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Integrated Approach to the Evaluation of Chemical Dynamics and Anthropogenic Pollution Sources in the Sava River Basin

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The Sava River

Part of the book series: The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry ((HEC,volume 31))

Abstract

A variety of approaches are presented to evaluating the geochemical dynamics and anthropogenic pollution sources of the entire Sava River Basin, a major tributary of the Danube River. The water chemistry is found to be controlled by the geological composition of the drainage area in the upper reaches of the river, influenced by agricultural activity and biological processes in the middle reaches, and related to industrial impact in the lower reaches. The Sava exported 1.9 × 1011 mol C year−1 as dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and emitted 2.5 × 1010 mol C year−1 to the atmosphere. Carbon isotope composition indicates that up to 42 % of DIC originated from carbonate weathering and 23 % from degradation of organic matter. Agricultural and industrial sources are shown by statistical analysis to contribute significantly to the increase in Na+, K+, Cl−, SO4 2− and NO3 − concentrations in stream waters. Nitrate inputs are controlled by land use, and the elevated isotope composition of nitrate at some sites is attributed to sewage and/or animal waste. Contamination of suspended particulate matter by selected elements (Cu, Ni, Zn, Cd and Pb) in the main channel of the Sava River is low, while higher concentrations were observed in the main tributaries (Una, Vrbas, Bosna and Drina) due to industrial, mining and smelting activities.

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Abbreviations

ARSO:

Slovenian Environment Agency

BA:

Bosnia and Herzegovina

DIC:

Dissolved inorganic carbon

DOC:

Dissolved organic carbon

EIONET:

European Environment Information and Observation Network

GIS:

Geographic Information System

HR:

Croatia

ICP-MS:

Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer

IEA:

Integrated environmental assessments

ME:

Monte Negro

MRT:

Mean residence time

N:

Nitrogen

P:

Phosphorous

POC:

Particulate organic carbon

RS:

Serbia

SARIB:

Sava River Basin: Sustainable Use, Management and Protection of Resources

SEM/EDS:

Scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive spectroscopy

SI:

Slovenia

SPM:

Suspended particulate matter

SRB:

Sava River Basin

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Acknowledgements

The research was performed within the EU 6th Framework Specific Targeted Research Project – SARIB (Sava River Basin: Sustainable Use, Management and Protection of Resources), Contract No. INCO-CT-2004-509160. The project was also supported financially by the US National Science Foundation (NSF-EAR).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Science, Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Nives Ogrinc, Tjaša Kanduč & David Kocman

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  1. Nives Ogrinc
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  2. Tjaša Kanduč
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  3. David Kocman
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Correspondence to Nives Ogrinc .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Sciences, Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Radmila Milačič

  2. Department of Environmental Science, Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Janez Ščančar

  3. Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković”, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia

    Momir Paunović

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Ogrinc, N., Kanduč, T., Kocman, D. (2015). Integrated Approach to the Evaluation of Chemical Dynamics and Anthropogenic Pollution Sources in the Sava River Basin. In: Milačič, R., Ščančar, J., Paunović, M. (eds) The Sava River. The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, vol 31. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44034-6_4

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