Geochemical analysis of Lake Bant sediments to ascertain inorganic and organic indicators for warfare residues

Abstract

Purpose The immediate time period after the Second World War (1945)(1946) was characterised by an urgent need to dispose large amounts of ammunition residues. Although the environmental relevance of explosives released to soils is intensively investigated, to date, their fate and effects in marine ecosystems are not well known. Surface sediments from Lake Bant, Germany, for which deposition of an enhanced amount of ammunition after World War II has been reported, were analysed to identify organic and inorganic indicators for warfare residues. Additionally, samples of ammunition residues collected from the Wadden Sea, Germany, were analysed in order to obtain information on the long-term behaviour of explosives in undamaged ammunition left in the aquatic environment and to obtain first insights into the spectrum of organic substances which are possibly released to the aquatic environment by such ammunition residues. Materials and methods Inorganic analyses comprising determination of major elements (energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence) and heavy metals (ICP-OES, graphite furnace AAS and LA-ICP-MS) were applied to surface sediment samples from Lake Bant as well as to metal coatings of ammunition samples. Organic constituents of sediment samples, corresponding pore water and ammunition fillings were analysed by a Gas chromatographic/mass spectrometerbased non-target screening approach. Results and discussion Analyses of lake sediment samples depicted a complex pattern of pollution dominantly derived from petrogenic and sewage sources. Comparing the spatial distribution of petrogenic contaminants with petroleumrelated emissions sources present till 1945 at Lake Bant, it is likely that the detected petrogenic contamination represents dominantly war-related residues. Contamination from ammunition residues was not clearly evident in the sediment samples. However, indicative nitrogen-containing compounds potentially reflecting ammunition impact were obtained from analyses of pore water samples. The presence of dibenzylamine, N-nitroso dibenzylamine and diethylamino benzopyranone might give evidence that nitrogen-rich compounds have been released by dumped ammunition. Additional investigation of ammunition samples from the same time period derived from the Jade Bay indicated a high-preservation potential and consequently long-term preservation for explosives in undamaged ammunition residues. Responsible editor: Michael KerstenElectronic supplementary material The online version of this article (

Atomic spectrometry update–X-ray fluorescence spectrometry

“…Analyses were undertaken 0, 12, 18 and 24 months after disposal and interpreted to reflect the initial oxidation of sulfides (after one year) followed by a reversible binding of metals to organic matter in Winter and iron oxihydroxides in Summer. Schwarzbauer et al 238 used EDXRF to determine the major elements and ICP-AES, GF-AAS and ICP-MS to determine the heavy metals in surface sediments from Lake Bant and the Wadden Sea (Germany) to evaluate the effect of the disposal of ammunition after World War II. The main focus of this study was to assess the long-term behaviour of explosives in undamaged ammunition in an aquatic environment and the spectrum of organic substances that could be released by such ammunition residues.…”

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