Despite the awareness that green water is the main source of water to produce food, studies on green water use in cropland ecosystems are still rather limited, and almost no research has so far explored the relationship between green water utilization and socioeconomic development. In this study, with the help of CropWat 8.0, the green water footprint (GWF) of main crops in China was estimated from 1979 to 2016.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhosphorus (P) supplies (concentrations and fluxes) are essential drivers for biological activities in rivers and should be controlled to prevent eutrophication that usually results from urbanization and agricultural expansion. In this study, data from 26 subcatchments in the Mississippi basin were compiled from 2013 to 2017 to identify how catchment area, precipitation, and land cover affect discharge and total P (TP) and how TP yield diverges from a generalized local response mode. Results revealed that area-weighted discharge (Q ) is controlled by precipitation and land cover (i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlastic, and especially microplastic, contamination of soils has become a novel research field. After the detection of microplastics in soils, spatial distribution and dynamics are still unknown. However, the potential risks associated with plastic particles in soils cannot be sufficiently assessed without knowledge about the spatial distribution of these anthropogenic materials.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe notion of water footprint provides a novel perspective for understanding the relationship between physical water and virtual water, especially in agricultural production. In this study, with the help of CROPWAT 8.0 model, we estimate the water footprint requirement (WFr) of main crops growth for 2005, 2010 and 2015 in Zhangjiakou City, an extreme water shortage region in northern China, and three new indicators are introduced, i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWater draining from heavily industrialized basins introduces significant amounts of pollutants to the rivers water and sediments. Heavy industrial activities in the Shatt Al-Arab basin result in increased pollutant loads to the river's surface sediments. Therefore, it becomes crucial to investigate the influence of anthropogenic activities on both spatial and temporal scales.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe release and accumulation dynamics of trace metals in soils and aquatic sediments were exemplarily investigated in the catchment area of the Reservoir Klingenberg (Germany). Catchment soils were examined for mobilizable and total concentrations of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chrome (Cr), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn) and compared with trace metal quantities accumulated in riverbed and reservoir sediments. The comparison of all samples showed relatively small variations of Cr (7.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe draining of a dam is a relatively rare event, however, it can have severe consequences for a watercourse connected to that reservoir. In order to understand the effects of the draining on the mobility of pollutants stored in the bottom sediments, the concentrations of heavy metals and arsenic were measured in pore water, river water, and sediments sampled from three emptied reservoirs in Germany. Two of these sites were analyzed immediately after the draining, while the third reservoir was studied one and a half years after the complete discharge of the stored water.
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