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Mobilisation of Heavy Metals in Contaminated Sediments in the River Meuse, The Netherlands

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Abstract

Due to seasonal variation in bottom-water temperature and degradation of organic matter, the depths of the redox boundaries fluctuate in sediments of the river Meuse. This is reflected by a non-steady state behaviour of heavy metals in the surface sediments. Levels of acid-volatile sulphides suggest that dissolved concentrations of heavy metals in the anoxic pore waters are determined by their respective sulphide phases. However, complexation with dissolved organic ligands may significantly increase dissolved concentrations of heavy metals. In most sediments studied, a distinct peak in dissolved concentrations of heavy metals is measured immediately below the sediment-water interface. This concentration peak may be attributed to degradation of organic matter and oxidation of sulphides. Dissolved concentration gradients indicate that upward diffusion of heavy metals from the sediment can contribute to concentrations in the surface water, although significant effects may be confined to specific locations. In addition, it is shown that release of heavy metals as dissolved species to the surface water is negligible compared to particulate-bound fluxes of heavy metals to the sediment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geochemistry, Faculty of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80.021, 3508 TA, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Gerard A. van den Berg & J. P. Gustav Loch

  2. Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, Institute for Inland Water Management and Waste Water Treatment (RIZA), Van Leeuwenhoekweg 20, 3316 AV, Dordrecht, The Netherlands

    Lambertus M. van der Heijdt & John J. G. Zwolsman

Authors
  1. Gerard A. van den Berg
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  2. J. P. Gustav Loch
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  3. Lambertus M. van der Heijdt
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  4. John J. G. Zwolsman
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Correspondence to Gerard A. van den Berg.

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van den Berg, G.A., Gustav Loch, J.P., van der Heijdt, L.M. et al. Mobilisation of Heavy Metals in Contaminated Sediments in the River Meuse, The Netherlands. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 116, 567–586 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005146927718

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