Examining contaminant transport hotspots and their predictability across contrasted watersheds.

Autor: Ariano SS; Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, McGill University, 3450 University Street, Montreal, QC, H3A 0E8, Canada. sarah.ariano@utoronto.ca.; Department of Earth Sciences, University of Toronto, 27 King's College Circle, Toronto, ON, M5S 1A1, Canada. sarah.ariano@utoronto.ca., Bain J; School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada., Ali G; Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, McGill University, 3450 University Street, Montreal, QC, H3A 0E8, Canada.; Department of Geography, McGill University, 805 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, QC, H3A 0B9, Canada.; School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Environmental monitoring and assessment [Environ Monit Assess] 2024 Sep 03; Vol. 196 (10), pp. 885. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Sep 03.
DOI: 10.1007/s10661-024-13053-8
Abstrakt: Hydrobiogeochemical processes governing water quantity and quality are highly variable in space and time. Focusing on thirty river locations in Québec, Canada, three water quality hotness indices were used to classify watersheds as contaminant transport hotspots. Concentration and load data for suspended solids (SS), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorous (TP) were used to identify transport hotspots, and results were compared across hotness indices with different data requirements. The role of hydroclimatic and physiographic characteristics on the occurrence and temporal persistence of transport hotspots was examined. Results show that the identification of transport hotspots was dependent on both the type of data and the hotness index used. Relationships between temporal and spatial predictors, however, were generally consistent. Annual transport hotspot occurrence was found to be related to temporal characteristics such as the number of dry days, potential evapotranspiration, and snow water equivalent, while hotspot temporal persistence was correlated to landcover characteristics. Stark differences in the identification of SS, TN, and TP transport hotspots were attributed to differences in mobilization processes and provided insights into dominant water and nutrient flowpaths in the studied watersheds. This study highlighted the importance of comparing contaminant dynamics across watersheds even when high-frequency water quality data or discharge data are not available. Characterizing hotspot occurrence and persistence, among hotness indices and water quality parameters, could be useful for watershed managers when identifying problematic watersheds, exploring legacy effects, and establishing a prioritization framework for areas that would benefit from enhanced routine monitoring or targeted mitigation strategies.
(© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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