Contaminated Rivers: A Geomorphological-Geochemical Approach to Site Assessment and Remediation

ISBN-13: 9781402052866 / Angielski / Twarda / 2007 / 436 str.

Jerry R. Miller; Suzanne M. Orbock Miller

Opis

By the end of the 1960s, it became acutely apparent that major problems existed with the quality of both surface and subsurface waters on a world-wide scale. In response to these discoveries numerous legislative initiatives were enacted in most developed countries to limit the introduction of contaminants to the environment. It quickly became apparent, however, that not only was there a need to reduce the quantity of contaminants introduced to surface and subsurface waters, but previously contaminated resources had to be remediated to reduce the potential risks on human and ecosystem health. Effective remediation proved to be a difficult task that required an improved understanding of the transport and fate of contaminants in aquatic environments. This fact resulted in a wide range of analyses regarding contaminant transport and cycling in riverine environments during the past several decades. Nonetheless, in comparison to the enormous efforts which have been made to characterize, assess, and remediate contaminated soils and groundwater, contaminated rivers have received relatively little attention. This is in spite of the fact that polluted reaches may cover tens of kilometers of stream channel and the adjacent valley floor. Progress, however, in the soils and groundwater arena has recently produced a shift in emphasis from the subsurface to the surface environment, particularly with regards to cleaning up contaminated rivers. Rivers and their associated drainage basins tend to be geological, hydrological, and geochemically more variable than either soil or groundwater systems.

Recenzje

"Until the publication of this particular book, environmental geochemists had little insight into river particulate transfers, and few river geomorphologists were taking the contamination of river deposits - which generally does not affect the morphological features - into consideration. Contaminated Rivers aims to fill this gap at a time when remediation of contaminated sites and the understanding of particulate contminants transfers are high on the environmental agenda."
Michel Meybeck, EOS vol. 89, no. 32, 2008

Spis treści

1 Contaminated Rivers: An Overview 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Types of Contaminants 1.2.1 Organic Contaminants 1.2.2 Inorganic Contaminants 1.3 Sources of Contamination 1.4 The Dissolved Versus Particulate Load 1.5 Site Characterization, Assessment, and Remediation 1.6 The Geomorphological-Geochemical Approach 1.7 Summary 1.8 Suggested Readings 2 Sediment-Trace Metal Interactions 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Physical Partitioning of Trace Metals in Sediment 2.3 Chemical Partitioning of Trace Metals 2.3.1 Mechanistic Associations 2.3.2 Chemically Reactive Substrates 2.4 Elemental Speciation 2.5 Chemical Remobilization 2.6 Summary 2.7 Suggested Readings 3 Basin Processes 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Hillslope Hydrology 3.2.1 Direct Runoff Generation 3.2.2 Flood Hydrographs 3.3 Contaminant Transport Pathways 3.3.1 The Controlling Factors 3.3.2 Transport via Hortonian Overland Flow 3.3.3 Mapping Spatial Variations in Metal Sources 3.4 Hillslope Erosion 3.4.1 Basic Mechanics 3.4.2 Measurement of Erosion Rates 3.4.3 Prediction of Erosion Rates 3.5 Summary 3.6 Suggested Readings 4 The Water Column - Concentration and Load 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Temporal Variations in Concentration 4.2.1 Dissolved Constituents 4.3 Sediment and Contaminant Loads 4.3.1 Load Estimation 4.3.2 The Effective Transporting Discharge 4.4 Summary 4.5 Suggested Readings 5 The Channel Bed - Contaminant Transport and Storage 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Sediment Transport 5.2.1 Modes of Transport 5.2.2 Channelized Flow 5.2.3 Entrainment 5.3 Dispersal Processes 5.3.1 Hydraulic Sorting 5.3.2 Dilution and Exchange with the Floodplain 5.3.3 Sediment Storage and Exchange Mechanisms 5.3.4 Geochemical Processes and Biological Uptake 5.4 Downstream Patterns 5.5 Deposition and Storage along a Reach 5.5.1 Channel Patterns 5.5.2 Trace Metal Partitioning Mechanisms 5.5.3 Implications to Sampling 5.6 Physical and Mathematical Manipulations 5.7 Temporal Variations in Concentration 5.8 Summary 5.9 Suggested Readings 6 Floodplains 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Floodplains: Definition 6.3 The Formative Processes 6.4 Floodplain Sediments 6.4.1 Floodplain Deposits 6.5 Trace Metal Storage and Distribution 6.5.1 Grain Size Variations 6.5.2 Residence Time and Deposit Age 6.5.3 Sediment Mixing and Homogenization 6.5.4 Post-Depositional Processes 6.6 Overbank Sediments 6.6.1 Depositional Rates and Patterns 6.6.2 Geographical Patterns in Contaminant Concentrations 6.6.3 Documenting Pollution Histories 6.7 Sediment and Contaminant Source Determination 6.7.1 Non-point Source Multivariate Fingerprinting Methods 6.7.2 Isotopic Tracing Methods 6.8 Physical Remobilization 6.8.1 Bank Erosion Processes 6.9 Summary 6.10 Suggested Readings 7 River Metamorphosis 7.1 Introduction 7.2 The Balanced Condition 7.3 Thresholds, Complex Response, and Process Linkages 7.4 Adjustments in Channel Gradient, Shape, and Pattern 7.5 Effects of River Metamorphosis 7.6 Terraces 7.6.1 Definition and Formative Processes 7.6.2 Trace Metal Distributions 7.7 Quantifying Extent and Magnitude of Contamination 7.8 Summary 7.9 Suggested Readings 8 Remed

Blurb

The geomorphological, surficial and geochemical processes and conditions of rivers require a tailored set of strategies and programs to successfully clean up contaminated river reaches. The primary purpose of this book is not only to provide students and professionals with an introductory understanding of fluvial geomorphic principles but also to explain using a process oriented approach how these geomorphic principles can be integrated with geochemical data to cost-effectively characterize, assess and remediate contaminated river systems. Numerous case studies from North America and many other parts of the world are included.

Audience:
Upper level undergraduate and graduate students in geoscience, engineering, environmental science, geography, geochemistry, toxicology, and soil science studying the means to assess, remediate or restore contaminated streams and rivers. It also serves as a reference book for professionals who are working on contaminated aquatic systems, particularly rivers contaminated by trace metals.

 

"River contamination is a problem of global significance. This book provides a comprehensive and highly readable review of the role of fluvial geomorphic processes in understanding and predicting the dispersal and fate of contaminants in aquatic environments. Aimed at both students and professionals it forms an excellent introductory text to this rapidly developing field, especially in river basins experiencing rapid environmental change."
Mark G. Macklin, University of Aberystwyth, UK

"This excellent book clearly and graphically explains the geochemical and geomorphological principles influencing the contamination of river systems, and cost-effective methods for contaminated river assessment and remediation. I shall certainly be recommending it to all of my students and colleagues."
Karen Hudson-Edwards, Birkbeck, University of London, UK