Marine Pollution Differentiation with Stable Isotopes of Groundwater

Diana Mance,Davor Mance,Darija Vukić Lušić

doi:10.31217/p.32.1.10

Diana Mance, Davor Mance + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.31217/p.32.1.10

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Abstract

Stock and flow pollution differentiation is the basis for efficient pollution-abatement mechanism designs. The focus of our research has been marine pollution from land-based sources. Stable isotope analysis of groundwater is an acknowledged method for karst aquifer characterisation. We have tested whether stable isotopes of water, when used as a proxy for groundwater dynamics in the karst, could also be used as an indicator of marine pollution differentiation in terms of flow and stock pollution. The focus has been on two close coastal locations characterized by differences in terms of open and closed sea as well as anthropogenic pressure. A static Estimated General Least Squares (EGLS) statistical model described the closed bay location suggesting stock pollution. For a good description of the open sea location, we have had to resort to dynamic Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) statistical modelling, indicating flow pollution. Stable isotopes of groundwater together with appropriate statistical tools have proved to be a useful tool of marine pollution differentiation into stock or flow.

Highlights

Ecological problems, as dealt in environmental economics and economic institutional mechanism design, are described as stock and flow problems [21, 25]
We have tested whether stable isotopes of water, when used as a proxy for groundwater dynamics in the karst, could be used as an indicator of marine pollution differentiation in terms of flow and stock pollution
We have run a dynamic panel data modelling in form of a General Method of Moments (GMM) with First Differences (FD) transformation to control for the unobserved time-invariant individual effect heterogeneity

Summary

Introduction

Ecological problems, as dealt in environmental economics and economic institutional mechanism design, are described as stock and flow problems [21, 25]. Rates of pollution emission and depletion determine the system’s sustainability [15]. Flow pollution is dependent on the speed of emission of the pollutant into the medium and rates of the pollution depletion by natural causes from the medium. For any reasonable institutional mechanism design of pollution control, we need to know the critical concentrations of pollutants as well as the factors and determinants of their accumulation and depletion, and when these are not known directly, indicator variables may serve as proxies. The bathing waters in the Kvarner Bay are, in general, of a good bacteriological quality, but there is evidence of temporary faecal bacterial pollution at certain locations conditioned by the sewage and septic tanks faults, vicinity of sewage disposal systems and/or certain times conditioned by the total rainfall [24]. We have taken a step further and have used the d18O as one of the components in statistical modelling of the marine microbial pollution and in such way help determine the type of pollution according to the stock and flow classification

Stable Isotopes of Water

Statistical Analysis and Modelling

Results and Discussion

Conclusion