Abstract
Water samples were collected in the main channel of the Geum River, South Korea, and measured dissolved elemental concentrations and isotopic compositions of nitrate in order to identify the factors controlling water chemistry. Elemental concentrations significantly increased location-wise after the confluence from urban areas, indicating the changes in solute sources from chemical weathering to anthropogenic inputs such as manure, fertilizers, and sewage. In particular, the effect of sewage input is manifested in the concentrations of Cl−, SO4 2−, and Na+, while the NO3 − concentration is influenced mainly by soil inputs with minor contributions from manure and fertilizer because both δ15N–NO3 and δ18O–NO3 indicate NO3 − mostly consists of soil-derived nitrates in the upper reaches but manure/sewage nitrates in the lower reaches. The relative proportion of three factors, Cl−, Ca2++Mg2+, and NO3 −, indicates that water chemistry in the upstream is controlled by the soil weathering but that in the downstream by the sewage. Seasonally, water chemistry during summer is dominated by the soil weathering due to the flushing effect but that during winter by the sewage. This study suggests that the relative proportion of three factors can be used for tracing natural and anthropogenic sources in water chemistry.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barth JAC, Cronin AA, Dunlop J, Kalin RM (2003) Influence of carbonates on the riverine carbon cycle in an anthropogenically dominated catchment basin: evidence from major elements and stable carbon isotopes in the Lagan River (N. Ireland). Chem Geol 200:203–216. doi:10.1016/S0009-2541(03)00193-1
Cheong CS, Jeong GY, Kim H, Choi M-S, Lee S-H (2003) Early Permian peak metamorphism recorded in U-Pb system of black slates from the Ogcheon metamorphic belt, South Korea, and its tectonic implication. Chem Geol 193:81–92. doi:10.1016/S0009-2541(02)00227-9
Chetelat B, Liu CQ, Zhao ZQ, Wang QL, Li SL, Li J, Wang BL (2008) Geochemistry of the dissolved load of the Changjiang Basin rivers: anthropogenic impacts and chemical weathering. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 72:4254–4277. doi:10.1016/j.gca.2008.06.013
Chung SW, Ko IH, Kim YK (2008) Effect of reservoir flushing on downstream river water quality. J Environ Manag 86:139–147
Clark ID, Fritz P (1997) Environmental isotopes in hydrogeology. CRC Press, New York
Cortecci G, Dinelli E, Bencini A, Adorni-Braccesi A, La Ruffa G (2002) Natural and anthropogenic SO4 sources in the Arno river catchment, northern Tuscany, Italy: a chemical and isotopic reconnaissance. Appl Geochem 17:79–92. doi:10.1016/S0883-2927(01)00100-7
Geological Society of Korea (1999) Geology of Korea. Sigma press, Seoul (in Korean)
Hindshaw RS, Tipper ET, Reynolds BC, Lemarchand E, Wiederhold JG, Magnusson J, Bernasconi SM, Kretzschmar R, Bourdon B (2011) Hydrological control of stream water chemistry in a glacial catchment (Damma Glacier, Switzerland). Chem Geol 285:215–230
Hosono T, Wang CH, Umezawa Y, Nakano T, Onodera S, Nagata T, Yoshimizu C, Tayasu I, Taniguchi M (2011) Multiple isotope (H, O, N, S and Sr) approach elucidates complex pollution causes in the shallow groundwaters of the Taipei urban area. J Hydrol 397:23–36. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2010.11.025
Jenkins A, Sloan WT, Cosby BJ (1995) Stream chemistry in the middle hills and high mountains of the Himalayas, Nepal. J Hydrol 166:61–79. doi:10.1016/0022-1694(94)02600-G
Kendall C (1998) Tracing nitrogen sources and cycling in catchments. In: Kendall C, Mcdonnell JJ (eds) Isotope tracers in catchment hydrology. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 521–576
Kendall C, Elliott EM, Wankel SD (2007) Tracing anthropogenic inputs of nitrogen to ecosystems. In: Michener R, Lajtha K (eds) Stable isotopes in ecology and environmental science, 2nd edn. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, pp 375–449
Korea Meteorological Administration, http://www.kma.go.kr. Accessed 10 May 2016
Korea Ministry of the Environment, http://www.me.go.kr. Accessed 11 May 2016
Korean Fertilizer Industry Association, http://www.fert-kfia.or.kr. Accessed 12 May 2016
Lang YC, Liu CQ, Li SL, Zhao Z-Q, Zhou Z-H (2011) Tracing natural and anthropogenic sources of dissolved sulfate in a karst region by using major ion chemistry and stable sulfur isotopes. Appl Geochemistry 26:S202–S205. doi:10.1016/j.apgeochem.2011.03.104
Lee KS, Bong YS, Lee D, Kim Y, Kim K (2008) Tracing the sources of nitrate in the Han River watershed in Korea, using δ15N–NO3 − and δ18O-NO3 − values. Sci Total Environ 395:117–124. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2008.01.058
Nakano T, Tayasu I, Wada E, Igeta A, Hyodo F, Miura Y (2005) Sulfur and strontium isotope geochemistry of tributary rivers of Lake Biwa: implications for human impact on the decadal change of lake water quality. Sci Total Environ 345:1–12. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2004.10.014
Palmer SM, Driscoll CT, Johnson CE (2004) Long-term trends in soil solution and stream water chemistry at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest: relationship with landscape position. Biogeochemistry 68:51–70. doi:10.1023/B:BIOG.0000025741.88474.0d
Panno SV, Hackley KC, Kelly WR, Hwang HH (2006) Isotopic evidence of nitrate sources and denitrification in the Mississippi River, Illinois. J Environ Qual 35:495–504
Perrin AS, Probst A, Probst JL (2008) Impact of nitrogenous fertilizers on carbonate dissolution in small agricultural catchments: implications for weathering CO2 uptake at regional and global scales. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 72:3105–3123. doi:10.1016/j.gca.2008.04.011
Rock L, Mayer B (2009) Identifying the influence of geology, land use, and anthropogenic activities on riverine sulfate on a watershed scale by combining hydrometric, chemical and isotopic approaches. Chem Geol 262:121–130. doi:10.1016/j.chemgeo.2009.01.002
Rose S (2007) The effects of urbanization on the hydrochemistry of base flow within the Chattahoochee River Basin (Georgia, USA). J Hydrol 341:42–54. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2007.04.019
Ryu JS, Lee KS, Chang HW, Shin HS (2008) Chemical weathering of carbonates and silicates in the Han River basin, South Korea. Chem Geol 247:66–80. doi:10.1016/j.chemgeo.2007.09.011
Semhi K, Suchet PA, Clauer N, Probst J-L (2000) Impact of nitrogen fertilizers on the natural weathering-erosion processes and fluvial transport in the Garonne basin. Appl Geochemistry 15:865–878. doi:10.1016/S0883-2927(99)00076-1
Spence J, Telmer K (2005) The role of sulfur in chemical weathering and atmospheric CO2 fluxes: evidence from major ions, δ13CDIC, and δ34SSO4 in rivers of the Canadian Cordillera. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 69:5441–5458. doi:10.1016/j.gca.2005.07.011
Water Management Information System, http://www.wamis.go.kr. Accessed 10 May 2016
White AF, Brantley SL (2003) The effect of time on the weathering of silicate minerals: why do weathering rates differ in the laboratory and field? Chem Geol 202:479–506. doi:10.1016/j.chemgeo.2003.03.001
Yu SJ, Lee JY, Ha SR (2010) Effect of a seasonal diffuse pollution migration on natural organic matter behavior in a stratified dam reservoir. J Environ Sci 22:908–914
Zielinski RA, Asher-Bolinder S, Meier AL, Johnson CA, Szabo BJ (1997) Natural or fertilizer-derived uranium in irrigation drainage: a case study in southeastern Colorado, U.S.A. Appl Geochemistry 12:9–21. doi:10.1016/S0883-2927(96)00050-9
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Korea Ministry of Environment (MOE) as K-COSEM Program, along with funds from the National Agenda Project (NAP) of the Korea Research Council of Fundamental Science and Technology and partly by a KBSI Grant (C37710).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shin, WJ., Ryu, JS., Park, Y. et al. Sources of dissolved ions revealed by chemical and isotopic tracers in the Geum River, South Korea. Environ Earth Sci 76, 488 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-017-6822-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-017-6822-3