System riverine

The atmospheric input of trace metals to the oceans has now been recognised to be of considerable importance to the marine system. Riverine sources have, for many years, been thought to be the dominant input route for metals into the oceans. Recent studies show, however, that these terrestrial fluxes may be equalled or even exceeded by inputs from the atmosphere. Thus, because of the importance of atmospheric input to the oceans, many of the examples considered here will focus on metal speciation in remote marine areas. In Table 7.1, average metal values in aerosols and rain at several sites are reported to show the range of concentrations of interest. 

The Ramsar site and the important bird area Lonjsko Polje Nature Park (510 km2) represent mainly palustrine-riverine wetlands located within the flood-plains of the Middle Sava river basin (Central Posavina, Croatia). It represents the largest maintained inundation area of all the Danube River catchment and, at the same time, the key facility of the flood control system of the entire Sava river basin (including Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia and Montenegro). 

During the wastewater treatment, an oxidative conversion of the surfactant molecules leads predominantly to the formation of polar compounds. They display a particularly high solubility and mobility in the aqueous medium and, therefore, transportation over relatively long distances can occur if they are not further degraded, resulting in the wide dissemination of these pollutants in riverine systems and thus also to estuaries, coastal regions and ultimately the marine environment (see Chapters 6.2 and 6.3). In the latter, the final levels will mainly be influenced by dilution effects and physical removal by precipitation or adsorption [63] because of relatively low microbial activity in this ecosystem compared with fresh water environments [64]. 

Watkinson AJ, Micalizzi GB, Graham GM et al (2007) Antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli in waste waters, surface waters, and oysters from an urban riverine system. Appl Environ Microbiol 73(17) 5667-5670... 

Aquifers which are closely connected to a river (as for the case of Groundwater System S) may be influenced by abrupt input variations that are driven by the corresponding concentration changes in the river. In order to analyze the resulting concentrations in the aquifer, the solution of the transport equation (Eq. 25-10) will be discussed for different time-dependent input concentrations at x = 0, Cin(t). In the river typical time scales of change are of the order of minutes (in case of an accidental spill) to days, but seasonal variations also exist for some chemicals. In contrast, transport within the aquifer is slower than most riverine concentration variations. The question arises how the river dynamics are transmitted to the groundwater. Three different cases are discussed ... 

Arctic marine/coastal/riverine systems disturbance and recovery of terrestrial ecosystems. 

Diamond, J.M., Koplish, D.E., McMahon III, J. and Rost, R. (1997a) Evaluation of the water-effect ratio procedure for metals in a riverine system, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 16, 509-520. 

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