Modelling the fate of hydrophobic organic contaminants in a boreal forest catchment: A cross disciplinary approach to assessing diffuse pollution to surface waters

The fate of hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs) in soils and waters in a northern boreal catchment was explored through the development of a chemical fate model in a well-characterised catchment system dominated by two land types: forest and mire. Input was based solely on atmospheric deposition, dominated by accumulation in the winter snowpack. Release from soils was governed by the HOC concentration in soil, the soil organic carbon fraction and soil-water DOC content. The modelled export of selected HOCs in surface waters ranged between 11 and 250 ng day⁻¹ during the snow covered period, compared to 200 and 9600 ng/d during snow-melt; highlighting the importance of the snow pack as a source of these chemicals. The predicted levels of HOCs in surface water were in reasonable agreement to a limited set of measured values, although the model tended to over predict concentrations of HOCs for the forested sub-catchment, by over an order of magnitude in the case of hexachlorobenzene and PCB 180. This possibly reflects both the heterogeneity of the forest soils and the complicated and changing hydrology experienced between the different seasons.     

Risk assessment and prioritisation of contaminated sites on the catchment scale

Contaminated sites pose a significant threat to groundwater resources worldwide. Due to limited available resources a risk-based prioritisation of the remediation efforts is essential. Existing risk assessment tools are unsuitable for this purpose, because they consider each contaminated site separately and on a local scale, which makes it difficult to compare the impact from different sites. Hence a modelling tool for risk assessment of contaminated sites on the catchment scale has been developed. The CatchRisk screening tool evaluates the risk associated with each site in terms of its ability to contaminate abstracted groundwater in the catchment. The tool considers both the local scale and the catchment scale. At the local scale, a flexible, site specific leaching model that can be adjusted to the actual data availability is used to estimate the mass flux over time from identified sites. At the catchment scale, a transport model that utilises the source flux and a groundwater model covering the catchment is used to estimate the transient impact on the supply well. The CatchRisk model was tested on a groundwater catchment for a waterworks north of Copenhagen, Denmark. Even though data scarcity limited the application of the model, the sites that most likely caused the observed contamination at the waterworks were identified. The method was found to be valuable as a basis for prioritising point sources according to their impact on groundwater quality. The tool can also be used as a framework for testing hypotheses on the origin of contamination in the catchment and for identification of unknown contaminant sources.     

雅砻江流域湿地景观格局变化分析

应用ArcGIS软件，对雅砻江流域湿地1986和2000年遥感数据进行解译、矢量化处理，用Apack软件进行湿地景观格局指数计算，研究了近15 a雅砻江流域景观空间格局特征及其变化。结果表明：（1）近15 a雅砻江流域湿地景观面积减少，减少量为49404 hm2，占2000年湿地总面积的0506%；（2）两个时期内湿地斑块密度保持不变，湿地景观的聚集度都很高，均在099以上，湿地景观集中分布，破碎化水平低；（3）雅砻江流域湿地景观的多样性指数水平和均匀度水平较低，而且两指数在两个个时期内没有发生太大的变化，且各类湿地景观比例差异相对较大，沼泽湿地景观控制的程度较高；（4）雅砻江流域的5类湿地景观分布质心基本上未发生变化，但总体格局分布质心向南偏移001°，再向西偏移023°，整体上向西南方向偏移了2532 km     

Variations of denitrification in a farming catchment area

We measured denitrification at 15 sites during 1 year in a agricultural catchment in Brittany, France. Our objective was to assess the relative importance of heterotrophic denitrification on the fate of excess nitrogen at the catchment scale, and to quantify the relative importance of riparian areas on the N₂O emissions. Using the C₂H₂ inhibition technique, denitrification rate on soil core and denitrifying enzyme activity (DEA) were each determined, for samples taken from two soil layers: 0–20 and 20–40 cm. Denitrification rates, ranging from 0 to 417 mg N m⁻² d⁻¹, were significantly higher in riparian areas than for hillslopes (median of 24.87 against 10.38 mg N m⁻² d⁻¹). However, since denitrification rates are significant in the hillslope and given that hillslope surface area is much greater (79% of catchment surface), this domain could be responsible for half of the overall denitrified nitrogen (N). Also, the 20–40 cm deep soil layer was found to account for more than 46% of the denitrification. The DEA indicates the potential for denitrifying activity by the soil under non-limiting conditions, measured values ranged from 76.48 to 530.63 ng N g⁻¹ dry soil h⁻¹. The ratio N₂O/(N₂O + N₂) was about 60% with no clear spatial or temporal trends. Soil moisture appeared to be the main limiting factor for denitrification at the field scale. The results suggest that, for this catchment, denitrification is a major route for nitrogen removal, but a significant proportion of this removal occurs as N₂O.     

小流域大气氮干湿沉降特征

大气氮沉降是陆源污染物和营养物质向水生生态系统传输的重要途径之一.在人类活动影响较大的流域,大量氮素通过大气沉降的形式输入到水体中,能够对地表水体的营养结构、水生生物的生存环境等造成严重的负面生态效应.本文以密云水库石匣小流域为例,采集并分析了研究区大气氮沉降(颗粒态干沉降与湿沉降)样品,探讨了该流域大气氮沉降通量的变化特征及其主要影响因子,进而明确了大气氮沉降对流域氮输入的贡献程度.结果表明:(1)石匣流域大气氮总沉降(颗粒态干沉降与湿沉降之和)呈现出明显的季节变化特征;对湿沉降而言,总氮、氨氮在夏季沉降通量最大,溶解性有机氮沉降通量在春季最大,而硝态氮季节变化并不明显;对颗粒态干沉降而言,总氮和氨氮的沉降通量在冬季最高;硝态氮在不同季节变化不明显,但其沉降趋势与总氮基本一致;溶解性有机氮在秋季出现最高值.(2)该流域氮沉降通量为43. 14 kg·hm-2,其中湿沉降通量占39. 85%,颗粒态干沉降通量占60. 15%.(3)降雨和风速条件是影响大气氮沉降的重要影响因子,其中雨量和雨强与氮湿沉降浓度均呈明显的负相关关系;对颗粒态干沉降而言,监测期内平均风速是影响颗粒态氨氮干沉降通量的重要因子.(4)大气氮沉降占该流域总的氮素输入量的15. 09%,是仅次于畜禽养殖和农村生活的重要污染源.本研究结果可为密云水库上游流域氮素综合管理提供科学参考.     

典型流域土地利用/覆被变化及对水质的影响--以太湖上游浙江西苕溪流域为例

利用1985、1995和20D0年的TM数据及水质资料，运用GIS和水质指数法研究西苔溪流域的土地利用／覆被变化及其水环境效应。结果表明：流域内耕地不断减少，建设用地持续扩大，林地前期减少后期缓慢增加；林地和耕地是流域内的主要土地利用类型，二者面积之和占流域面积的比例在三个时段均在92％以上；空间集中性及斑块碎化是土地利用空间格局变化的主要表现，建设用地斑块数量增多且斑块面积明显增大，饼地面积减少但斑块数量增多。研究时段内流域水质在时间上呈逐步恶化趋势，在空间上则表现为自上游至下游逐渐下降，其中，1996-2000年，研究河段内水质指数下降幅度达30％左右；只治理点污染源仅使水质指数增加6．5％左右，表明影响水质的主要因素是土地利用变化导致的面源污染。     

Sediment and nutrient dynamics during snowmelt runoff generation in a southern Taiga catchment of Russia

The water quality of the Volga catchment, Russia, is diminished and major nutrients reach critical levels. Proper management strategies depend on process knowledge about nutrient sources and pathways as well as appropriate models. For the 18.8 km² experimental catchment Lubazhinkha, 100 km south of Moscow, a monitoring scheme was conducted to identify runoff generation and nutrient source areas. The grey forest soils of the catchment are utilized with arable land and pasture (54%) and forest areas. The received results show a high intra-annual and inter-annual dynamic of the snowmelt runoff generation as major hydrological process. Overall sediment export rates during the 3 years of snowmelt investigation from 2003 to 2005 are low with a maximum of 0.33 t ha⁻¹ during snowmelt period 2005 and effectively reduced by a dam at the catchment outlet. Also, the total phosphorus loss from the catchment is low reaching from 0.03 to 0.35 kg ha⁻¹ during the snowmelt periods. However, sediment and total phosphorus concentrations vary within one snowmelt event and can reach high concentrations. Detailed analysis of element concentrations during snowmelt events allows an identification of different flow components and runoff generating mechanisms. During low flow situations phosphorus and dissolved organic carbon are transferred from the arable soils with slow flow components to the channel. In contrast to this situation, the sources of sediment and nutrients split up temporarily and spatially during high flow situations. Aside arable fields that are source of sediment and phosphorus during snowmelt episodes, the forested areas were detected as major source for the export of dissolved organic carbon with surface runoff. In particular these areas are characterized by a late thawing of the topsoil which causes a delayed peak of dissolved organic carbon concentration. The awareness of the dynamic and complex catchment reaction during snowmelt events is of importance for the development of proper management strategies.     

植被类型对黄土丘陵区流域土壤有机碳氮的影响

恢复植被是遏止水土流失和提高土壤有机碳氮(SOC,TSN)积累的重要措施。以黄土丘陵沟壑区燕沟流域为基础,分析了主要植被类型的SOC,TSN变化及其分布特征。结果表明,自然恢复的辽东栎群落SOC含量为29.5g/kg,其次为黄刺玫,狼牙刺群落11.6～21.3g/kg,铁杆蒿(+长芒草)群落为8.4～10.6g/kg。人工建造的刺槐林5.53～11.9g/kg,小叶杨12.8～18.4g/kg,沙棘群落为8.7g/kg,仁用杏为4.7g/kg,苹果园SOC含量3.4～3.9g/kg,退耕苜蓿为4.2g/kg,耕地3.3～4.8g/kg。自然恢复的灌丛群落和人工乔木群落可有效地改变坡面SOC含量与分布。土壤有机碳氮具有显著线性关系,而C/N比例和作用区间随着农田到林地的演变而变大。     

Nitrogen leaching and acidification during 19 years of NH₄NO₃ additions to a coniferous-forested catchment at Gårdsjön, Sweden (NITREX)

The role of nitrogen (N) in acidification of soil and water has become relatively more important as the deposition of sulphur has decreased. Starting in 1991, we have conducted a whole-catchment experiment with N addition at Gårdsjön, Sweden, to investigate the risk of N saturation. We have added 41 kg N ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ as NH₄NO₃ to the ambient 9 kg N ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ in fortnightly doses by means of sprinkling system. The fraction of input N lost to runoff has increased from 0% to 10%. Increased concentrations of NO₃ in runoff partially offset the decreasing concentrations of SO₄ and slowed ecosystem recovery from acid deposition. From 1990-2002, about 5% of the total N input went to runoff, 44% to biomass, and the remaining 51% to soil. The soil N pool increased by 5%. N deposition enhanced carbon (C) sequestration at a mean C/N ratio of 42-59 g g⁻¹.