Beryllium Geochemistry in the Lesni Potok Catchment (Czech Republic), 7 Years of Systematic Study

The biogeochemical study was carried out at the Lesni potok (LP)catchment, Central Bohemia, Czech Republic. The ecosystem was impacted by heavy acid depositionduring the industrial development in 1980–1990. The catchment is forested mostly by two tree species, Norwayspruce and European beech. The Be concentration in the granite bedrock is 12.6 mg kg^-1. Theplagioclase contains the highest Be concentrations out of the rock-forming minerals. Elevatedconcentration of Be (5.4 mu;g L^-1) in surface waters is a result of its mobilization from the soils(3.9 mg kg^-1) and weathered rock by acid precipitation. As the pH of the precipitation and consecutivelypH of the surface waters is increasing in the Czech Republic, the Be concentrations in the surface watersgradually decrease. Groundwater with high pH values contains lower concentrations of Be (0.17 g L^-1)than surface waters. The soils at prone area of the catchment are depleted in Be compared to thesoils in the riparian zones. The vegetation located on the prone area contains lower concentrations of theBe than vegetation at riparian zones. The monitoring of Be in the environment is important with respectto its possible harmful effects on aquatic biota and root systems of the plants.