The development of freshwater deltas and their environmental and economic significance

The article presents the results of studies concerning the delta forms that arise as a result of the sedimentation of the debris fed to water bodies by watercourses. The study covered several dozen anthropogenic water bodies in the Upper Silesia region, which is well known for its high degree of urbanisation and industrialisation. Basic research work included morphometric measurements of deltas, analyses of the mechanical and chemical composition of delta sediments and analyses of the chemical composition of the common reed growing on the deltas. The research has demonstrated that the deltas exhibit certain characteristics typical of anthropogenic forms that result from the pollutants found in watercourses. In delta sediments, grains of sand usually dominate, but in many cases the share of the < 0.02 mm fraction is as high as ca. 30%. Sediments often contain fine coal and other organic pollutants, which is reflected by high weight loss on ignition. The content of trace elements in delta sediments is usually many times higher than the geochemical background for all types of sedimentary rocks. Deltas are an environment where pollutants accumulate and some of them are assimilated by plants. The content of macro elements in common reed tissues from different deltas does not vary widely while the content of trace elements often results from their content in the sediments. The material that forms deltas can be extracted and in some cases even used as fuel

Composition and physico-chemical properties of bottom sediments in the southern part of the Bratsk Reservoir (Russia)

The paper presents the results of studies of bottom sediments taken from the southern part of the Bratsk Reservoir. The following analyses have been conducted: trace element analysis, particle-size analysis as well as chemical analysis of water, hydrochloric acid and alkaline extracts for 18 samples of the bottom sediments. The granulometric analysis has identified the predominance of fine silt and silty-clayed sediments. The data on the content of trace elements in the bottom sediments of the Bratsk Reservoir is presented in comparison with their content in the natural environment of the Baikal region; the anomaly ratio was used to characterize the excess for trace elements. The chemical analysis of extracts has showed “saline contamination” of mud (silt), high concentration of carbonates in it, as well as the presence of mobile (free) forms of aluminum oxide. In this research, an attempt was made by using a correlation analysis to evaluate the impact of various physical and chemical characteristics of the bottom sediments, such as the content of clay fraction, organic carbon, carbonates, and water-soluble salts on the accumulation of trace elements

Anthropogenic enrichment of the chemical composition of bottom sediments of water bodies in the neighborhood of a non-ferrous metal smelter (Silesian Upland, Southern Poland)

An assessment was carried out of the anthropogenic enrichment of the chemical composition of the bottom sediments of water bodies situated in an area with an urban and industrial character (63.7% of the total area). The endorheic catchments of the water bodies studied are lithologically uniform with sandy formations accounting for more than 90% of the surface area. On the basis of geoaccumulation index values, it was found that the bottom sediments of the water bodies studied were contaminated with the following elements: Cd, Zn, S, As, Pb, Sr, Co, Cr, Cu, Ba, Ni, V, Be, in degrees ranging from moderate to extreme, with lower contamination (or absence of contamination) with the same elements being found in the formations present in the vicinity and in the substrate of the basins of water bodies. It was found that one consequence of the fact that these water bodies are located in urban and industrial areas is that there is anthropogenic enrichment of the chemical composition of bottom sediments with certain basic components (organic matter, Mn, Ca and P compounds) and trace elements: Cd, Zn, Pb, Sb, As, Cu and Co, Br, Ni, S, Be, Cs, Sr, V, Cr, Sc, Ba, U, Ce, Eu and Th, with virtually no enrichment of sediments with the other basic and trace components analysed (La, Rb, K2O, Nd, Sm, Na2O, Hf, SiO2, Zr)

Funkcjonowanie zbiorników wodnych oraz przebieg procesów limnicznych w warunkach zróżnicowanej antropopresji na przykładzie regionu górnośląskiego

Water reservoirs in the Upper Silesian Region function under conditions of varied urban-industrial and to a smaller degree agricultural anthropopression, as well as also in areas of quasi-natural conditions (fig. 1). It determines the specific character of the course of limnic processes, which is significant for standing waters, e.g. water cycle, fluctuations in water stages, thermal and oxygen processes, course of ice phenomena, changes in water fertility, shore processes, formation of bottom deposits, accumulation of pollutants, viability of reservoirs. Changing during last tens of years natural and anthropogenic conditions additionally modify the course of these processes, just as forms of water reservoirs use and their natural and socio-economical functionality. The Upper Silesian Region is identified with borderland parts of two historical-ethnographic provinces, i.e. Upper Silesia and the western Little Poland (fig. 2). Contemporarily this area is perceived by the prism of widely understood industrial significance and in the central part (Upper Silesian Industrial Region, Rybnik Coal Region) it is considered to be the most anthropogenically transformed area of Poland. The main aim of investigations is to determine the natu ral and anthropogenic conditions of occurrence, functioning and use of water reservoirs in the Upper Silesian Region, betokening the existence of readable concentration of these reservoirs. The first field investigations were carried out in the years 1993—1997 and they were periodically continued in the last decade. In the hydrological year 2007 the detailed investigations included water reservoirs of the Upper Silesia, which are varied in respect of morphogenesis, morphometry, mixion, trophy and function. Among objects typed for research (fig. 3) were numbered large dam and post-exploitation reservoirs as well as many smaller water bodies, which are unique in respect of limnology considering: halinotrophy, acidotrophy, eutrophy and hypertrophy, dimixion, polymixion or meromixion, the occurrence of so-called anthropogenic deposits. Upper Silesian Anthropogenic Lakeland (U.S.A.L.- -GPA) of 6766 km2 in area was separated as the region with occurrence of 4773 water bodies. The density of reservoir occurrence (70.54 per 100 km2) and their total area (185.4 km2), decides of lake density of the Upper Silesian Anthropogenic Lakeland, which amounts to 2.74% and is comparable with young-glacial terrains, identified with the largest concentration of lakes in Poland (fig. 56—59). They are mainly water reservoirs of anthropogenic character: post-regulation (fig. 4), post-exploitation (tab. 1, photo 1, fig. 5), in subsidence and collapse depressions (fig. 6), dam- (fig. 7), weir- (fig. 8) and others water bodies (fig. 9), at minimal number of lakes. Hydrogenesis of reservoirs of the Upper Silesian Region is an effect of specific water cycle in this area, and in the case of particular reservoirs its variety is expressed by their water balance. It is characterised by large complication resulting from the complexity of conditions (rather anthropogenic than natural) (fig. 10—13). On the base of vertical and horizontal water exchange and the course of other limnic processes in reservoirs, two kinds of reservoirs are fundamentally distinguishable. The first type of reservoirs preserves attributes of lakes, in which these processes result from the existence of natural conditions, e.g. fluctuations in water stages, course of thermal processes (fig. 22, 23), oxygen (tab. 3) and mictic processes and ice phenomena (fig. 25 and 26, photo 4) in quasi-natural reservoirs. The second type, which to a high degree is under the influence of anthropopression, keeps only some of these attributes. In reservoirs belonging to the second type can happen as follows: — disturbance in the seasonal variety of inflow and surface outflow resulting from realisation of actual assumptions of water management (indices of relative seasonal fluctuations reach values from 0% up to several hundred %), which derivatives are fluctuations in water stages of maximal values of 9 m (fig. 14—21); — variety in absolute amount of pluvial supply and evaporation, which are anthropogenically forced in the consequence of dynamical changes in the area of reservoirs (fig. 14—21), including the periodical draining of the whole reservoir; — reduction of the retention size in consequence of intensively occurring filtration processes of water from reservoirs (even more than 1 m3/s), what is favoured by limited possibilities of silting of bowls, which often function no more than tens of years, e.g. in former excavations, in river valleys filled with fluvial depo sits of large permeability; — changeability in the rate of total water exchange (tab. 2) implied by artificially controlled cycle (the time of theoretical water exchange for more than 10 the largest water bodies amounts to from 24 days up to 503 days); — advanced eutrophication (photos 5, 8 and 9, tab. 4) of features of polytrophy in industrial catchments and hypertrophy in agricultural catchments, resulting in the summer worsening of oxygen conditions of changes in oxygenation range from 0% up to about 250% (fig. 27) and minimisation of the range of eutrophic zone from about 7 m up to more than 10 cm in critical situations (fig. 28); — predomination of high salinity (conductivity from about 200 μS/cm to more than 20 200 μS/cm); — progressing acidification (fig. 33, photo 7) or alkalisation (fig. 32, photo 6) of waters (pH from 4.99 up to more than 13.00); — changed chemical composition and high content of heavy metals (tab. 13 and 14) and organic pollutants (concentration of some heavy metals in bottom deposits reaches higher levels from natural, permissible, and even contemporarily met in other lakes of Poland, Europe and the world); — heating up of alimentating sewage and anthropothermy (fig. 24, photo 2) together with the essential limitation of ice phenomena (photo 3) and anthropomixion; — manifold increase in the rate of silting owing to delivering of urban-industrial matter. Therefore the quality undergoes degradation (tab. 6, 8—12) and extra-class waters predominate. It happens because the water reservoirs of Upper Silesian Anthropogenic Lakeland, similarly to lakes, play the role of concentration reducers and load (e.g. suspensions, substances causing salinity and eutrophication) accumulators (tab. 16—30, fig. 37). But sometimes situations happen, when some of them become the periodical source of secondary water pollution, e.g. by biogenic substances. It also depends on the kind of catchment use (fig. 29— 32, tab. 5 and 7) and these reservoirs, they are, similarly to lakes, the source of supply with water (fig. 38), fulfil tasks of flood control (tab. 31, fig. 39—43), have touristrecreational (fig. 44—47, photo 14), power engineering (photo 10), exploitation (photo 12), farming (photo 13) and many others functions (fig. 48, photo 11, tab. 15). The existence of varied conditions of morphological evolution of reservoir bowls (fig. 34—36) reflects the predicted time of functioning of reservoirs in the Upper Silesian Anthropogenic Lakeland, which fundamentally amounts to from some years up to several of hundred and some thousand years, and in singular cases — tens of thousand years. Results of analyses carried out within the range of ecological state of limnic waters induce to the introduction of some solutions of application character. The most essential propositions refer to the functioning of water reservoirs under conditions of well-ordered sewage management, limiting the progressing pollution and further quality degradation of limnic geosystems, and they refer to (fig. 60): — the building of primary settlement tanks of functions of anti-rubble dams and cascades oxygenating waters and hydrophytous (constructed wetland) and soil-root treatment plants in the zones of inflows of polluted waters; — building of systems of near-bottom waters discharging in reservoirs subject to the origination of oxygen deficits in hypolimnion together with the systems of hydrophytous and soil-root treatment plants on the way of discharge of deoxygenated waters of hypolimnion; — improvement of oxygen conditions through aeration of near-bottom waters and crushing of ice cover as well as provision of surface gaseous exchange through point or large-size ice cover liquidation; — post-seasonal removal of bottom, post-bloom deposits and plant matter in the zone of uncovered bottom; — reconstruction of fish stock structure into the direction of the increase in the population of predatory fish at the cost of zooplankton-eating and herbivorous fish at resignation from the farming. Considering the ecological reasons as well as reasons which are essential for the spatial management, immovable management and general assumptions of the landscape architecture, one should consider the liquidation of some water reservoirs through their draining, filling up with the proper ground or filling with neutral waste, land reclamation and terrain managing. The landscape role of reservoirs occurring in the zone of temperate climate is extremely differently perceived — from the marginalisation of the importance of water bodies resulting in the resigning from the hitherto-existing way of their use or liquidation, through the treating these elements of the water environment as unusually essential for the landscape architecture (fig. 49—55, photo 15). Different treating of landscape role of water reservoirs is visible in activities of countries of centrally controlled economy or occurring in the phase of transformation on the way into the market economy (e.g. Russia, Ukraine) and countries of many years lasting traditions in the strengthening of free market economy. Thus, two models of landscape reservoirs perceiving contrast with each other, i.e. socialistic — documenting the superiority of economical activities and ignoring the rules of biological balance, and market — regarding both the economical involving and rules of the environment protection, sustainable development, natural compensation and the natural balance. Although there is not the lack of examples of extremely different perceiving of reservoirs within the borders of the Upper Silesian Anthropogenic Lakeland, they are most often at the transition stage. This stage was characteristic for the Western Europe as early as at the beginning of the 1970s., and in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus it seems representative for not numerous complexes of water bodies at predomination of features of socialistic stage. Evaluating the potential directions of transformations of water reservoirs in respect of their numerical force, retention size as well as area of water bodies with genetic typology regarding, one should emphasize the great number of natural conditions and — most of all these of anthropogenic character. Although it is impossible to exclude the further episodic increase in the number, area and retention size of water reservoirs, the opposite trend is more probable. On the one hand one should regard the increase in the numerical force of reservoirs in the zone of presently included or at least subject to subsiding, area of which is estimated to be more than 1000 km2, on the other hand the tendency to liquidate real water wastelands is very distinct, because they are in urbanised and industrialised areas of minimal natural significance on contrary to valuable nature refuges beyond the built-up areas and industrialised terrains. More decided prognoses can be presented in relation to the quality state of reservoir retention, because together with economy restructuring the clear improvement in the environment conditions, including water relations, followed. The improvement of the atmosphere sanitary state, connected with the decrease in the amount of contained pollutants in a form of wet precipitation and dry deposition, results in the improvement of quality state of surface waters. Positive transformations in water environment also result from the decrease in water demand in consequence of successive economical rebranching of the region and the introduction of rationalisation in water consumption in the public utilities, what results in smaller amounts of pollutants getting the waters together with simultaneous improvement of qualitative state of surface waters. With certain exceptions, it is possible to treat these potential changes as regularities in the evolution of ecosystems of standing waters of the Upper Silesian Region. Regularities in the course of limnic pro cesses and models of present-day use of water reservoirs locate the Upper Silesian Anthropogenic Lakeland in the group of areas, where spatial management is written into ideas of the nature protection, sustainable development, natural compensation and natural balance. The separateness of water reservoirs of the Upper Silesian Anthropogenic Lakeland against a background of lakes and other artificial reservoirs (photos 16 and 17), especially in the zone of temperate climate, shows the varied degree of anthropogenisation of particular components of water balance and manifold level of pollution — from minimal (i.e. at the level close to hydrochemical background), up to very high (tab. 32). Such large spectrum of quantitative-qualitative changes in reservoirs of standing waters at their large numerical force (several thousands) identified with the multiplicity of scenarios of their functioning and use, creates the possibility to predict the course of degradation processes of limnic waters quality in the objects, which contemporarily function under incomparably smaller environment transformation and to undertake the protection activities

Assessment of sediment contamination in water reservoirs in the aspect of land use

Powstawanie osadów w misach zbiorników wodnych jest niepożądane, gdyż wiąże się z ich zamulaniem oraz wzrostem żyzności wód. Osady mogą być również środowiskiem akumulacji mikrozanieczyszczeń. Podjęte badania dotyczyły oceny możliwości wykorzystania osadów do prac ziemnych, warunkowanego stopniem ich zanieczyszczenia. Badano osady deltowe i denne w wybranych zbiornikach wodnych regionu górnośląskiego. Określano stężenia metali śladowych (As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn) zgodnie z przepisami prawnymi, dotyczącymi warunków dopuszczenia wykorzystania osadów. Badania wykazały znaczny stopień zanieczyszczenia osadów, zwłaszcza barem, kadmem, ołowiem i cynkiem. Stężenia tych metali często dopuszczały możliwość wykorzystania osadów tylko na terenach przemysłowych, a w niektórych przypadkach wykorzystanie nawet tam byłoby niedopuszczalne. Pod względem zawartości kobaltu i niklu (stężenia stosunkowo niskie) część badanych osadów mogłaby być wykorzystana na wszelkich terenach, nawet objętych ochroną prawną. Zanieczyszczenie chromem i miedzią na ogół dyskwalifikowało wykorzystanie osadów na terenach chronionych, jednak byłoby ono możliwe na obszarach rolniczych i leśnych. Stopień zanieczyszczenia osadów odzwierciedlał wpływy antropogenne na dany zbiornik, na ogół znaczące w obszarze badań. Możliwości wykorzystania osadów ze zbiorników regionu górnośląskiego na potrzeby prac ziemnych są zatem bardzo ograniczone

Problemy eksploatacji i ochrony zbiorników wodnych na Wyżynie Śląskiej i jej obrzeżach

Deficyt wód znamienny dla strefy wododziałowej oraz rozwój przemysłu wydobywczego i przetwórczego, a także procesy urbanizacyjne spowodowały, że lokalne zasoby wodne na Wyżynie Śląskiej i jej obrzeżach okazały się niewystarczające, spełniając swoje funkcje jedynie w okresie przedindustrialnym i na etapie wczesnego uprzemysłowienia. Pobór wody z rzek i istniejących zbiorników oraz wykorzystanie wód podziemnych, okazały się niewystarczające dla zaspokojenia potrzeb wodnych regionu już z końcem XIX wieku, gdy zaczął być odczuwalny wyraźny jej niedostatek. W związku z rozwojem przemysłu i urbanizacji, którym towarzyszył wzrost zapotrzebowania na wodę, powstaje wiele odmiennych genetycznie zbiorników wodnych o zróżnicowanej powierzchni i retencji oraz skrajnie różnych formach funkcjonalności [RZĘTAŁA M i RZĘTAŁA M.A, 1998; JANKOWSKI, 1999] - od nieużytków do obiektów wykorzystywanych wielokierunkowo. (Fragment tekstu

Rodzaj użytkowania terenu jako wskaźnik antropogenizacji zlewni i zbiorników wodnych (na przykładzie Wyżyny Śląskiej i jej obrzeży)

The aim of the study was to determine the type of land use in the catchment areas of the five water bodies studied and also to attempt to identify the relationship between the type of land use in the catchment and the anthropogenisation of water bodies. The structure (by surface area) of the main forms of land use in the water body catchments studied is as follows: from 0.4 km2 to 10.5 km2 – land covered with water, from 0.03 km2 to 172.0 km2 – urban and industrialised areas, from 1.8 km2 to 127.2 km2 – woodland, and from 0.3 km2 to 232.8 km2 – agricultural land and wasteland. The percentage shares of the main types of land use in the overall catchment area of the water bodies studied are: 1.9–15.9% – land covered with water, 1.2–31.7% – urban and industrialized areas, 21.7–72.2% – woodland, and 10.6–71.9% – agricultural land and wasteland. The main forms of land use in the catchment areas of the water bodies studied are reflected by the diversity of certain physicochemical parameters of the water retained in their basins. There is a relationship between the main forms of land use in the catchments of the water bodies analysed and the anthropogenisation of relief within their basins, but further research would be required to confirm this

Bilans wodny oraz dynamika zmian wybranych zanieczyszczeń zbiornika Dzierżno Duże w warunkach silnej antropopresji

Silesian Upland and its borders (Fig. 1) belongs to the most anthropogenically transformed areas in Poland and reasons of this state should be found in the exploitation of raw resources, causing not only the intensive development of industry but also massive population inflow. Owing to high degree of urbanisation and industrialisation, the natural environment of the area discussed underwent wide transformation, which spectacular example is the catchment of the Klodnica together with Dzierżno Duże water reservoir (Fig. 2). It is located in north-eastern part of Racibórz basin and its catchment - of area amounting near to 530 km2 - is located almost completely in an area of Katowice Upland, that is identified with the largest industrialisation and urbanisation within borders of Silesian Province. Identification of research problems allows determining the range of elaboration and putting into words the purposes of work, which especially refer to: a) estimation of quantitative differentiation of reservoir water balance elements in the light of natural and anthropogenic environmental conditions; b) the importance of reservoir in the shaping of physico-chemical properties of surface- and underground waters of the neighbourhood; c) estimation of degree of pollutants cumulative effectiveness in the reservoir; d) estimation of eutrophication intensity and variability of thermal-oxygen conditions in strongly polluted limnic waters; e) determination of limnological separateness of Dzierżno Duże water reservoir against a background of lakes and other artificial water reservoirs of Poland. The geological basal complex in the area discussed is composed of the Devonian-Carboniferous deposits, creating widespread basin, lying discordantly at the Cambrian deposits and possibly in some place at the Ordovician and Silurian ones. At partly folded and cut by numerous faults Carboniferous deposits, the Triassic formations, occurring under the cover of the Tertiary deposits, lie (Fig. 3). Varigrained fluvioglacial sands with addition of gravels and clays (Fig. 4) as well as Holocene material, represented by deluvial, fluvial, lacustrine and peat deposits lie higher. In the area discussed the Klodnica valley reaches the width of about 400 m up to 1.5 km. Many lateral valleys of basin shape divide it. The relief of valley was considerably transformed owing to human activity what the occurrence of numerous anthropogenic relief forms betokens (Fig. 5). In the neighbourhood of Dzierżno Duże water reservoir the mean annual air temperatures and precipitation sums were characterised by the wide range of fluctuations (Fig. 6). The most frequent winds blew from SW, NW, W and S directions (Fig. 7). Wind of velocity up to 2 m/s and from 2.0 to 5.0 m/s predominated, whereas calms made 16.3% of observation. Surface waters in an area discussed (Fig. 8) are an evident example of human activity influence on the water environment, which is revealed among others by the anthropogenisation of runoff (Fig. 9), changes in surface hydrographic net arrangement (Tab. 1) and degradation of surface waters quality (Tab. 2). Post-exploitation-dam water reservoir of Dzierżno Duże (Fig. 10), which was functioning in the middle part of the Kłodnica catchment since 1964 year is characterised by the total capacity amounting to 93,5 hm\ maximal depth reaching over 20 m and area exceeding 6 km2- at maximal level of damming (203,5 m. a.s.l.). This reservoir is used to improve conditions of inland navigation at Gliwice canal and the Oder, purification of strongly polluted Kłodnica river waters and the prevention against flood. It is characterised by significant and unusually dynamic fluctuations of water states (Fig. 11), rarely met in other objects of this type. They stimulate the development of littoral processes and considerably are the implicators of filtration processes, which occur in the reservoir neighbourhood, conditioning frequent changes in character of connection of surface waters with water-bearing horizon. The occurrence of underground waters in the area discussed is mostly connected with deposits as follows: the Quaternary. Tertiary, Triassic (I'ig. 12) and Carboniferous. The existing reservoirs of underground waters (Tab. 3) are characterised by the varied yield and quality of exploited waters, to ti varied degree undergoing the process of drainage by coal mining. Balance calculations were carried out for hydrological period 1975-1996 (Tab. 4; Fig. 13-17, 22 and 23). In total sum of both surface alimentation and alimentation of reservoir by waters originating from atmospheric precipitation. 98.2% falls for surface inflow but atmospheric precipitation makes only 1.8%. The dominating position in water balance at the side of losses is surface runoff; evaporation from the reservoir area is of marginal importance. The difference balance, which can be identified with the balance of water interchange with subsurface catchment (Fig. 17), shows water escapes from reservoir, making almost 30% of surface inflow. It is confirmed by existence of many hydrophysical and hydrochemical premises, e.g. a) slope of underground waters table in the direct neighbourhood of reservoir, estimated on the base of piezomctric and well measurements (Fig. 18; Tab. 5); b) neighbourhood of hydrogeological window (Fig. 3 and 4); c) location of basin of limited possibilities of silting in the permeable Quaternary deposits, filling the fossil valley of the Kłodnica; d) physicochemical properties of underground waters in reservoir neighbourhood (Fig. 19 and 20); e) water balance for difference catchment of Kłodnica limited by profiles Gliwice and Łany Małe, prepared with regard to the quantity of water, drained by Gliwice Canal (Fig. 21). Water quality in the neighbourhood of Dzierżno Duże water reservoir is mostly determined by the occurrence of allochthonous pollutants, delivered from above-located strongly urbanised and industrialised parts of catchment (Fig. 24-31). In relation to the hydrochemical composition of autochthonous waters in reservoir neighbourhood, waters delivered from western part of Katowice Upland arc characterised by total mineralisation, which is even above ten times higher. Formation of Dzierżno Duże reservoir in post-sand excavation and directing to it waters originating from the drainage of western part of Katowice Upland - despite the significant improvement of quality in some parameters of potamic waters (Fig. 24-31) - does not solve problem of pollution at below-located parts of the Kłodnica catchment and the Oder, fed by it. It is connected with the problem of so- -called chemical retention in lakes and water reservoirs, which importance is possible to estimate in the context of contamination (Fig. 24-31; Tab. 6) and substances loads (Fig. 32-36; Tab. 7), analysed in system of inflow-outflow. On this base it was ascertained, that Dzierżno Duże water reservoir, not causing essential changes in surface waters purity classes, plays a role of contamination reductor and loads cumulator (e.g. suspensions or substances, which cause salinity). But there are cases (biogenic substances) when it is the source of secondary water pollution. One should acknowledge it for the especially harmful process in relation to the present alimentation of underground waters - the Triassic and Quaternary water-bearing deposits - by limnic waters of low quality. Rubble material accumulated in the reservoir is significantly polluted, what is confirmed e.g. by the content of heavy metals, corresponding with quantities determined for differently anthropogenically transformed areas and - in many cases - exceeding the levels, which are typical for natural, i.e. geochemical background. Hydrochemical researches, applying the existing poor network of working piezometers and wells (Fig. 18) confirm the infiltration of water from the reservoir and facilitate the determination of some directions of polluted limnic waters migration as well as the supposed ranges of negative influence of their retention. The reservoir surface influence on the changes in physico-chemical properties of waters of the first water-bearing horizon - automatically connected with the lowering in their usable values - is clearly visible in the distance of 1 km to the west from reservoir (Tab. 8). One should suppose that the zone of Dzierżno Duże water reservoir influences on the shaping of physico-chemical properties of the first water - bearing horizon reaches slightly far to the west. Premises of these supposes are results of research on Plawniowice water reservoir (Fig. 19 and 20). Many research-workers connect successively decreasing quality of water resources of the Triassic underground waters reservoir with inflow of pollutants, originating from potamic and limnic waters. Spectacular differences in underground waters quality occur in relation to some from tens intakes (Tab. 9). Especially low usable values and disadvantageous physico-chemical properties have underground waters in this part of the Triassic underground water reservoir, which is located in direct neighbourhood of hydrogeological window, prepared in the Tertiary deposits (Tab. 9). The sign of high degree of water pollution in Dzierżno Duże water reservoir is eutrophication. The deciding role in the process of reservoir waters alimentation by biogenic substances plays the catchment and the delivery of nutrients from bottom deposits. The loading of reservoirs by phosphorous and nitrogen loads is an indicator of this object high trophy (Tab. 10; Fig. 37-39). Owing to large quantity of substances, being stimulators of biogenic life, in the summer half-year the massive development of phytoplancton occurs in the reservoir (so-called “water-blooms”), which consequence is the increased outflow of suspensions in the summer-autumn period. Bioindicator of high nitrophilinity is also vegetation, covering the littoral zone, although its development is importantly limited (phytotoxic properties of substratum, fluctuation of water state, littoral processes). Processes of eutrophication additionally modify the distribution of oxygen content in water mass and they are reflected in 24 hours’ fluctuations of oxygenation in epilimnion waters. Therefore, the eutrophication makes the important exploitation, reclamation and protection problem, all the more so as the inflow of allochthonous pollutants essentially influences the shaping of thermal-oxygcn conditions as well as lightness of water mass. The occurrence of two periods of water circulation have been stated in the reservoir, i.e. the period of spring homothermy and longer-lasting autumn homothermy. In the summer period the shaping of normal water stratification in the reservoir (anothermy) takes place, whereas in winter the opposite stratification circuit (katothermy) occurs. Very important is the fact of limnic waters loading by thermal pollutants (Fig. 40-42). It is documented by mean annual temperature of waters alimentating Dzierżno Duże water reservoir, which exceeds of about 3°C the mean annual temperature of atmospheric air and about 1,6°C the mean annual temperature of waters in streams inflowing to other water reservoirs (Przeczyce, Kozłowa Góra, Pogoria III, Plawniowice), being to decidedly smaller degree under the human impact. One should pay attention to the separate thermal regime of the eastern and western parts of the reservoir (Fig. 40 42; Tab. 11), which is documented by the occurrence of horizontal thermal gradients, typical for reolimnic objects and conditioned - to a small degree - by inflow to reservoir of waters of anthropogenically increased temperature. Strong pollution of limnic waters is the determinant of their oxygenation (Fig. 43 and 44), which rarely has the features of supersaturation or the full saturation, most often shaping itself at the borderland of normal and deficit saturation. Especially during summer stratification the oxygen conditions should be acknowledged as exceptionally disadvantageous (e.g. even tens days-lasting lack of oxygen in hypolimnion, leading to the exhaustion of sulphur hydrogen, superoxygenation of waters of strongly eutrophiced epilimnion). High load of reservoir by allochthonous pollutants essentially influence the shaping of oxygen conditions - profiles located in the eastern part of basin arc characterised by decidedly more disadvantageous oxygenation and the improvement of oxygen condition goes to the west direction. Nevertheless, even there they are far from state typical for objects devoid of pollutants. Despite the disadvantageous oxygen conditions in reservoir the surface runoff waters contain decidedly more oxygen (on average 3.3 mg O2/dm ') than waters of its tributaries. Only alarming is the fact that the increase of oxygenation in potamic waters below the reservoir results mostly from the development of limnic eutrophication processes. Reservoir waters transparency (Fig. 45) is also important for eutrophic lakes and it is located within the ranges of transparency, which is most often met in waters of lowland lakes. Wide range of this elaboration is specified in the widespread synthesis, containing the estimation of area investigated state, referring to more important limnological typologies as well as to published and unpublished results of research on natural and artificial water reservoirs (Fig. 46-48; Tab. 12-20). The separateness of Dzierżno Duże water reservoir against a background of lakes and other artificial water reservoirs is appeared by the largest degree of anthropogenisation of particular elements of water balance and extremely rarely met level of pollution. It creates the possibility to predict the course of degradation processes in limnic waters quality in objects functioning now under conditions of incomparable lower environment transformation

Zbiornik Dzierżno Duże

"Zbiornik Dzierżno Duże znajduje się na pograniczu wschodniej części Kotliny Raciborskiej (318.59), która jest mezoregionem Niziny Śląskiej (318.5) i zachodniej części Wyżyny Katowickiej (314.13) zaliczanej do Wyżyny Śląskiej (341.1). Zlewnia zbiornika Dzierżno Duże o powierzchni 530 km2 prawie w całości jest położona także na Wyżynie Katowickiej, a tylko niewielkie skrawki północnego i południowego obrzeżenia zlewni zalicza się do sąsiednich mezoregionów. Pod względem administracyjnym zbiornik znajduje się w zachodniej części województwa śląskiego" [...] (fragm.

Zbiornik Tresna

"Zbiornik Tresna (zwany również Zbiornikiem Żywieckim lub Jeziorem Żywieckim), znajduje się w zlewni Soły, wchodzącej w skład dorzecza Wisły. Powstał w wyniku przegrodzenia zaporą doliny Soły i spiętrzenia wód tej rzeki (fot. 1). Jest największym i najwyżej położonym z trzech zbiorników wchodzących w skład kaskady rzeki Soły: Tresna, Międzybrodzie i Czaniec. Rzeka ze wszystkich górskich dopływów Wisły od dawna była uważana za niezwykle groźną przez wzmożone oddziaływanie powodziowe. Zapewne dlatego była jedną z pierwszych rzek w Polsce zabudowanych kaskadą zbiorników wodnych, czyli zespołem współdziałających ze sobą obiektów hydrotechnicznych na rzece. Spełniały one różne funkcje, chociaż zasadniczą przyczyną ich wybudowania były działania przeciwpowodziowe." [...] (fragm.