Determination of the Origin of Suspended Matter and Sediments in the Elbe Estuary Using Natural Tracers

Abstract

The clay mineral composition, the concentrations of carbonates, the proportions of carbon and oxygen isotopes in carbonates and organic matter, as well as the concentrations of different nonanthropogenic metals were used to determine the origin of different grain size fractions of sediments and suspended matter in the Elbe estuary. Analysis of the smectite/kaolinite proportion revealed that solid material ≤2 μm from the North Sea is transported up the river, about 40 km beyond the most upstream position of the salt wedge. In the 2–20 μm fraction, the16O/18O ratio in carbonates and the kaolinite/chlorite proportion demonstrate a transport of North Sea material between 40 and 20 km upstream of the marine water limit. The transport behaviour of the 20–63 μm grain size fraction could be determined by the hafnium concentration, representative for the heavy mineral zircon. In this case, the transport distance beyond the salt wedge was up to 20 km. No information was available on the origin of the fine organic matter, whereas the coarser fractions were derived primarily from debris of salt marsh vegetation. The results demonstrate that in the Elbe estuary mixing between marine and fluvial solid material occurs upstream of the salt wedge and is significantly responsible for the observed decrease in the concentration of various pollutants in sediments and suspended matter along the estuary. The cause of the upstream particle transport is probably a scour lag mechanism based on asymmetries of the flood- and ebb-tide current distribution, especially their differing maximum velocities.