Sediment imbalances and flooding risk in European deltas and estuaries

Rovira, Albert; Ballinger, Rhoda; Ibáñez, Carles; Parker, Paul; Dominguez, M. Dolores; Fernández, Xavier Simón; Lewandowski, Andrzej; Hochfeld, Boris; Tudor, Marian; Vernaeve, Liesbeth

doi:10.1007/s11368-014-0914-4

Cited by 24 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Under these conditions, the morphological system is dramatically altered and the balance between fluvial sediment input and coastal erosion is altered. In recent years, the recovery of water and sediment fluxes through an improvement of river and reservoir management is a topic of increasing concern (Rovira et al, 2014). Environmental flows need to incorporate specific requirements for sediment transport in order to avoid the loss of geomorphic functionality of rivers and coastal areas (Ib anez and Prat, 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Suspended sediment load at the lowermost Ebro River (Catalonia, Spain)

Rovira

Ibáñez

Vide

2015

Quaternary International

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a b s t r a c tSeveral attempts to estimate the suspended load and the sediment deficit caused by the reservoirs have been carried out in the lower Ebro River. However, existing data are scarce, scattered along time and space, and obtained under different hydrological conditions and methods. This study estimate the presently suspended sediment load of the lowermost Ebro River, using field data collected during three consecutive years at different verticals of a cross-section and covering a large range of discharges. In addition, the daily suspended load for the last 30 years has been reconstructed and validated. The suspended load for the period 2007e2010 has been estimated at 84,000 t/y (±9800 t) while 99,500 t/y (±18,000 t) accounted for 1981e2010 period. Approximately, 80% of the total suspended load (period 2007e2010) has been transferred as inorganic load. A significant seasonal variability in the total (organic and inorganic) suspended load is observed. Therefore, two distinct cycling phases in the suspended load production and transfer has been inferred: an initial phase in which the sediment was prepared into the basin followed by a second phase in which most of the load was transferred downstream. These two phases are governed by the relative temporal location of the natural floods and the river regulation from the reservoirs. Nowadays, less than 1% of suspended load is transferred compared to pre-dams construction. The current levels of suspended load are very low and not enough to supply the material needed to maintain the delta elevation and avoid coastal retreat. The sustainability of the lower Ebro River and its delta could only be guaranteed by the implementation of a new reservoir management concept with the allocation of an appropriate liquid and solid flow regime.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Suspended sediment load at the lowermost Ebro River (Catalonia, Spain)

Rovira

Ibáñez

Vide

2015

Quaternary International

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“…Sediment material is susceptible to downstream transportation by water flow from the source area towards the outlet of the river basin. At the end of the river, much of the sediment is deposited in the estuary and on the seabed of the coastal zone, which may result in increased metal accumulation (Rovira et al 2014). The ZM river basin is much more economically developed than the JM River basin.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal variation in element concentrations in surface sediments of three rivers with different pollution input in Serbia

Morina

Đikanović

et al. 2015

J Soils Sediments

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Purpose The main objective of this study was to evaluate the concentrations and seasonal variations of trace elements in surface sediments of three major rivers in Serbia-the Danube, the Zapadna Morava (ZM), and the Južna Morava (JM)-according to sediment quality guidelines. The ZM and the JM create the Velika Morava River, one of the most important tributaries of the Danube, which has been characterized as a source of heavy metal pollution. Materials and methods The total concentrations of 15 elements (Al, As, B, Ba, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sr, and Zn) were determined in surface sediments (0-15 cm depth) collected during three seasons using inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy (ICP-OES). Principle component analysis (PCA) was used to identify the main variations in metal concentrations and grain size distribution. Scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) was used for grain analysis. Results and discussion PCA and three-way MANOVA results showed significant differences in element concentrations and grain size distribution between the rivers, and significant seasonal differences for each river. The concentrations of Cu and Ni exceeded sediment quality guideline levels in the ZM and the Danube, respectively, while excess Hg was detected in all three rivers. Concentrations of Al, Ba, Cu, Fe, Sr, and Zn significantly varied between seasons in the Danube and the ZM, being the highest in the summer. In the JM, concentrations of Al, As, Fe, Mn, and Zn varied with season, with the lowest values in the summer. The ZM had the highest percentage of silt and clay, and SEM-EDS analysis of ZM sediments showed associations of Cu with carbonate hydroxides and/or iron oxides in particles <100 μm. The results suggested that mining and industrial activities could be the sources of increased levels of metals in the ZM. Conclusions The sediments collected from the ZM were considerably more polluted with heavy metals in comparison to the JM. Cu was identified as a heavy metal of greatest risk in the ZM. The ZM was indicated as the main source of heavy metal delivery in the Velika Morava and Danube rivers. It is suggested that the main factors influencing pollution levels could be anthropogenic sources and industrial and mining activities, while seasonal changes might be related to dynamics of water flow and morphological characteristics of the two tributary rivers. Abbreviations ICP-OESInductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy SEM-EDS Scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy Responsible editor: Marcel van der Perk Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (

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“…The Danube controls the sedimentation on the north-western Black Sea shelf, impacting southwards to the Bosphorus region, as well as down to the deep-sea parts of the basin (Panin & Jipa, 2002). Human activity within the basin results in excessive nutrients inputs into the water bodies within the Danube River Basin (Ludwig et al, 2009;Istvánovics & Honti, 2012;Capet et al, 2013), while significant quantities of sediment are also retained in reservoirs (Rovira et al, 2014) where dams have been constructed. These factors have contributed to pervasive eutrophication and sediment deficit throughout the course of the river and also in the downstream estuarine and coastal areas.…”

Section: Special Issue Science Of the Total Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developments in Earth observation for the assessment and monitoring of inland, transitional, coastal and shelf-sea waters

Tyler

Hunter

Spyrakos

et al. 2016

Science of The Total Environment

125

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The Earth's surface waters are a fundamental resource and encompass a broad range of ecosystems that are core to global biogeochemical cycling and food and energy production.Despite this, the Earth's surface waters are impacted by multiple natural and anthropogenic pressures and drivers of environmental change. The complex interaction between physical, chemical and biological processes in surface waters poses significant challenges for in situ monitoring and assessment and often limits our ability to adequately capture the dynamics of aquatic systems and our understanding of their status, functioning and response to pressures. Here we explore the opportunities that Earth observation (EO) has to offer to basin-scale monitoring of water quality over the surface water continuum comprising inland, transition and coastal water bodies, with a particular focus on the Danube and Black Sea region. This review summarises the technological advances in EO and the opportunities that the next generation satellites offer for water quality monitoring. We provide an overview of algorithms for the retrieval of water quality parameters and demonstrate how such models have been used for the assessment and monitoring of inland, transitional, coastal and shelfsea systems. Further, we argue that very few studies have investigated the connectivity between these systems especially in large river-sea systems such as the Danube-Black Sea. Subsequently, we describe current capability in operational processing of archive and near real-time satellite data. We conclude that while the operational use of satellites for the assessment and monitoring of surface waters is still developing for inland and coastal waters and more work is required on the development and validation of remote sensing algorithms for these optically complex waters, the potential that these data streams offer for developing an improved, potentially paradigm-shifting understanding of physical and biogeochemical processes across large scale river-sea continuum including the Danube-Black Sea is considerable.

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Sediment imbalances and flooding risk in European deltas and estuaries

Cited by 24 publications

References 26 publications

Suspended sediment load at the lowermost Ebro River (Catalonia, Spain)

Suspended sediment load at the lowermost Ebro River (Catalonia, Spain)

Seasonal variation in element concentrations in surface sediments of three rivers with different pollution input in Serbia

Developments in Earth observation for the assessment and monitoring of inland, transitional, coastal and shelf-sea waters

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