Nitrate sources and mixing in the Danube watershed: implications for transboundary river basin monitoring and management.

ABSTRACT: Dispersed and unknown pollution sources complicate water management in large transboundary watersheds. We applied stable isotopes of water and nitrate together with contaminants of emerging concern (CECs: carbamazepine, caffeine, sulfamethoxazole, perfluorooctanoic acid and 2,4-dinitrophenol) to evaluate mixing and inputs of water and contaminants from tributaries into the mainstem of the transboundary Danube River. Stable isotope (δ¹⁸O, δ²H) variations from low values (- 13.3 ‰, - 95.1 ‰) in the Upper Danube after the Inn River confluence to high values (- 9.9 ‰, - 69.7 ‰) at the Danube River mouth revealed snowmelt dominated tributary mixing (~ 70%) in the mainstem. Stable isotopes of nitrate (δ¹⁵N-NO₃) in the Danube River varied from lower val

SUBMITTER: Halder J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8828721 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature