Modelling the Pathways of Toxic Contaminants in the St. Clair-Detroit River System Using the Toxfate Model: The Fate of Perchloroethylene

1986 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 411-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Efraim Halfon
Keyword(s):  
Half Life ◽  
Lake Erie ◽  
River System ◽  
High Water ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Water Soluble ◽  
Detroit River ◽  
Wind Speeds ◽  
High Volatility ◽  
Local Water

Abstract Perchloroethylene (PERC) is a heavier-than-water, soluble and volatile solvent used primarily in the dry cleaning business. Black puddles (popularly known the the “blob”), containing several contaminants inducing PERC, were reported in the St. Clair River bottom sediments downstream from Sarnia in 1984 and in 1985. The TOXFATE model is used to predict the fate of PERC and the relative importance of volatilization in relation to water transport. Simulations show that in the St. Clair-Detroit River system about 82% (78-87%). under a variety of temperature and wind conditions) of the PERC loading is volatilized, about 17% (12-21%) of loading enters Lake Erie (more in winter, less in summer) and only about 1% remains in the system. The residence half life of PERC being transported in the water from Sarnia to Lake Erie is 350-400 hours and the half life of PERC being volatilized is 80-85 hours. A sensitivity analysis shows the importance of knowing the daily loadings to compute, in real time, local water concentrations following a PERC spill. The high water levels in the St. Clair River system do not influence the fate of PERC. Given the high volatility of PERC low temperatures and wind speeds do not reduce significantly the rate of removal of PERC from the system through volatilize nation.

Performance of Light Coastal Structures Under Normal and High Water Conditions

1975 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 381-391 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. Kamphuis
Keyword(s):  
Lake Erie ◽  
High Water ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Coastal Protection ◽  
Coastal Structures ◽  
Water Conditions ◽  
Protection Structures

A number of lightweight coastal protection structures, built on the Lake Erie shore are discussed in this paper. There were two constraints on the design; limited funds and a very precarious downdrift beach. Thus the structures were inexpensive and the protection was low-key to prevent damage downdrift. In 1972–1974 these structures were subjected to a combination of large waves and high water levels and thus they were tested well beyond their design limits.The paper discusses the structures, their performance under normal conditions, and their performance during and after the abnormally high water levels. It is found that inexpensive, low-key structures are sufficiently strong to survive normal conditions, but fail by overtopping and flanking under conditions beyond their low design limits.

scholarly journals St. Clair-Detroit River system: Phosphorus mass balance and implications for Lake Erie load reduction, monitoring, and climate change

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald Scavia ◽  
Serghei A. Bocaniov ◽  
Awoke Dagnew ◽  
Colleen Long ◽  
Yu-Chen Wang
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Mass Balance ◽  
Lake Erie ◽  
River System ◽  
Load Reduction ◽  
Detroit River ◽  
Phosphorus Mass Balance

scholarly journals Socio-hydrology: conceptualising human-flood interactions

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 4515-4536 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Di Baldassarre ◽  
A. Viglione ◽  
G. Carr ◽  
L. Kuil ◽  
J. L. Salinas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Flood Control ◽  
Technological Development ◽  
River System ◽  
High Water ◽  
Social Processes ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Control Structures ◽  
Flooding Events

Abstract. Over history, humankind has tended to settle near streams because of the role of rivers as transportation corridors and the fertility of riparian areas. However, human settlements in floodplains have been threatened by the risk of flooding. Possible responses have been to resettle away and/or modify the river system by building flood control structures. This has led to a complex web of interactions and feedback mechanisms between hydrological and social processes in settled floodplains. This paper is an attempt to conceptualise these interplays for hypothetical human-flood systems. We develop a simple, dynamic model to represent the interactions and feedback loops between hydrological and social processes. The model is then used to explore the dynamics of the human-flood system and the effect of changing individual characteristics, including external forcing such as technological development. The results show that the conceptual model is able to reproduce reciprocal effects between floods and people as well as the emergence of typical patterns. For instance, when levees are built or raised to protect floodplain areas, their presence not only reduces the frequency of flooding, but also exacerbates high water levels. Then, because of this exacerbation, higher flood protection levels are required by the society. As a result, more and more flooding events are avoided, but rare and catastrophic events take place.

scholarly journals Socio-hydrology: conceptualising human-flood interactions

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (8) ◽  
pp. 3295-3303 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Di Baldassarre ◽  
A. Viglione ◽  
G. Carr ◽  
L. Kuil ◽  
J. L. Salinas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Flood Control ◽  
Technological Development ◽  
River System ◽  
High Water ◽  
Social Processes ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Control Structures ◽  
Flooding Events

Abstract. Over history, humankind has tended to settle near streams because of the role of rivers as transportation corridors and the fertility of riparian areas. However, human settlements in floodplains have been threatened by the risk of flooding. Possible responses have been to resettle away and/or modify the river system by building flood control structures. This has led to a complex web of interactions and feedback mechanisms between hydrological and social processes in settled floodplains. This paper is an attempt to conceptualise these interplays for hypothetical human-flood systems. We develop a simple, dynamic model to represent the interactions and feedback loops between hydrological and social processes. The model is then used to explore the dynamics of the human-flood system and the effect of changing individual characteristics, including external forcing such as technological development. The results show that the conceptual model is able to reproduce reciprocal effects between floods and people as well as the emergence of typical patterns. For instance, when levees are built or raised to protect floodplain areas, their presence not only reduces the frequency of flooding, but also exacerbates high water levels. Then, because of this exacerbation, higher flood protection levels are required by society. As a result, more and more flooding events are avoided, but rare and catastrophic events take place.

Growth of submersed macrophyte communities in the St. Clair – Detroit river system between Lake Huron and Lake Erie

1985 ◽  
Vol 63 (6) ◽  
pp. 1061-1065 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald W. Schloesser ◽  
Thomas A. Edsall ◽  
Bruce A. Manny
Keyword(s):  
Lake Erie ◽  
Aquatic Macrophytes ◽  
Seasonal Succession ◽  
River System ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Lake Huron ◽  
Detroit River ◽  
Species Succession ◽  
Major River ◽  
Study Sites

Growth of submersed aquatic macrophytes was determined from observation and on the basis of biomass of samples collected from April to November 1978 at seven study sites in a major river system of the Great Lakes, the St. Clair – Detroit river system between Lake Huron and Lake Erie. Growth usually began between April and June, peaked between July and October, and decreased by late November. Maximum biomass at six of the seven sites (118–427 g dry weight m−2) was similar or greater than that reported in other rivers at similar latitudes. Seasonal growth of the abundant taxa followed one of three seasonal patterns at each study site: one dominant taxon grew alone; codominant taxa grew sympatrically without species succession; and codominant taxa grew sympatrically with species succession. Differences in growth and seasonal succession of some taxa were apparently caused by the presence or absence of overwintering plant material, competition, and life-cycle differences.

scholarly journals Larval dispersal underlies demographically important intersystem connectivity in a Great Lakes yellow perch (Perca flavescens) population

2016 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 416-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reed M. Brodnik ◽  
Michael E. Fraker ◽  
Eric J. Anderson ◽  
Lucia Carreon-Martinez ◽  
Kristen M. DeVanna ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Larval Dispersal ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Lake Erie ◽  
Perca Flavescens ◽  
River System ◽  
Juvenile Stage ◽  
Detroit River ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Western Lake ◽  
Western Lake Erie

Ability to quantify connectivity among spawning subpopulations and their relative contribution of recruits to the broader population is a critical fisheries management need. By combining microsatellite and age information from larval yellow perch (Perca flavescens) collected in the Lake St. Clair – Detroit River system (SC-DRS) and western Lake Erie with a hydrodynamic backtracking approach, we quantified subpopulation structure, connectivity, and contributions of recruits to the juvenile stage in western Lake Erie during 2006–2007. After finding weak (yet stable) genetic structure between the SC-DRS and two western Lake Erie subpopulations, microsatellites also revealed measurable recruitment of SC-DRS larvae to the juvenile stage in western Lake Erie (17%–21% during 2006–2007). Consideration of precollection larval dispersal trajectories, using hydrodynamic backtracking, increased estimated contributions to 65% in 2006 and 57% in 2007. Our findings highlight the value of complementing subpopulation discrimination methods with hydrodynamic predictions of larval dispersal by revealing the SC-DRS as a source of recruits to western Lake Erie and also showing that connectivity through larval dispersal can affect the structure and dynamics of large lake fish populations.

Holocene Environmental Changes from the Rio Curuá Record in the Caxiuanã Region, Eastern Amazon Basin

2000 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 369-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hermann Behling ◽  
Marcondes Lima da Costa
Keyword(s):  
Rain Forest ◽  
Amazon Basin ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
River System ◽  
High Water ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Annual Rainfall ◽  
Terra Firme ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Amazon Rain Forest

AbstractHolocene environments have been reconstructed by multiproxy studies of an 850-cm-long core from Rio Curuá dating to >8000 14C yr B.P. The low-energy river lies in the eastern Amazon rain forest in the Caxiuanã National Forest Reserve, 350 km west of Belem in northern Brazil. Sedimentological, mineralogical, and geochemical dates demonstrate that the deposits correspond to two different environments, sediments of an active river before 8000 14C yr B.P. and later a passive river system. The pollen analytical results indicate four different local and regional Holocene paleoenvironmental periods: (1) a transition to a passive fluvial system and a well-drained terra firme (unflooded upland) Amazon rain forest with very limited development of inundated forests (várzea and igapó) (>7990–7030 14C yr B.P.); (2) a sluggish river with a local Mauritia palm-swamp and similar regional vegetation, as before (7030–5970 14C yr B.P.); (3) a passive river, forming shallow lake conditions and with still-abundant terra firme forest in the study region (5970–2470 14C yr B.P.); and (4) a blocked river with high water levels and marked increase of inundated forests during the last 2470 14C yr B.P. Increased charcoal during this last period suggests the first strong presence of humans in this region. The Atlantic sea level rise was probably the major factor in paleoenvironmental changes, but high water stands might also be due to greater annual rainfall during the late Holocene.

Das waldreiche obere Theresiental (Transkarpatien, Ukraine) – geografisch-ökologische und sozioökonomische Beschreibung | The forest-rich upper Theresian Valley (Transcarpathia, Ukraine): a geographic-ecological and socio-economical description

2007 ◽  
Vol 158 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 14-21
Author(s):  
Vasyl Sabadosh ◽  
Oleg Suprunenko
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
High Water ◽  
The State ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Private Companies ◽  
Foreign Investors ◽  
Wood Processing ◽  
Job Opportunities ◽  
Orange Revolution

The upper Theresian Valley lies along the southwest-facing ridge of the Ukrainian Carpathians. Despite expansive forestation high water levels are frequent. The forest belongs to the state and is centrally administrated. Felling is sometimes outsourced to private companies and private companies have also been founded to process the timber. Job opportunities have become fewer and illegal work is increasing. A new democratic awareness has emerged since the «Orange Revolution» in 2004. With foreign investors, however, new risks emerge. The authors recommend giving monies from forest management to the communities, the founding of new wood processing enterprises and more transparent information.

Lake and inland dunes as interconnected Systems: The story of Lake Tresssee and an adjacent dune field (Schleswig-Holstein, North Germany)

The Holocene ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 095968362098168
Author(s):  
Christian Stolz ◽  
Magdalena Suchora ◽  
Irena A Pidek ◽  
Alexander Fülling
Keyword(s):  
Water Level ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
High Water ◽  
Alluvial Fan ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Lake Area ◽  
Dune Field ◽  
The North ◽  
Sand Drift

The specific aim of the study was to investigate how four adjacent geomorphological systems – a lake, a dune field, a small alluvial fan and a slope system – responded to the same impacts. Lake Tresssee is a shallow lake in the North of Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). During the Holocene, the lake’s water surface declined drastically, predominately as a consequence of human impact. The adjacent inland dune field shows several traces of former sand drift events. Using 30 new radiocarbon ages and the results of 16 OSL samples, this study aims to create a new timeline tracing the interaction between lake and dunes, as well, as how both the lake and the dunes reacted to environmental changes. The water level of the lake is presumed to have peaked during the period before the Younger Dryas (YD; start at 10.73 ka BC). After the Boreal period (OSL age 8050 ± 690 BC) the level must have undergone fluctuations triggered by climatic events and the first human influences. The last demonstrable high water level was during the Late Bronze Age (1003–844 cal. BC). The first to the 9th century AD saw slightly shrinking water levels, and more significant ones thereafter. In the 19th century, the lake area was artificially reduced to a minimum by the human population. In the dunes, a total of seven different phases of sand drift were demonstrated for the last 13,000 years. It is one of the most precisely dated inland-dune chronologies of Central Europe. The small alluvial fan took shape mainly between the 13th and 17th centuries AD. After 1700 cal. BC (Middle Bronze Age), and again during the sixth and seventh centuries AD, we find enhanced slope activity with the formation of Holocene colluvia.

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