Abstract
Factors that govern heavy metal concentration in sediments were examined by a combined analytical, geochemical, and geological approach. The constrains encountered in the determination of the anthropogenic influence are exposed. The region examined was the Krka River estuary located in the typical karst region of the eastern Adriatic, Yugoslavia.
Sedimentological research revealed that: the Krka River (main water supplier) is almost free of suspended terrigenous material; the main supplier of suspended terrigenous matter of flysch origin is a small torrent-type Guduča Creek, and that this fine grained terrigenous material is sedimented mostly in the central enlarged part of the estuary, the Prokljan “Lake.”
Three different groups of heavy metals were identified in recent sediments. Increased concentrations of nickel and zinc were found in estuarine sediments due to strongnatural enrichment in source rocks. Manganese and chromium were found to benaturally enriched and depleted in surface layer respectively, due to the different postdepositional geochemical behavior. Lead and copper concentrations were found to be increased in surface sediments in the central part of the estuary, apparently from anthropogenic source.
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Prohić, E., Juračić, M. Heavy metals in sediments—problems concerning determination of the anthropogenic influence. Study in the Krka River estuary, eastern Adriatic coast, Yugoslavia. Environ. Geol. Water Sci 13, 145–151 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01664699
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01664699