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Poulier G, Launay M, Le Bescond C, Thollet F, Coquery M, Le Coz J. Combining flux monitoring and data reconstruction to establish annual budgets of suspended particulate matter, mercury and PCB in the Rhône River from Lake Geneva to the Mediterranean Sea. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2019; 658:457-473. [PMID: 30579203 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.12.075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2018] [Revised: 12/05/2018] [Accepted: 12/05/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Long term and high resolution data on water discharge, suspended particulate matter (SPM) and contaminant concentrations in rivers are required for a better understanding of particulate transfers from the continental areas to the seas. The aim of this study was to provide a novel estimation of annual fluxes of SPM and related pollutants in the Rhône River from Lake Geneva to the Mediterranean Sea by combining high frequency or time-integrative monitoring and novel relations between SPM concentration (Cs) and water discharge (Q). At six stations of the Rhône Sediment Observatory (OSR), SPM fluxes were calculated over the 2000-2016 period by combining observational data and Cs-Q relations. Monthly average concentrations of mercury (Hg) and PCB 180 were obtained by analysis of SPM samples collected in time integrative particle traps between 2011 and 2016. These pollutants were selected because of the well documented contamination of the Rhône watershed by these substances. Inter-annual fluxes at the Rhône River outlet averaged 6.6 Mt. yr-1 for SPM, 572 kg yr-1 for Hg and 14 kg yr-1 for PCB 180. The Isère and Durance tributaries were found to be the main contributors of SPM fluxes. Annual SPM budgets were not balanced, suggesting deposition, remobilization of bottom sediments and/or contributions from non-monitored tributaries. The SPM sampled at the outlet was more contaminated than the combined SPM inputs from the monitored tributaries, suggesting that intermediate sources of contamination were not captured in the budget.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gaëlle Poulier
- Irstea, UR RiverLy, centre de Lyon-Villeurbanne, 5 rue de la Doua CS 20244, 69625 Villeurbanne, France
| | - Marina Launay
- Irstea, UR RiverLy, centre de Lyon-Villeurbanne, 5 rue de la Doua CS 20244, 69625 Villeurbanne, France
| | - Chloé Le Bescond
- Irstea, UR RiverLy, centre de Lyon-Villeurbanne, 5 rue de la Doua CS 20244, 69625 Villeurbanne, France.
| | - Fabien Thollet
- Irstea, UR RiverLy, centre de Lyon-Villeurbanne, 5 rue de la Doua CS 20244, 69625 Villeurbanne, France.
| | - Marina Coquery
- Irstea, UR RiverLy, centre de Lyon-Villeurbanne, 5 rue de la Doua CS 20244, 69625 Villeurbanne, France.
| | - Jérôme Le Coz
- Irstea, UR RiverLy, centre de Lyon-Villeurbanne, 5 rue de la Doua CS 20244, 69625 Villeurbanne, France.
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Zebracki M, Eyrolle-Boyer F, Evrard O, Claval D, Mourier B, Gairoard S, Cagnat X, Antonelli C. Tracing the origin of suspended sediment in a large Mediterranean river by combining continuous river monitoring and measurement of artificial and natural radionuclides. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2015; 502:122-132. [PMID: 25255199 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.08.082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2014] [Revised: 08/03/2014] [Accepted: 08/23/2014] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Delivery of suspended sediment from large rivers to marine environments has important environmental impacts on coastal zones. In France, the Rhone River (catchment area of 98,000 km(2)) is by far the main supplier of sediment to the Mediterranean Sea and its annual solid discharge is largely controlled by flood events. This study investigates the relevance of alternative and original fingerprinting techniques based on the relative abundances of a series of radionuclides measured routinely at the Rhone River outlet to quantify the relative contribution of sediment supplied by the main tributaries during floods. Floods were classified according to the relative contribution of the main subcatchments (i.e., Oceanic, Cevenol, extensive Mediterranean and generalised). Between 2000 and 2012, 221 samples of suspended sediment were collected at the outlet and were shown to be representative of all flood types that occurred during the last decade. Three geogenic radionuclides (i.e., (238)U, (232)Th and (40)K) were used as fingerprints in a multivariate mixing model in order to estimate the relative contribution of the main subcatchment sources-characterised by different lithologies-in sediment samples collected at the outlet. Results showed that total sediment supply originating from Pre-Alpine, Upstream, and Cevenol sources amounted to 10, 7 and 2.10(6)tons, respectively. These results highlight the role of Pre-Alpine tributaries as the main sediment supplier (53%) to the Rhone River during floods. Other fingerprinting approaches based on artificial radionuclide activity ratios (i.e., (137)Cs/(239+240)Pu and (238)Pu/(239+240)Pu) were tested and provided a way to quantify sediment remobilisation or the relative contributions of the southern tributaries. In the future, fingerprinting methods based on natural radionuclides should be further applied to catchments with heterogeneous lithologies. Methods based on artificial radionuclides should be further applied to catchments characterised by heterogeneous post-Chernobyl (137)Cs deposition or by specific releases of radioactive effluents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathilde Zebracki
- Laboratoire d'Etudes Radioécologiques en milieu Continental et Marin (LERCM), Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, France.
| | - Frédérique Eyrolle-Boyer
- Laboratoire d'Etudes Radioécologiques en milieu Continental et Marin (LERCM), Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, France
| | - Olivier Evrard
- Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement (LSCE/IPSL), Unité Mixte de Recherche 8212 (CEA/CNRS/UVSQ), Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - David Claval
- Laboratoire d'Etudes Radioécologiques en milieu Continental et Marin (LERCM), Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, France
| | - Brice Mourier
- Université Lyon 1, UMR 5023 Ecologie des Hydrosystèmes Naturels et Anthropisés, ENTPE, CNRS, 3, Rue Maurice Audin, F-69518 Vaulx-en-Velin, France; Université de Limoges, GRESE, EA 4330, 123 avenue Albert Thomas, 87060 Limoges, France
| | - Stéphanie Gairoard
- Centre de Recherche et d'Enseignement de Géosciences de l'Environnement (CEREGE), Unité Mixte 34 (AMU/CNRS/IRD), Aix-en-Provence, France
| | - Xavier Cagnat
- Laboratoire de Mesure de la Radioactivité dans l'Environnement (LMRE), Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), Orsay, France
| | - Christelle Antonelli
- Laboratoire d'Etudes Radioécologiques en milieu Continental et Marin (LERCM), Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, France
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Jeong HJ, Hwang WT, Kim EH, Han MH. Radiological risk assessment for an urban area: Focusing on a drinking water contamination. ANN NUCL ENERGY 2009. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anucene.2009.07.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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Maillet GM, Raccasi G, Provansal M, Sabatier F, Antonelli C, Vella C, Fleury TJ. Transferts sédimentaires dans le Bas-Rhône depuis le milieu du 19e siècle : essai de quantification. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2009. [DOI: 10.7202/029569ar] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Résumé
En raison des contraintes géographiques et hydrographiques qui le caractérisent (influence des affluents méditerranéens, affaiblissement du profil longitudinal, proximité du niveau marin), le Bas-Rhône présente une tendance historique au stockage des sédiments dans sa plaine d’inondation, responsable de la progradation de la plaine deltaïque. Il constitue aujourd’hui une zone-clé essentielle à la compréhension des relations entre le bassin-versant et le milieu océanique, aussi bien pour le transfert de la charge sédimentaire que pour les différents polluants dont celle-ci est le vecteur. Il apparaît donc nécessaire de déterminer quelle est sa capacité de transfert et quelle part du transit sédimentaire est stockée dans les différents compartiments de cet espace. Les données utilisées sont issues de sources bibliographiques directes (mesures in situ, travaux de quantification) et indirectes (superposition de cartes bathymétriques, reconstitution de l’historique des débits). Disponibles à diverses échelles temporelles et spatiales, ces sources permettent de proposer un bilan du fonctionnement sédimentaire depuis 150 ans et d’analyser les discontinuités du transit particulaire, en tenant compte de la part du stockage (permanent ou temporaire) dans les lits fluviaux et du transfert vers l’embouchure, puis le littoral et la plate-forme continentale. Ce bilan démontre que le Rhône actuel est un bon conducteur de sa charge solide jusqu’à l’embouchure et que cette dernière stocke de moins en moins le flux sédimentaire. Ce fonctionnement est interprété comme étant la conséquence des aménagements qui contraignent l’écoulement fluvial depuis le milieu de 19e siècle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Grégoire M. Maillet
- Centre européen de recherche et de l’enseignement des géosciences de l’environnement, UMR 6635 CNRS, Universités Aix-Marseille, Europôle méditerranéen de l’Arbois, B.P. 80, 13545 Aix-en-Provence Cedex 4, France
| | - Guillaume Raccasi
- Centre européen de recherche et de l’enseignement des géosciences de l’environnement, UMR 6635 CNRS, Universités Aix-Marseille, Europôle méditerranéen de l’Arbois, B.P. 80, 13545 Aix-en-Provence Cedex 4, France
| | - Mireille Provansal
- Centre européen de recherche et de l’enseignement des géosciences de l’environnement, UMR 6635 CNRS, Universités Aix-Marseille, Europôle méditerranéen de l’Arbois, B.P. 80, 13545 Aix-en-Provence Cedex 4, France
| | - François Sabatier
- Centre européen de recherche et de l’enseignement des géosciences de l’environnement, UMR 6635 CNRS, Universités Aix-Marseille, Europôle méditerranéen de l’Arbois, B.P. 80, 13545 Aix-en-Provence Cedex 4, France
| | - Christelle Antonelli
- Laboratoire d’études radioécologiques en milieu continental et marin, Institut de radioprotection et de sûreté nucléaire, Bâtiment 153, B.P. 3, 13115 Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, France
| | - Claude Vella
- Centre européen de recherche et de l’enseignement des géosciences de l’environnement, UMR 6635 CNRS, Universités Aix-Marseille, Europôle méditerranéen de l’Arbois, B.P. 80, 13545 Aix-en-Provence Cedex 4, France
| | - Thomas J. Fleury
- Centre européen de recherche et de l’enseignement des géosciences de l’environnement, UMR 6635 CNRS, Universités Aix-Marseille, Europôle méditerranéen de l’Arbois, B.P. 80, 13545 Aix-en-Provence Cedex 4, France
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Eyrolle F, Claval D, Gontier G, Antonelli C. Radioactivity levels in major French rivers: summary of monitoring chronicles acquired over the past thirty years and current status. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2008; 10:800-11. [DOI: 10.1039/b805752b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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Lansard B, Charmasson S, Gascó C, Antón MP, Grenz C, Arnaud M. Spatial and temporal variations of plutonium isotopes (238Pu and 239,240Pu) in sediments off the Rhone River mouth (NW Mediterranean). THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2007; 376:215-27. [PMID: 17335871 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2007.01.069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2006] [Revised: 12/20/2006] [Accepted: 01/08/2007] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
The dispersion and fate of the Rhone River inputs to the Gulf of Lions (Northwestern Mediterranean Sea) have been studied through the spatial and temporal distributions of plutonium isotopes in continental shelf sediments. Plutonium isotopes ((238)Pu and (239,240)Pu) are appropriate tracers to follow the dispersion of particulate matter due both to their high affinity for particles and their long half-lives. In the Rhone River valley, plutonium isotopes originate from both the weathering of the catchment basin contaminated by global atmospheric fallout, and the liquid effluents released from the Marcoule reprocessing plant since 1961. This work presents a first detailed study on (238)Pu and (239,240)Pu distributions in sediments from the Rhone prodelta to the adjacent continental shelf, since the decommissioning of Marcoule in 1997. The vertical distribution of Pu isotopes has been analysed in a 4.75 m long core sampled in 2001 at the Rhone mouth. Despite this length, plutonium is found at the last 10 cm, manifesting the high sedimentation rate of the prodeltaic area and its ability for trapping fine-grained sediments and associated contaminants. The highest (238)Pu and (239,240)Pu concentrations reached 1.26 and 5.97 Bq kg(-1) respectively and were found within the layer 280-290 cm. The (238)Pu/(239,240)Pu activity ratios (AR) demonstrated an efficient and huge trapping of the Pu isotopes derived from Marcoule. The fresh sediments, located on the top of the core, show lower plutonium activity concentrations and lower (238)Pu/(239,240)Pu ratios. This decrease is in close relation with the shut down of the Marcoule reprocessing plant in 1997. In 2001, plutonium isotopes were also analysed in 21 surface sediments located offshore and concentrations ranged from 0.03 to 0.17 Bq kg(-1) for (238)Pu and from 0.33 to 1.72 Bq kg(-1) for (239,240)Pu. The (238)Pu/(239,240)Pu AR ranged from 0.24 close to the river mouth to 0.06 southwards, indicating the decreasing influence of the Marcoule releases (global fallout AR 0.03-0.05 and Marcoule AR 0.30). This is in good agreement with the main direction spread of the Rhone River plume and the bottom current. This dataset has been compared to those obtained in the same area in 1984 and 1990 in order to follow the time trend in Pu concentrations. This comparison highlights the decrease with time in plutonium concentrations close to the Rhone River mouth, but further away this reduction is not so evident.
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Affiliation(s)
- B Lansard
- Laboratoire d'Océanographie et de Biogéochimie, UMR 6535, CNRS/Université de la Méditerranée, Station Marine d'Endoume, rue de la Batterie des Lions, 13007, Marseille, France.
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