The strontium isotope budget of the Warta River (Poland): Between silicate and carbonate weathering, and anthropogenic pressure

Abstract

The Sr isotope composition (87Sr/86Sr) and Sr content of waters of the Warta River (central-western Poland) and its tributaries were used to fingerprint water sources and their interactions in space and time. Dissolved Sr in river water of the Warta is characterized by a relatively narrow range of the 87Sr/86Sr values, from 0.7090 to 0.7105, which contrasts with a strong variation in isotopic signatures of the tributaries, from 0.7080 to 0.7121. With the exception of three streams, which include inputs of mine waters, the waters of tributaries are more enriched in 87Sr than the master stream. The overall Sr budget of the Warta watershed is determined by the relative contributions of carbonate dissolution and silicate weathering. It can be accounted for by mixing between waters from three reservoirs: 1) groundwater charged with Sr through interaction with Sr-bearing clay minerals, 2) groundwater related to weathering (dissolution) of carbonate rocks, and 3) atmospheric waters charged with Sr from the near-surface weathering and wash-out of Quaternary glaciogenic deposits. Superimposed on the natural Sr isotope systematics is impact of mine waters and fertilizers. The former providing non-radiogenic Sr from the Permian/Mesozoic aquifers constitutes an important anthropogenic element of the Sr budget, whereas the impact of the latter is presumably common but of minor importance. The present-day Sr isotope systematics of the Warta is temporary and different from that of the pre-industrial times.