Surface water pathways and fluxes of metals under changing environmental conditions and human interventions in the Selenga River system

Lychagin, Mikhail; Chalov, Sergey; Касимов, Н.С.; Shinkareva, Galina; Jarsjö, Jerker; Thorslund, Josefin

doi:10.1007/s12665-016-6304-z

Cited by 96 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Previous studies showed that the suspended sediment load in the Selenga River system (including the delta) is commonly associated with relatively high amounts of metal contaminants, for instance, because high pH conditions of the water limits metal dissolution (Lychagin et al, ; Thorslund et al, , ). Furthermore, observations show that, once the Selenga River enters its delta area, total metal concentration tends to decrease along small wetland‐dominated channels, reducing metal concentration by 77–99% during both moderate and high flow conditions, as considered herein ( Q ~ 1,000 and Q ~ 3,000 m 3 s −1 , respectively; Chalov, Thorslund, et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sedimentation patterns in the Selenga River delta under changing hydroclimatic conditions

Pietroń

Nittrouer

Chalov

et al. 2018

Hydrological Processes

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The Selenga River delta (Russia) is a large (>600 km 2 ) fluvially dominated fresh water system that transfers water and sediment from an undammed drainage basin into Lake Baikal, a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization World Heritage Site. Through sedimentation processes, the delta and its wetlands provide important environmental services, such as storage of sediment-bound pollutants (e.g., metals), thereby reducing their input to Lake Baikal. However, in the Selenga River delta and many other deltas of the world, there is a lack of knowledge regarding impacts of potential shifts in the flow regime (e.g., due to climate change and other anthropogenic impacts) on sedimentation processes, including sediment exchanges between deltaic channels and adjacent wetlands. This study uses field measurements of water velocities and sediment characteristics in the Selenga River delta, investigating conditions of moderate discharge, which have become more frequent over the past decades (at the expense of peak flows, Q > 1,350 m 3 s −1 ). The aims are to determine if the river system under moderate flow conditions is capable of supporting sediment export from the main distributary channels of the delta to the adjacent wetlands. The results show that most of the deposited sediment outside of the deltaic channels is characterized by a large proportion of silt and clay material (i.e., <63 μm). For example, floodplain lakes function as sinks of very fine sediment (e.g., 97% of sediment by weight < 63 μm).Additionally, bed material sediment is found to be transported outside of the channel margins during conditions of moderate and high water discharge conditions (Q ≥ 1,000 m 3 s −1 ). Submerged banks and marshlands located in the backwater zone of the delta accumulate sediment during such discharges, supporting wetland development. Thus, these regions likely sequester various metals bound to Selenga River sediment.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sedimentation patterns in the Selenga River delta under changing hydroclimatic conditions

Pietroń

Nittrouer

Chalov

et al. 2018

Hydrological Processes

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“…Snapshot field measurements of heavy metals in water and sediments (Thorslund et al 2012) and fish communities (Kaus et al 2016) were conducted to assess river system change (Brumbaugh et al 2013) Sediment transport (Chalov et al 2015), heavy metal fluxes (Lychagin et al 2017) Annual average flow, annual maximum hourly flows and annual minimum 30-day flows (Frolova et al 2017) Water quality parameters (Malsy et al 2016) Selenga river tributaries/subcatchment Heavy metal and arsenic accumulation in five fish species (Kaus et al 2016) Stormflow and decreasing low-flow condition headwaters (Kopp et al 2016) Sediment budget in the Kharaa River basin (Theuring et al 2015) n/a Local hot spots (Tuul and Sharyngol rivers)…”

Section: About This Special Issuementioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental change in the Selenga River—Lake Baikal Basin

2017

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“…The presence of suspended sediments also facilitates the precipitation of OM and OM-bound metals [50,51]. Thus, it is also possible that the decrease in CRRs downstream from station 2 is due to a decrease in the concentration of suspended sediments [52,53]. For example, the element removal rates at station 5 ( Figure 2) are lower than those at station 2 despite the fact that element flow rates (and water discharge) are ten times higher at the former compared with the latter.…”

Section: Elements Highly Correlated With Docmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The correlation between metal and DOC concentrations at this station is due to organic and inorganic pollutants having common sources, such as industrial wastes and surface runoff from impervious surfaces [54,55]. It is known that the concentrations of most elements in Selenga water between the Chikoy River mouth and Uda River mouth substantially increase [6,52,53]. To some extent, the increasing concentrations are the result of the contamination of the Khilok River [56].…”

Section: Elements Highly Correlated With Docmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Self-Purification Capacity of Surface Waters in Lake Baikal Watershed

Semenov

Силаев

et al. 2019

Water

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The removal of trace metals (TM), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), mineral nitrogen (Nmin.), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from the water of Lake Baikal and its tributaries was evaluated. The contaminant removal rate (CRR) and the contaminant removal capacity (CRC) were used as water self-purification parameters. The CRR was calculated as the difference between contaminant mass flow rates at downstream and upstream gauging stations. The CRC was calculated as the quotient of the CRR and the change in water discharge between downstream and upstream gauging stations. Whether the CRR and CRC have positive or negative values depends on whether contaminant release or removal occurs in the water body. The CRR depends on the size of the water body. The lowest and the highest CRRs observed for Baikal were equal to −15 mg/s (PAHs) to −7327 g/s (DOC), whereas the highest PAH and DOC removal rates observed for Selenga River (the major Baikal tributary) in summer were equal to −9 mg/s and −3190 g/s correspondingly. The highest PAH and DOC removal rates observed for small tributaries were equal to 0.0004 mg/s and −0.7 g/s respectively. The amplitude of annual CRR oscillations depends on contaminant abundance. The highest amplitude was typical for most abundant contaminants such as Nmin. and DOC. In unpolluted sections of the Selenga River the highest rates of N and C removal (−85 g/s and −3190 g/s, respectively) were observed in summer and the lowest rates (4 g/s and 3869 g/s, respectively) were observed in the spring. The lowest amplitude was typical for PAHs and some low-abundance TM such as V and Ni. The highest summer rates of V and Ni removal were equal to −378 mg/s and −155 mg/s respectively, whereas lowest spring rates are equal to 296 mg/s and 220 mg/s. The intermediate CRR amplitudes were typical for most abundant TM such as Sr, Al, and Fe. The spatial CRR variability depends on water chemistry and the presence of pollution sources. The lowest (up to 38 g/s) rates of Nmin. removal was observed for polluted lower Selenga sections characterized by low water mineralization and high DOC concentrations. The highest rates (−85 g/s) were observed for unpolluted upper sections. Seepage loss from the river to groundwater was also recognized as an important means of contaminant removal. The CRC values depend mostly on water residence time. The DOC removing capacity value of Baikal (−26 g/m3) were lower than those of Selenga in summer (−35 g/m3) but higher than the CRCs of all tributaries during the other seasons (from 30 mg/m3 to −10 g/m3).

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Surface water pathways and fluxes of metals under changing environmental conditions and human interventions in the Selenga River system

Cited by 96 publications

References 31 publications

Sedimentation patterns in the Selenga River delta under changing hydroclimatic conditions

Sedimentation patterns in the Selenga River delta under changing hydroclimatic conditions

Environmental change in the Selenga River—Lake Baikal Basin

Assessing the Self-Purification Capacity of Surface Waters in Lake Baikal Watershed

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