Elbe River (Witter et al 1998). The floodplain soils of the German Elbe (Witter et al 2003), the Czech Dřevnice and the Russian Yachroma River were more highly contaminated than the Russian Oka River floodplain soils. The comparison of the cyclodien concentrations with data published by Witter et al (1998) for the German Elbe floodplains soils showed a similar range of contamination.…”

“…During flood events, polluted river water as well as resuspended river sediments can be deposited in floodplain soils according to the ratio of flow velocity to sedimentation velocity (Büttner et al 2006;Schwartz 2006;Baborowski et al 2007). Therefore, the concentrations of pollutants vary horizontally and vertically, resulting in pronounced spatial distribution patterns in the floodplains (Witter et al 2003;Gröngröft et al 2005;Krüger et al 2005;Büttner et al 2006). The above processes explain why floodplains are sinks for pollutants.…”

Methods to calculate sedimentation rates of floodplain soils in the middle region of the Elbe River

“…Regarding b-HCH deposits, Witter et al [14,15] showed that the b-HCH isomer was the dominant hexachlorocyclohexane compound in alluvial soils of the Middle Elbe. The samples of six depth profiles between river km 435 and 440 [14] were taken in 1997.…”

“…The samples of six depth profiles between river km 435 and 440 [14] were taken in 1997. Consequently a maximum calculation period of 47 years can be assumed.…”