The Asi River’s Estimated Nutrient Load and Effects on the Eastern Mediterranean

Abstract

Rivers are primary receiving environments for agricultural runoff and for domestic and industrial discharges. Rivers assimilate and treat incoming pollution load until self-purification capacity is reached. The remaining pollution load and natural nutrients are carried to and discharged into the sea causing variations in the receiving area’s nutrient concentration. This study evaluated nutrient loads and effects of the Asi River on the northeastern Mediterranean Sea. Monitoring data from 2006 to 2014 from the State of Hydraulic Works of Turkey were analyzed with an interpolation-based average-estimator model for nutrient load calculation. The nutrient load’s impact on the receiving area was determined using satellite images. Annual nitrite (NO2), nitrate (NO3), ammonium (NH4), and phosphate (o-PO4) loads were found to be 234 102 tones/year, 2 402 066 tones/year, 1 123 714 tones/year, and 603 669 tones/year, respectively, with all nutrients showing distinct seasonality. The Asi River’s load increases during winter and reaches its maximum in spring. High stream flow due to increased precipitation during spring months could explain this situation. Similar results were obtained from satellite images. Chlorophyll-a concentrations in the receiving area increase during winter due to high nutrient load. In other words, nutrient load increases the receiving area’s primary productivity.

Keywords

• İskenderun Bay,Eastern Mediterranean,Orontes River,Riverine input,chlorophyll

References

1. Bettiol, C., Flaviano, C., Stefano, G., Molinaroli, E., Rossini, P., Zaggia, L., Zonta, R. (2005). Atmospheric and riverine inputs of metals, nutrients and persistent organic pollutants into the lagoon of Venice.Hydrobiologica, 550,151-165
2. Chapin III, F.S., Walker, B.H., Hobbs, R.J., Hooper, D.U., Lawton, J.H., Sala, O.E., Tilman, D. (1997). Biotic control over the functioning ecosystem. Science, 227,500-504
3. D’Alimonte, D., Mélin, F., Zibordi, G., and Berthon, J.-F. (2003). Use of the novelty detection technique to identify the range of applicability of the empirical ocean color algorithms. IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens., 41, 2833-2843.
4. D’Alimonte, D., Zibordi, G. (2003). Phytoplankton determination in an optically complex coastal region using a multilayer perceptron neural network. IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sensing, 41, 286
5. Iyiduvar, O. (1986). Hydrographic characteristics of Iskenderun Bay (Doctoral dissertation, MSc. Thesis, Institute of Marine Sciences, Middle East Technical University, 33731, Erdemli-Içel).
6. Kılıç, E. (2007). Evaluation of water quality in Asi Watershed using multivariate statistics. M.Sc thesis. Institute of Engineering and Natural Sciences, İskenderun Technical University. 86 p.
7. Koçak, M., Kubilay, N., Tuğrul, S., Mihalopoulus, N. (2010). Atmospheric nutrient inputs to the northern Levantine basin from a long-term observation: sources and comparison with riverine inputs. Biogeosciences, 7(12), 4037-4050
8. Krom, M.D., Herut, B., Mantoura, R.F.C. (2004). Nutrient budget for the Eastern Mediterranean: Implications for phosphorus limitation. Limnology and Oceanography, 49 (5), 1582-1592

9. Laznik, M., Stalnacke, P., Grimvall, A., Wittgren, H.B. (1999). Riverine input of nutrients to the Golf of Riga- temporal and spatial variation. Journal of Marine Systems, 23,11-25
10. Ministry of Environment. (2004) Water Pollution Control Regulation. Official Bulletin Number: 25687,2004
11. Morkoç, E., Tüfekçi, V., Tüfekçi, H., Tolun, L., Karakoç, F.T.,Güvensel, T. (2009). Effects of land-based sources on water quality in the Omerli reservoir (Istanbul, Turkey).Environ Geol, 57,1035-1045
12. Ogwueleka, T.C. (2015). Use of multivariate statistical techniques for the evaluation of temporal and spatial variations in water quality of the Kaduna River, Nigeria. Environmental monitoring and assessment, 187(3), 1-17.
13. Polat, S. (2002). Nutrients, Chlorophyll a and Phytoplankton in the İskenderun Bay (Northeastern Mediterranean). Marine Ecology, 23 (2),115-126
14. Quilbé, R., Rousseau, A.N., Duchemin, M., Poulin, A., Gangbazo, G., Villeneuve, J.P. (2006). Selecting a calculation method to estimate sediment and nutrient loads in streams: application to the Beaurivage River (Québec, Canada). Journal of Hydrology, 326(1), 295-310.
15. Simoncelli, S., Fratianni, C., Pinardi, N., Grandi, A., Drudi, M., Oddo, P.,Dobricic, S. (2014). Mediterranean Sea physical reanalysis (MEDREA 1987-2015)(Version 1. Set. E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25423/medsea_reanalysis_phys_006_004
16. Singh, K.P., Malik, A., Sinha, S. (2005). Water quality assessment and apportionment of pollution sources of Gomti River (India) using multivariate statistical techniques-a case study. Analytica Chimica Acta, 538(1), 355-374.
17. Smith ,V.H. 2003. Eutrophication of freshwater and coastal marine ecosystems: a global problem. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 10(2), 126-139
18. Smith, V. H., Tilnan, G. D., Nekola, J. C. 1999. Eutrophication: impacts of excess nutrient inputs of freshwater, marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Environ. Pollut., 100, 179.196.
19. Stalnacke, P., Grımvall, A., Sunblad, K., Tonderskı, A. (1999). Estimation of riverine loads of nitrogen and phosphorus to the Baltic Sea. Environmental Monitoring and Assesment 58,173-200
20. Strobl, R.O., Somma, F., Evans, M.B., Zaldivar, M.J. (2009). Fluxes of water and nutrients from river runoff to the Mediterranean Sea using GIS and watershed model. Journal of Geophysical Research,114,1-14 doi:10.1029/
21. TÜBİTAK MAM. (2013). Havza koruma eylem planlarının hazırlanması :Asi Havzası Raporu, Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknik Araştırma Kurumu Marmara Araştırma Merkezi Çevre Enstitüsü. Kocaeli (in Turkish)
22. Uysal, Z., Latif, M.A., Özsoy, E., Tuğrul, S., Kubilay, N., Beşiktepe, Ş.T., Yemenicioğlu, S., Mutlu, E., Ediger, D., Beşiktepe, Ş., Ediger, V., Ak Örek, Y.,Demirel, M., Tunç, Ş.Ç., Terbıyık, T. (2008). Kilikya Baseni Kıyısal Ekosisteminde Dolaşım, Taşınım ve Ötrifikasyon Araştırmaları. Proje No: 104Y277. Erdemli-Mersin (in Turkish)
23. Vitousek, P.M., Mooney, H.A., Lubchenko, J., Melillo, J.M. (1997). Human domination of Earth’s ecosystem. Science, 277,494-499
24. Volpe, G., Santoleri, R., Vellucci, V., Ribera d Acala, M., Marullo, S., D Ortenzio, F. (2007). The colour of the Mediterranean Sea: Global versus regional bio-optical algorithms evaluation and implication for the satellite chlorophyll estimates. Remote Sens. Environ., 107, 625-638
25. Yılmaz, A.B., Doğan, M. (2007). Heavy metals in water and in tissues of himri (Carasobarbus luteus) from Orontes (Asi) River, Turkey. Environmental monitoring and assessment, 144(1), 437-444
26. Zhou, F., Liu, Y., & Guo, H. (2007). Application of multivariate statistical methods to water quality assessment of the watercourses in Northwestern New Territories, Hong Kong. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 132(1-3), 1-13.