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Assessment of Water Quality in the Elbe River at Flood Water Conditions Based on Cluster Analysis, Principle Components Analysis, and Source Apportionment
Author(s) -
Baborowski Martina,
Simeonov Vasil,
Einax Jürgen W.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
clean – soil, air, water
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.444
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1863-0669
pISSN - 1863-0650
DOI - 10.1002/clen.201100085
Subject(s) - environmental science , flood myth , organic matter , apportionment , water quality , hydrology (agriculture) , pollution , particulates , drainage basin , groundwater , environmental chemistry , environmental engineering , chemistry , geology , geography , ecology , geotechnical engineering , archaeology , organic chemistry , political science , law , biology , cartography
An assessment of water quality measurements during a spring flood in the Elbe River is presented. Daily samples were taken at a site in the middle Elbe, which is part of the network of the International Commission for the Protection of the Elbe River (IKSE/MKOL). Cluster analysis (CA), principal components analysis (PCA), and source apportionment (APCS apportioning) were used to assess the flood‐dependent matter transport. As a result, three main components could be extracted as important to the matter transport in the Elbe River basin during flood events: (i) re‐suspended contaminated sediments, which led to temporarily increased concentrations of suspended matter and of most of the investigated heavy metals; (ii) water discharge related concentrations of pedogenic dissolved organic matter (DOM) as well as preliminary diluted concentrations of uranium and chloride, parameters with stable pollution background in the river basin; and (iii) abandoned mines, i.e. , their dewatering systems, with particular influence on nickel, manganese, and zinc concentrations.