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Sediments, Metals and Freshwater: Interfaces That Can Impact Riverine Environments

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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Water Science and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2023) | Viewed by 5518

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Prof. Dr. Fernando António Leal Pacheco

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DG-CQVR-UTAD – Department of Geology, Chemistry Research Centre, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Quinta de Prados, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal
Interests: groundwater management; groundwater contamination risk; water–rock interactions; groundwater flow modeling; groundwater–surface water interactions; land degradation and surface water quality; spatial decision support systems in public water supply planning; conjunctive use of water resources; water security
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Prof. Dr. Luís Filipe Sanches Fernandes

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CITAB—Centre for the Research and Technology of Agro-Environment and Biological Sciences, Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal
Interests: flood-detention basins; rainwater harvesting for drought effects attenuation; hydrologic modeling at the catchment scale; water resources management; quality data; integrated monitoring of climate and environmental impacts; sustainability in agri-food and forestry ecosystems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sediments and freshwater form a geochemical interface that controls the distribution of metals across the solid and liquid compartments. High concentrations of metals are typically harmful to the aquatic environment and can enter the food chain, endangering animal and human health. The role of fine sediments in the transport and fate of metals in riverine environments is well documented in the scientific literature. The relationship of high metal concentrations in freshwater to point and nonpoint natural and anthropogenic sources is also known, as well as the forms in which metals are present in the river water that determine mobilization capacity and bioavailability. However, there are still topics about transference of metals across sediments and stream water that deserve attention and justify further scientific research. One example is the fate of metals present in debris from sediment disasters. Debris flow can result from riverbed sediment movement, slope failure, dam collapse, landslides, earthquakes or volcanic activity. In some cases, such as in tailings dam failures, debris can contain large quantities of metals that subsequent to the disaster will leach onto the surface and groundwater, threatening these ecosystems.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to discuss cases or methods related with the spatial and temporal distribution of metals in rivers and their catchments, related to natural and anthropogenic sources. The cases related with sediment disasters are particularly welcome. We believe that this Special Issue may help to bring land use planners, water resources managers, and the general public into the conscience that conservation of water resources begins with a reliable land use and implementation of conservation measures, as well as monitoring of hazard risk, and that deviation from this practice inevitably leads water resources to danger and ultimately to collapse as service providers.

Prof. Dr. Fernando António Leal Pacheco
Prof. Dr. Luís Filipe Sanches Fernandes
Guest Editors

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Keywords

sediments
metals
streams
debris flows
water pollution

Published Papers (3 papers)

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16 pages, 1650 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Influence of the Reduction in Clay Sediments in the Level of Metals Bioavailability—An Investigation in Liujiang River Basin after Wet Season

by Xiongyi Miao, Jianping Liang, Yupei Hao, Wanjun Zhang, Yincai Xie and Hucai Zhang

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(22), 14988; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192214988 - 14 Nov 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 984

Abstract

The seasonal elevation of metals’ bioavailability can aggravate the threat of metal contamination in the aquatic environment. Nevertheless, their regulations have rarely been studied, particularly the connections between metals’ transformation and environmental variations. Therefore, the catchment area of Liujiang River was taken as an example in this study, their seasonal variations in metals’ bioavailability in sediments, especially during the wet season, was investigated to recover the processes associated with metals’ speciations and multiple environmental factors. The results revealed that the concentration of metals in sediments were high overall in the wet season, but low in the dry season. The significantly reduced ratio of metals in non-residual forms was largely related to the overall reduction in metals in oxidizable and reducible forms after the wet season. However, the elevated BI indexes of most metals suggested their increased bioavailability in the dry season, which should be closely related to their corresponding elevations in carbonate-bound and exchangeable forms after the wet season. The variations in metals’ bioavailability were primarily related to their predominance of exchangeable and carbonate-bound form. The higher correlation coefficients suggested the destabilization of the oxidizable form should be treated as a critical approach to the impact of metals’ bioavailability after the wet season. In view of that, sediments’ coarsening would pose the impacts on the destabilization of exogenous metals in sediments, the reduction in clay sediments should be responsible for the elevation of metals bioavailability after the wet season. Therefore, the monitoring of metals’ bioavailability in sediments should be indispensable to prevent metal contamination from enlarging the scope of their threat to the aquatic environment of the river, especially after the wet season. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sediments, Metals and Freshwater: Interfaces That Can Impact Riverine Environments)

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15 pages, 2202 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Distribution and Potential Availability of As, Metals and P in Sediments from a Riverine Reservoir in a Rural Mountainous Catchment (NE Portugal)

by Anabela R. Reis, Marta Roboredo, João P. R. M. Pinto, Bernardete Vieira, Simone G. P. Varandas, Luis F. S. Fernandes and Fernando A. L. Pacheco

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(11), 5616; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18115616 - 24 May 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1658

Abstract

A geochemical investigation was carried out on the bottom sediments of a riverine reservoir, located in a mountainous rural region (NE Portugal), with the aim of evaluating the contents of As, metals and P and their potential availability. The elements contents were detected in the following ranges (µg g⁻¹): As (18–64); Cr (32–128); Cu (39–93); Ni (18–80); Pb (49–160); Zn (207–334); P (1705–2681). The reducible fraction is the most significant in the retention of the elements. Based on their potential relative mobility, the detected metals could be classed as follows: Zn > As, Pb > Cu > Cr, Ni. The results on geochemical partitioning were revealed to be important when the Sediment Quality Guidelines (SQGs) were considered. Arsenic, Cr, Ni, Pb and Zn showed total contents exceeding the values of Probable Effect Level (PEL), but only As occurred in the most potentially available form; Cr and Ni can be considered relatively unavailable, since these are mainly associated with the residual phase. Locally, oxygen depletion could release P into the water column due to the higher concentrations in Fe-P and CDB-P fractions. The potential availability of As, metals and P in sediments indicates that the quality of sediments accumulated in small reservoirs should be considered in management policies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sediments, Metals and Freshwater: Interfaces That Can Impact Riverine Environments)

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15 pages, 2966 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Variation of Heavy Metals Bioavailability in Sediments of Liujiang River Basin, SW China Associated to Their Speciations and Environmental Fluctuations, a Field Study in Typical Karstic River

by Yupei Hao, Xiongyi Miao, Hongwei Liu and Dan Miao

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(8), 3986; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18083986 - 10 Apr 2021

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2143

Abstract

The bioavailability of heavy metals (HMs) in sediments is closely related to the security of the aquatic environment, but their impacts are poorly researched, particularly in karstic rivers. Therefore, Liujiang River Basin was taken as an example in this study. Seven HMs were analyzed to determine the bioavailability and speciations of HMs in sediments. Moreover, the impacts of environmental factors on HMs were identified. The obtained results suggested that HMs in the sediments are all within their permissible exposure limit (PEL), but Cd and Zn are significantly higher than the soil baseline. Most HMs were found to be in a residual fraction, while their exchangeable fraction was found to be in an extremely low ratio. HMs in bioavailable parts are significantly higher than in the exchangeable and carbonate-bound phases but lower than in the non-residual phase, which demonstrated that HM bioavailability is not confined to the exchangeable and carbonate-bound phases. The correlation coefficients commonly decreased with decreasing speciation ratios, which suggested that the overall bioavailability of metals should be determined by speciation ratios instead of speciations themselves. Noteworthily, most HMs in the residual form were found to be significantly correlated with their overall bioavailability, which highlighted the potential bioavailability of residual form. The non-correlations between pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), and HM bioavailability suggested that HMs in the carbonate-bound phase are stable and unsusceptible to environmental variations, while the significant correlations between redox potential (Eh), turbidity, organic matter (OM), main grain size (Mz), and HM bioavailability suggested that HMs in the reducible and oxidizable forms are susceptible to environmental fluctuations. Therefore, the variation of HM bioavailability in karstic rivers is largely regulated by their reducible and oxidizable forms instead of their carbonate-bound form. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sediments, Metals and Freshwater: Interfaces That Can Impact Riverine Environments)

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