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Extreme hydrological regimes of a small urban river: impact on trace element partitioning, enrichment and fluxes

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Abstract

The input of trace elements from a small urban river (Las River, Toulon, France) located on the northern Mediterranean coast was studied during both base flow and flood events. A 2-year monitoring period of water flow and suspended particulate matter (SPM) showed a typical Mediterranean hydrological regime: a strong increase in water flow and SPM during short flood periods. During the flood event, an up to 2-fold increase in dissolved trace element (DTM) concentrations and particulate trace element content in SPM (PTM) was observed compared to the baseline discharge. The enrichment factor of elements in the SPM ranges from low or moderate for Co, Ni and Cr (1.0–4.7) to extremely high for Cd (157). However, the enrichment factors decrease from base flow to flood, indicating a dilution effect with a large yield of weathering particles with higher particle size. The most significant total trace element loading occurred during flood, ranging from 78% for As and Ni to 91% for Pb, while PTM loading during flood ranged from 35% for As to 77% for Pb. The specific dissolved fluxes during the flood are significantly higher for Pb, Cu and Zn than in the surrounding rivers, indicating specificity in the catchment (lithology). This study shows the importance of monitoring the transport of pollutants through small urban rivers and their potential impact on the coastal region, especially when they enter small and closed bays, as a receiving pool.

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Data availability

The datasets generated and analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank “Météo-france” for the access to data from station “la Mitre”, Amonda El Houssainy for helping create the map used and the LASEM (Laboratoire d’Analyses de Surveillance et d’Expertise de la Marine) in Toulon for major elements analysis. The authors also thank the PACEM-MIO platform for facilities. This work is dedicated to our friend and colleague Cédric Garnier (1977–2018). We will always remember him with gratefulness.

Funding

This study was part of the METFLUX research project funded by the French water agency “Agence de l’Eau Rhône Méditerranée Corse” (convention n°2016-1364).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université de Toulon, Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, IRD, MIO, Toulon, France

    Gaël Durrieu, Nicolas Layglon, Sébastien D’Onofrio, Cédric Garnier & Stéphane Mounier

  2. University of Geneva, Sciences II, 30 Quai E.-Ansermet, 1221, Geneva 4, Switzerland

    Nicolas Layglon

  3. Aix Marseille Univ, Université de Toulon, CNRS, IRD, MIO, Marseille, France

    Benjamin Oursel

  4. Center for Marine and Environmental Research, Ruđer Bošković Institute, P.O. Box 180, 10002, Zagreb, Croatia

    Dario Omanović

Authors
  1. Gaël Durrieu
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  2. Nicolas Layglon
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  3. Sébastien D’Onofrio
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  4. Benjamin Oursel
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  5. Dario Omanović
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  6. Cédric Garnier
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  7. Stéphane Mounier
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Contributions

Garnier Cédric conceptualized the study and acquired the funding. Mounier Stéphane and Garnier Cédric oversaw the project administration. Durrieu Gaël, Layglon Nicolas, D’Onofrio Sébastien, Oursel Benjamin, Omanović Dario, Garnier Cédric, and Mounier Stéphane participated in the sampling, the analyses, and the revision of the original manuscript. Durrieu Gaël, Omanović Dario, and Mounier Stéphane wrote the original manuscript.

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Correspondence to Gaël Durrieu.

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Durrieu, G., Layglon, N., D’Onofrio, S. et al. Extreme hydrological regimes of a small urban river: impact on trace element partitioning, enrichment and fluxes. Environ Monit Assess 195, 1092 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-023-11622-x

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