Saar river

In Germany and Brazil, pT-values were shown to be suitable units of measurement to appraise surface water toxicity. These findings were the result of investigations carried out in the Saar River (Krebs, 1992) and in rivers discharging to the Bay of Sepetiba, Federal State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Soares, 2000). 

Figure 2 Elevated PAH concentrations (sum of EPA-PAHs, 1 - and 2- methylated naphthalenes and perylene) in Saar and Mosel River floodplain soils, Germany [16]. The flow direction is from SW to NE and the Saar coal rnining area is near Saarburg. Coal transportation by ships occurred from the mining area via the Saar River, towards NE into the Mosel River and further into the Rhine River.

The selected case study (Section 7) demonstrates the hazard potential of river sediments. In numerous investigations, pT-values were generated for sediments and dredged material of the rivers Rhine (with its tributaries Moselle and Saar), Ems, Weser, Elbe, Oder and their estuaries, as well as the North and Baltic Seas. Several pT-values were also generated for sediments in the Sepetiba Bay (Federal State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) to identify toxic areas. Again, the pT-method was used as an ecotoxicological discriminator to map out sediment quality in polluted zones (Soares and de Freitas, 2000). 

Figure 1. Multiple bioassay examination of porewater and elutriate of sediment core sample AS 3" collected from the River Saar. The pT-scale is based on a geometric dilution series with the factor 2 (Krebs, 1999).

Table 5. Sediment quality in waters associated with the rivers Saar and Moselle (old arms, harbors, and marinas). The ecotoxicological characterization is based on porewater and elutriate bioassay responses generated with algae, bacteria, and daphnids. Bioassays conducted according to HABAB-WSV (2000), refer to Box 1. For shade code information of toxicity classes, refer to Table 3.

Figure 4. Sediment mapping of the River Saar based on pT-scale ecotoxicological investigations conducted with algal, bacterial and microcrustacean bioassays. This classification is derived from results reported in Table 5. For color coding information of toxicity classes see Table 3.

The VII Corps, spearheading the First Army s advance to the Rhine, eliminated all enemy resistance in its zone on the west side of the river by 9 March. On the following day the 87th Battalion received word that it was to be sent from the First to the Seventh Army, which on 15 March was to initiate a drive through the imporant Saar-Palatinate triangle. This operation was to involve the penetration of the Sieg-... 

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