EDXRF for fingerprinting fine-grained sediment sources in the Demer basin, Belgium
Van Meel, K.; Vanlierde, E.; Collins, A.L.; De Cooman, W.; Makarovska, Y.; Mostaert, F.; Jacobs, P.; Van Grieken, R. (2008). EDXRF for fingerprinting fine-grained sediment sources in the Demer basin, Belgium, in: Fazinic, S. et al. EXRS 2008. European Conference on X-Ray Spectrometry, 16th - 20th June 2008, Cavtat, Dubrovnik, Croatia: book of abstracts. pp. 77 In: Fazinic, S.; Jaksic, M. (Ed.) (2008). EXRS 2008. European Conference on X-Ray Spectrometry, 16th - 20th June 2008, Cavtat, Dubrovnik, Croatia: book of abstracts. Rudjer Boskovic Institute: Zagreb. ISBN 978-953-6690-73-2. 290 pp., more |
| Available in | Authors | | Document type: Summary
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| Keywords | Fingerprinting
Sediments
Belgium, Demer Basin [Marine Regions]
Fresh water |
| Authors | | Top | - Van Meel, K., more
- Vanlierde, E., more
- Collins, A.L.
- De Cooman, W., more
| - Makarovska, Y.
- Mostaert, F., more
- Jacobs, P., more
- Van Grieken, R., more
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| Abstract | The EU Water Framework Directive demands good water quality by 2015. In order to meet this target, water managers need reliable information on catchment sediment dynamics, since sediment represents a key vector governing the transfer and fate of important pollutants. In order to gain a reliable understanding of sediment dynamics one must focus on the principal sources involved. Traditional techniques for investigating sediment provenance face many limitations and constraints. In view of these problems, sediment fingerprinting is increasingly recognized as a reliable alternative means of assembling information on sediment sources at catchment scale.
br> Sediment source fingerprinting requires analysis of elemental composition for identifying a range of fingerprint properties for distinguishing different sources. EDXRF offers potential in this respect. Accordingly, an ongoing study is applying the fingerprinting approach to investigate sediment sources in the Demer basin, Belgium. Potential sediment sources were classified as agricultural soils, channel banks and authigenic sediment produced in-channel due to groundwater upwelling. The various sources imply different matrices, so developing a robust method, capable of handling this variety of matrices, was a challenge. The sample matrix is expected to be composed mostly of low-Z elements, so the high-Z elements can be determined with a method based on Compton correction. In order to validate this approach an ICP-AES procedure, involving HF to ensure complete digestion of the matrix, was used. The agreement with ICP-AES was very satisfying; even low-Z elements could be determined when applying a correction factor.
The promising results of the validation demonstrate that EDXRF can be used to generate fingerprint property datasets and thus to support sediment source fingerprinting studies designed to improve the information available to catchment managers concerned with diffuse pollution problems. |
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