Lithological and geochemical record of anthropogenic changes in recent sediments of a small and shallow lake (Lake Pusty Staw,northern Poland)

The article presents the results of lithological and geochemical investigations of recent sediments of Lake Pusty Staw. The analysed sediments document about 300 years of the history of this lake. Historical materials indicate that significant changes in the catchment of the lake took place from the beginning of the 18th century (deforestation and afforestation) followed by 19th century tourist development, and 20th century industrialisation. The sediments were dated using the ²¹⁰Pb and ¹³⁷Cs method and core lithology. These made it possible to establish a reliable chronology to the year 1730. The calculated sedimentation rates ranged between 0.17 and 0.83 cm year^–1. There was a period of intensified erosion caused by land clearance between 1734 and 1810, which resulted in an acceleration in sedimentation rate (0.36 cm year^–1) and a change of lithological type of sediment from detritus gyttja to clayey gyttja. On the basis of Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb content in the sediments, it was determined that the beginning of pollution of the lake dates back to the 19th century and was caused probably by the existence of a health resort. A systematic increase in pollution occurred in the 20th century as a result of industrial plants. Normalised with respect to Al, the content of heavy metals in polluted sediments was from several to twenty times higher than in sediments of the preindustrial period, and a comparison of historical materials with changes of sediments in most cases made it possible to identify the direct causes of the increase in pollution.     

Transport of suspended matter in a bar-built Danish estuary

The river Varde Å discharges into the bay of Ho Bugt on the western coast of Jutland forming a small, bar-built estuary. This paper deals with tidal fluxes of water and sediment in the Varde Å estuary.The inflowing water at flood tide is part of a turbidity maximum in the northern part of the bay. At high tide slack water the suspended material deposits inside the estuary. During ebb-tide it is resuspended, and the estuary bottom is washed clean coinciding with the influx of relatively pure freshwater from the drainage area.From one station in the estuary mouth, current velocities and concentrations of suspended material have been measured during 10 tidal periods covering all four seasons. It is shown how these data can be used in a quantitative calculation of the transport of water and suspended material through the cross-section of study.A model has been formulated which—based on half-tidal periods—quantifies the transport of water and suspended material through the estuary mouth.The model is calibrated on the basis of measurements made during the above-mentioned 10 tidal periods. The rather small number of measurements is to some extent compensated for by a carefully pre-arranged selection of tidal periods.The model is discussed in relation to the prediction of net suspended transport through the estuary mouth in different weather and tidal situations.     

SDINS/GPS in-flight alignment using GPS carrier phase rate

The alignments of the strapdown inertial navigation system (SDINS) utilizing GPS carrier phase rate measurements is introduced. In this paper, a measurement model of GPS carrier phase rate under two antenna configurations is derived in order to be used for the SDINS alignment process. For in-flight alignment, the performance of the proposed SDINS/GPS integration method is analyzed using the covariance analysis and the overall performance is briefly confirmed by the navigation result of a van test. Furthermore, we find that during in-flight alignment the proposed SDINS/GPS integrated system using GPS carrier phase rate measurements can be implemented in real time because the integer ambiguity problem resulting from carrier phase measurements is avoided.     

Sediment disturbance off the Tagus Estuary, Western Portugal: chronic contamination, sewage outfall operation and runoff events

Sediment disturbance patterns in the coastal area off the Tagus Estuary (Portugal) have been assessed using a set of combined techniques. The potential sources of disturbance in the area include chronic contamination of the fine sediments originating from the estuary, a local input from a long-sea sewage outfall and occasional high runoff episodes following torrential rain. The Sediment Quality Triad approach, combining environmental chemistry (namely organic contaminants), macrofaunal benthic communities and laboratory sediment toxicity assays, was performed on sediment samples from 20 sites. The samples were collected before the outfall commenced operation and four years after commissioning, in order to evaluate the relative magnitudes of the three potential sources of disturbance. The sediment contamination created by the estuary was identified as the most important cause of reduced sediment quality, as disturbance in all three components of the Sediment Quality Triad were only found in a site located near the estuary.     

Freezing of sediments inappropriate for pore water selenium analysis

The common practice of freezing sediment cores for later chemical investigation was shown to be inappropriate for samples containing selenium. Pore waters from frozen estuarine sediment cores contained up to eighty times the selenium content of those extracted from chilled but unfrozen cores. Experiments suggested that the increase in selenium concentrations resulted from rupturing the cells of selenium-accumulating bacteria present in the samples.     

Distribution of DDT in sediments off the central California coast

A collaborative sampling cruise off the central California coast was conducted to evaluate contaminant transport pathways along and across the shelf in the spring of 2002. The area has a complex current structure and net transport routes are not known for sure. Sediment characteristics, and organic and trace metal contaminants were analyzed in sediments taken from locations near shore, out to the heads of several canyons. Relative to the continental shelf and Pioneer Canyon stations, DDT was found at higher concentrations in Ascension and Monterey Canyons. Monterey Bay still receives DDT from terrestrial runoff and may be the source of DDT found in Ascension Canyon. DDT concentrations in Monterey Bay biota indicate bioaccumulation is occurring at depth due to continuing input from the shore. Effects on the deep ocean benthic community is unknown.     

Web-based application for estimating water quality impacts due to environmental dredging

A Web-based dredge plume simulation software has been developed for estimating sediment transport and contaminant release from dredging operations. This application software comprises a near-field source model and far-field sediment transport model, combined with the settling analysis of flocculent particles. It is designed to run on all computing platforms with a standard Web browser and is accessible over the Internet. This paper describes its internal software structures and the major features of the application software. In addition, an example application of sediment transport in the Savannah River, GA, is included to illustrate typical input and output screens and to demonstrate the accuracy of the model. The water quality assessment software developed herein will greatly enhance the ability of the predictive tool for estimating sediment transport and resuspension during dredging operations.     

Estimation of heavy metals (Cu,Zn, Pb) input into Punat Bay

The fate of heavy metals (Cu, Pb, Zn) from their sources to the final sink was analysed. Investigations included the identification of sources, the input from each source as well as transport towards their temporary (soil, vegetation, and marine water) and final sink (marine sediments). Research was conducted in the catchment area of Punat Bay on the island of Krk (Northern Adriatic, Croatia). Four sources were identified: long-range transport, traffic, antifouling paints and eroded material which annually introduced about 158 kg of Cu, 175 kg of Pb and 666 kg of Zn into the Bay. Antifouling paints were significant but not the main source of pollution in this area as was considered in previous investigations. Due to long-range transport, the input of Zn was almost four times greater, whereas the input of Pb was almost six times greater than the input from antifouling paints. Aerosols emitted from motor vehicles still represent the mayor source of Pb in this area. Cu originates mostly from antifouling paints and long-range transport. It was estimated that only around 30% of analysed elements introduced into the water column would be deposited in their final sink, i.e. marine sediments.     

Studies of a contaminated brackish marsh in the Hackensack Meadowlands of Northeastern New Jersey: benthic communities and metal contamination

Cores taken from 16 stations within Eight Day Swamp, a highly contaminated marsh in the Hackensack Meadowlands, were analyzed for metal concentrations and for benthic community structure. Metal levels were compared with the benchmark ERM values, and expressed in terms of toxic units. Mercury was the most important metal in all the samples in terms of its contribution to the total toxic units. The overall abundance and taxa richness in the benthic community were associated with the height of the location relative to the tidal cycle, but were generally not significantly correlated with metal concentrations at the sites. Ordination of the communities showed that the communities that were low-lying (on the mudflat) were most similar to one another, and those that were higher up on the marsh were most similar to one another. However, diversity indices (Shannon-Wiener H' and Simpson's) were significantly associated with concentrations of the metals (except As) and with the sum of the toxic units at a station.     

Models of sub-grid variability in numerical simulations of solute transport in heterogeneous porous formations: three-dimensional flow and effect of pore-scale dispersion

Modeling transport of contaminants in the earths subsurface relies on numerical solutions over grids with blocks larger than Darcys scale. The hydraulic conductivity is homogenized over the grid blocks and the plumes spreading is reduced as a consequence of the wiped-out variability. To compensate for this loss Rubin et al. (1999) proposed to augment mixing by block-effective dispersion coefficients, and Rubin et al. (2003) showed, by means of two dimensional simulations, how this concept can be applied in practice. In this paper, we present new solutions of the block-effective dispersion tensor for an axisymmetric exponential covariance model. In addition, we discuss the influence of pore-scale dispersion in both two- and three-dimensional applications.