Pollutant dispersal and stability in a severely polluted floodplain: A case study in the Litavka River, Czech Republic

Nováková, Tereza; Kotková, Kristýna; Elznicová, Jitka; Strnad, Ladislav; Engel, Zbyněk; Grygar, Tomáš Matys

doi:10.1016/j.gexplo.2015.05.006

Cited by 26 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Legacy sediments contribute to artificially modifying watercourses morphology and geochemistry and are thus a threat to the proper functioning and resilience of river systems. The potential remobilization of contaminated legacy sediments, for example, is a major ecological and health hazard in many rivers over the world (Dennis et al, 2009;Martin, 2015;Niemitz et al, 2013;Nováková et al, 2015;Pavlowsky et al, 2017;Clement et al, 2017;Rothenberger et al, 2017). Moreover, significant volumes of legacy sediments stored in the floodplains and river margins may cause unbalanced sediment budgets and flood management issues (Lecce et Pavlowsky, 2001;Knox, 2006;Richardson et al, 2014;Royall and Kennedy, 2016) as well as loss of connectivity between the river and the floodplain, which is a critical issue for river ecological and geomorphological health (Fryirs, 2013, Wohl, 2017Fuller and Death, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Legacy sediments in a European context: The example of infrastructure-induced sediments on the Rhône River

et al. 2020

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The concept of legacy sediments (LS) as sediments periodically produced by anthropogenic disturbances has been introduced in the early 2010s and has been increasingly used since then, primarily in the USA. It is a key concept to characterize river corridors health and design relevant restoration schemes. Surprisingly, examples of legacy sediments in European rivers remain scarce in the literature, despite the long history of human influences in this part of the world. In this viewpoint paper, we argue that while land-use changes within upstream basins seem to be mostly responsible for legacy sedimentation along downstream river sections in New World countries like the USA or Australia, reach-scale engineering is the main driver of legacy sedimentation along large Alpine European rivers during the Anthropocene era. We give an example of LS induced by navigation infrastructures (groynes and lateral training walls) present along the Rhône River downstream of Lyon (France), and assume that analogous LS might exist in most engineered rivers. Those infrastructure-induced sediments differ from the classic examples of American LS in terms of formation mechanisms and characteristics, which leads us to suggest a broadened definition of legacy sediments in order to make the concept more applicable to the European context.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Legacy sediments in a European context: The example of infrastructure-induced sediments on the Rhône River

et al. 2020

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“…Proportions of the actual mechanisms at play are usually not distinguishable. The existence of many pollutant pathways varies depending on individual pollutants, catchment characteristics and changes with precipitation intensity and flood-wave discharge (Zonta et al 2005 ; Coynel et al 2007a , b ; Resongles et al 2015 ; Nováková et al 2015 ).…”

Section: Flood-related Remobilization Of Heavy Metalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The actual concentrations of pollutants within the flood wave are consequently a complex function of discharge and sediment supply (Resongles et al 2015 ; Dhivert et al 2015a ). Due to different pollutant paths in historically polluted fluvial systems, the actual ratios of metal pollutants vary with the discharge (Resongles et al 2015 ; Nováková et al 2015 ).…”

Section: Flood-related Remobilization Of Heavy Metalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review of Flood-Related Storage and Remobilization of Heavy Metal Pollutants in River Systems

Ciszewski

Grygar

2016

Water Air Soil Pollut

146

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Recently observed rapid climate changes have focused the attention of researchers and river managers on the possible effects of increased flooding frequency on the mobilization and redistribution of historical pollutants within some river systems. This text summarizes regularities in the flood-related transport, channel-to-floodplain transfer, and storage and remobilization of heavy metals, which are the most persistent environmental pollutants in river systems. Metal-dispersal processes are essentially much more variable in alluvia than in soils of non-inundated areas due to the effects of flood-sediment sorting and the mixing of pollutants with grains of different origins in a catchment, resulting in changes of one to two orders of magnitude in metal content over distances of centimetres. Furthermore, metal remobilization can be more intensive in alluvia than in soils as a result of bank erosion, prolonged floodplain inundation associated with reducing conditions alternating with oxygen-driven processes of dry periods and frequent water-table fluctuations, which affect the distribution of metals at low-lying strata. Moreover, metal storage and remobilization are controlled by river channelization, but their influence depends on the period and extent of the engineering works. Generally, artificial structures such as groynes, dams or cut-off channels performed before pollution periods favour the entrapment of polluted sediments, whereas the floodplains of lined river channels that adjust to new, post-channelization hydraulic conditions become a permanent sink for fine polluted sediments, which accumulate solely during overbank flows. Metal mobilization in such floodplains takes place only by slow leaching, and their sediments, which accrete at a moderate rate, are the best archives of the catchment pollution with heavy metals.

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“…Non-contaminated sediments are commonly found within pre-historic alluvial deposits associated with riverine terraces or buried below surficial floodplain deposits, among other locations [9]. In some catchments, however, the identification of non-contaminated sediments can be problematic (see, for example, Nováková et al [23]). The identification of non-contaminated sediments can be particularly difficult in semi-arid, arid, and hyperarid settings where the majority of the sediment and sediment-associated contaminants are transported by extreme, but rare floods that inundate and rework most or all of the valley floor.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of Paleoflood Deposits to Determine the Contribution of Anthropogenic Trace Metals to Alluvial Sediments in the Hyperarid Rio Loa Basin, Chile

2019

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Toxic trace metals are a common and significant contaminant in riverine ecosystems, and are derived from both natural and anthropogenic sources. Determining the contributions of metals from these sources has proven difficult, in part, because physical and biogeochemical processes alter the nature (e.g., grain size, mineral composition, organic matter content) of the source materials as they are transported through the drainage network. This study examined the use of paleoflood deposits located along the hyperarid Rio Salado, a tributary to the Rio Loa of northern Chile, to construct local background functions and enrichment factors (LEFs) to differentiate between natural and anthropogenic metal sources. Significant variations in metal content occurred between river reaches and flood deposits of a given reach; these variations were primarily related to changes in sediment source that may reflect differences in El Niño and La Niña precipitation patterns. Three conservative elements (Al, Fe, Co) were examined to construct background functions for seven trace metals. Cobalt yielded the most effective background functions for As, Cd, Ni, Pb, and Zn; Fe was selected for Cr, and Al for Cu. The resulting LEFs approximated 1, illustrating that paleoflood deposits produced effective background functions, and could be applied to downstream sites contaminated by mining activity.

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Pollutant dispersal and stability in a severely polluted floodplain: A case study in the Litavka River, Czech Republic

Cited by 26 publications

References 46 publications

Legacy sediments in a European context: The example of infrastructure-induced sediments on the Rhône River

Legacy sediments in a European context: The example of infrastructure-induced sediments on the Rhône River

A Review of Flood-Related Storage and Remobilization of Heavy Metal Pollutants in River Systems

Use of Paleoflood Deposits to Determine the Contribution of Anthropogenic Trace Metals to Alluvial Sediments in the Hyperarid Rio Loa Basin, Chile

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