Catena 165 (2018) 157–172

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Pollution distribution in floodplain structure visualised by electrical T

resistivity imaging in the floodplain of the Litavka River, the Czech Republic
⁎
M. Faměraa,b, , K. Kotkováa,c, Š. Tůmováa,d, J. Elznicovád, T. Matys Grygara,d
a
Institute of Inorganic Chemistry AS CR, v.v.i., Řež, Czech Republic
b
Faculty of Science, Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic
c
Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
d
Faculty of Environment, J. E. Purkyně University, Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Shape and position of modern polluted sediment bodies in the floodplain internal structure can provide insight
Geophysical methods into past and future erosional/deposition behaviour of fluvial systems. Extensive field works needed for such
Electric resistivity studies can be mitigated by the use of geophysical imaging, originally developed for engineering practice but still
Shallow subsurface rather sparsely used in floodplain research. We demonstrate the performance of electrical resistivity tomography
Floodplain structure
(ERT), dipole electromagnetic profiling (DEMP), and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy for identification of sub-
Pollution chemostratigraphy
surface sediment bodies of contrasting lithology, age, and pollution status; we found minor remnants of un-
Post-depositional migration
polluted (ancient) floodplain segments that would likely have been overlooked in arbitrary “blind” sampling.
Pollution chemostratigraphy of floodplains based on the concentrations of certain risk elements can be affected
by post-depositional migration. We thus identified signatures related to mining and smelting that are carried by
coarser particles (gangue, fly ash) not expected to undergo post-depositional translocations in alluvium: the local
enrichment factor of Zr (LEF Zr) and mass-specific magnetic susceptibility (χ). The LEF Zr differentiated pre-
mining floodplain sediments which originated from erosion of Zr-rich catchment loess soils from Zr-poor,
gangue-derived material. χ exhibits a step-like increase above the threshold value of approximately 25·10−8 m3/
kg in severely polluted sediments; we assign that χ step to the replacement of charcoal and wood by coke in
smelting technology during the late 19th century. The shape of the unpolluted sedimentary bodies, as well as
bodies of historically changing pollution extent, indicate considerable recent lateral river instability. A mild
aggradation flattened the floodplain surface and prevented the identification of buried sedimentary bodies by
surface topography, but did not restrict the power of the geophysical imaging.

1. Introduction discernible geomorphic features nor outcrops, however, remains a

Knowledge of the floodplain architecture and an outline of the past
fluvial erosion/deposition patterns are absolutely necessary in research
but should be more broadly implemented in environmental monitoring
and management. That implementation has mainly been hindered due
to the high demands of the work necessary for the imaging of the
floodplain internal structure. Fluvial sediment bodies can be described
in sedimentary records such as outcrops of ancient basin fills (abundant
examples are shown in textbooks), recent gravel- (Stacke et al., 2014)
or sand pits (Kadlec et al., 2015), and terraces along incising rivers
(Macklin et al., 1994; Erkens et al., 2009; Miller et al., 1998). The cu-
mulative consequences of fluvial processes can be visible in the surface
topography of a river valley (Schirmer, 1995; Erkens et al., 2009;
Macklin et al., 2013). A study of recent floodplains with neither
challenge and requires extensive field work (Houben, 2007; Kalicki
et al., 2008; Notebaert et al., 2011). Geophysical imaging can con-
siderably facilitate this effort. Reconstruction of the past fluvial de-
position also requires dating, which is time consuming (OSL) and in-
strumentally demanding (OSL, 14C, 210Pb) is applicable only to certain
deposits (14C) and/or has temporal constraints (approx. One century
accessible by 210Pb and a half century accessible by 137Cs, equivocality
of 14C in the last four centuries). Pollution chemostratigraphy (if post-
depositional transport of pollutants can be neglected) can overcome
those hindrances whenever a significant fraction of the floodplain fill is
polluted.
Numerous studies in polluted river valleys (Klimek and Zawilinska,
1985; Macklin et al., 1994; Miller et al., 1998; Notebaert et al., 2011;
Ciszewski et al., 2012, 2014; Matys Grygar et al., 2016a, 2016b) have

⁎
Corresponding author at: Institute of Inorganic Chemistry AS CR, v.v.i., Řež, Czech Republic.
E-mail addresses: famera@iic.cas.cz, fameram@upol.cz (M. Faměra).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2018.01.023
Received 27 June 2017; Received in revised form 10 January 2018; Accepted 22 January 2018
0341-8162/ © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
M. Faměra et al.
shown uneven distribution of pollutants in fluvial systems as a con-
sequence of the complexity of floodplain architecture. Sampling in
erosion banks for geochemical mapping was proposed in the late 1980s
(Ottesen et al., 1989), then used in national pollution mapping
(Swennen and Van der Sluys, 2002), and still performed in some recent
studies (Žák et al., 2009; Chudaničová et al., 2016), is inadequate to
that complexity. With respect to (i) substantially different stratigraphy
of vertically and laterally deposited sediments and (ii) variability of the
channel dynamics (channels may be stable, laterally shifting or mean-
dering, and may undergo avulsions), bank erosion could expose both
ancient overbank fines as well as very fresh channel belt deposits, or
their combination specific to each sampling site. The channel belt de-
posits are exposed to the fastest reworking and related stratigraphic
disturbance, as discussed by Lewin and Macklin (2003). Realistic image
of the shape of the polluted sediment body thus needs a considerable
sampling density. The amount of analytical work resulting from such
requirement may be conveniently managed by efficient and “green”
chemical analytical tools, such as X-ray fluorescence spectrometry.
Pollution chemostratigraphy can provide a time frame for the
floodplain fill via identification of young (=polluted) sediment bodies.
The post-depositional stability of pollutants (their preservation in ori-
ginal sedimentary strata) is a pre-requisite for the direct link between
the pollution status of the sediments and their age; Hudson-Edwards
et al. (1998) demonstrated that this is not always the case. If the pol-
lutants have not migrated, the studies of polluted floodplains can pro-
vide isochrons in the sediment fill and thus link together the pollutant
spatial distribution, pollution history, and erosional/depositional his-
tory (Hobo et al., 2010; Notebaert et al., 2011; Matys Grygar et al.,
2016a, 2016b). In addition to the “academic” importance of such stu-
dies, they may provide a basis for the prediction of the future fates of
polluted sediments and the judgment of environmental risks related to
heritage pollution (Žák et al., 2009; Lecce and Pavlowsky, 2014) and
river restoration concepts (Ciszewski et al., 2012).
Geophysical imaging, particularly methods acquiring electrical re-
sistivity, may save a lot of work associated with spatially dense sub-
surface sampling and textural analyses required for identification of
sediment bodies within a floodplain (Houben, 2007; Kalicki et al.,
2008; Erkens et al., 2009; Notebaert et al., 2011). Dipole electro-
magnetic profiling (DEMP), also called EMP, electromagnetic profiling,
Slingram (a trade name), or electromagnetic induction sensing, is based
on contactless induction of alternating electromagnetic fields (with
frequencies on the order of 100–101 kHz) in the shallow subsurface that
acquires apparent electrical conductivity (Corwin and Lesch, 2005),
whereas ERT (electrical resistivity tomography) characterises resistivity
by multiple electrodes that also use induction (Samouëlian et al., 2005).
The performance of the resistivity imaging in floodplain studies has
been demonstrated recently (Matys Grygar et al., 2013; Stacke et al.,
2014; Rădoane et al., 2015; Matys Grygar et al., 2016b) but it still waits
for more extensive use.
Although some aspects of the Litavka River system have been stu-
died for more than a decade (Vaněk et al., 2005; Ettler et al., 2006;
Vaněk et al., 2008; Žák et al., 2009; Nováková et al., 2015) and its
alluvium has been recognised as a source of persistent secondary pol-
lution (Navrátil et al., 2008; Žák et al., 2009; Nováková et al., 2015),
the shape and position of polluted sediment bodies in the floodplain
have not yet been plausibly described. The authors of initial studies on
the Litavka floodplain (Žák et al., 2009; Nováková et al., 2015) assumed
aggradation as the main depositional pattern for polluted sediments,
but we have found that this idea needs revision. Previous studies were
mainly focused on the river banks (Žák et al., 2009) or used sampling
that did not cover the entire floodplain width and sediment depths
(Vaněk et al., 2005, 2008; Dlouhá et al., 2013; Nováková et al., 2015),
which is not a plausible strategy for river systems with prevailing lat-
eral accretion of the floodplain fill (Notebaert et al., 2011; Matys
Grygar et al., 2016a) and pollution hotspots originating from recent
floodplain reworking (Matys Grygar et al., 2016b).
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Catena 165 (2018) 157–172
The aim of this work was to further test a combination of geophy-
sical imaging and pollution chemostratigraphy to decipher floodplain
architecture in the same manner as our previous study on overbank
fines of a meandering river (Matys Grygar et al., 2016b). The Litavka
River system has been so severely impacted by early historical mining
and metallurgy of several metals (Ag, Cu, Pb, U, and Zn; Kafka, 2003)
that pollution stratigraphy of its floodplain is accessible using simple X-
ray fluorescence spectroscopy (Nováková et al., 2015). The Litavka
floodplain sediments range from gravels and pebbles and sands to
clayey silts that can be differentiated by electrical resistivity imaging.
The Litavka floodplain is thus suitable for the demonstration of an ef-
ficient production of a realistic image of the internal structure and
evolution of floodplains impacted by long-term human action.
2. Settings
2.1. The Litavka River
The Litavka River has a length of 54.6 km; the study area is located
between river km 35 and 38. The entire catchment area is 629 km2, of
which the research area represents 118 km2.Mean annual discharge is
0.28 m3/s in Příbram, 0.86 m3/s in Čenkov, and 2.6 m3/s in the con-
fluence with the Berounka River (location of the cities is in Fig. 1). The
catchment mostly consists of siliciclastic sedimentary rocks, and crys-
talline magmatic rocks are rare (Fig. 1). Sedimentary rocks range from
slate and sandstone to greywacke; their outcrops are in elevations. Most
valleys of higher orders are covered by loams, sands, and gravels of
Quaternary age. The western edge of the Litavka valley downstream of
Trhové Dušníky is bordered by loess and loess-derived soils; in places
between Trhové Dušníky and Valcha the loess outcrops are present
above the erosion banks.
The river in the studied area (middle reach, between Trhové
Dušníky and Čenkov) has a gradient of approximately 5 m/km and a
single active channel. The river valley has a typical width of 100–200 m
and is relatively flat with abundant ditches. The channel is embanked in
villages and cities and in its lowermost course before the confluence
with the Berounka River (Žák et al., 2009). Taufmannová (2007) found
that 88% of the river channel has undergone some sort of engineering in
the past, particularly channel straightening, deepening, bank ar-
mouring, or planting of trees; some of those measures have not been
permanent and the river now develops there in a nearly natural
manner. However, the lateral channel dynamics has been considerably
altered by those human actions.
2.2. History of mining and smelting
The positions of pollution sources and locations of relevant sites are
shown in Fig. 2. Mining of Ag in the Příbram area has been dated back
to the times of the Celtic civilisation in the 6th-1st centuries B.C. and it
intensified in the first half of the 16th century (Ettler et al., 2001). The
most massive activities started in the second half of the 18th century
(Fig. 3) by opening new mines (Bambas, 1990), construction of a
modern smelter in Lhota u Příbramě in 1786, and improvement of blast
furnaces (Kopičková, 1986; Vurm, 2001). High furnaces were in-
troduced in 1860 and between 1869 and 1907 the charcoal was re-
placed by coke (Kunický and Vurm, 2011), that both increased the
smelting temperature. Total amounts of metals extracted in the Bohutín
and Březové Hory ore regions have been estimated to be 3.5 kt Ag, 480
kt Pb, and 260 kt Zn, with a peak between 1850 and 1950 (Vlašímský,
1982; Bambas, 1990; Fig. 3). Mining was terminated in 1978, however,
already since 1972 the smelter processed mainly spent batteries (Ettler
et al., 2001, 2005b). This change together with enhanced environ-
mental concern in the late 20th century has resulted in substantially
decreased pollution (Ettler et al., 2001, 2005a, 2006; Žák et al., 2009).
Several failures of tailing ponds in the Březové Hory area were
caused by large floods and impacted the Litavka River, e.g., in 1932 and
M. Faměra et al.
1952 (Vaněk et al., 2008; Žák et al., 2009; Sýkorová, 2014). Slag from
waste dumps near Lhota u Příbramě (Ettler et al., 2001, 2004, 2009)
and fly ash from the smelter (e.g., Ettler et al., 2005a, 2005b) contain
risk elements in species unstable under ambient temperature and hu-
midity and thus reactive and potentially mobile in exogenic environ-
ments.
Mining of uranium ore east of Příbram in 1948–1989 produced 48
kt U and minor amounts of other metals (Kafka, 2003). The ore was
mined southeast of Příbram and physical processing was performed
near Bytíz at the edge of the Litavka catchment (Fig. 2). Pollution by U
was indeed identified in the Litavka floodplain sediments (Nováková
et al., 2015; Uhlík, 2016).
3. Methods
Sediments were sampled using a hand-operated groove corer
(Eijkelkamp, the Netherlands). Drill cores were labelled “KL#”, where
# is consecutive number of coring; individual samples from cores were
denoted “KL# x-y”, where x and y are upper and lower depths of the
sampled interval in cm. Samples were dried at 50 °C and then homo-
genized using a planetary mill (pulverisette 6 by Fritsch, Germany). For
Raman analysis, non-homogenized samples were wet-sieved under ul-
trasonication of sample suspension in excess distilled water.
Element analysis was performed with Niton GOLDD3+ (Thermo-
Fischer Scientific) handheld (portable) X-ray fluorescence spectro-
meters (XRF) with calibrations provided by the instrument producer.
Samples were placed in polyamide cups with Mylar foil bottoms
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Catena 165 (2018) 157–172
Fig. 1. Maps with the simplified geological map of the
Litavka River catchment and position of studied sites.
(PANalytical, the Netherlands). The results were verified by analysis of
reference material SRM2711a Montana II Soil (NIST, USA); results are
summarised in Table 1. The element concentrations were compared
with those in the average upper continental crust (UCC; Hu and Gao,
2008; Rudnick and Gao, 2003). The element variations related to pol-
lution were expressed using the local enrichment factors, LEF, defined
as the ratio of actual concentration of target element M to its back-
ground concentration MBG calculated using local geochemical back-
ground function (Matys Grygar and Popelka, 2016 and reference
therein):
LEF = M/MBG (1)
Geochemical background function is a relationship between M and
concentration of reference (lithogenic) element MREF of the same grain-
size preference obtained empirically for unpolluted sediments:
MBG = f(MREF ) (2)
Set of sediment samples covering variability range of investigated
elements was subjected to ICP-MS analysis after total decomposition by
a conventional mixture of acids including HF; the details were de-
scribed in Nováková et al. (2015). The same method provided the lead
stable isotope ratio, which points to the Pb provenance. Ettler et al.
(2006) and Nováková et al. (2015) found 206Pb/207Pb = 1.16 for the
mining and smelting pollution in the Příbram area and ca 1.20 for
unpolluted Litavka sediments.
The magnetic susceptibility data were obtained using KLY-4S
Kappabridge equipment (Agico, the Czech Republic) as previously de-
scribed in Faměra et al. (2013). Mass-specific magnetic susceptibility χ
M. Faměra et al. Catena 165 (2018) 157–172

was expressed in m3/kg in accordance with Eq. (3):

χ = κ tot∗V0/(m·1000) (3)

where χ is the low frequency mass-specific susceptibility (m3/kg), κtot is

Fig. 2. Position of study sites and the most important pollution sources in the Příbram
area.
Fig. 3. Mean annual amount of Pb mined in the Příbram area with milestones of the
technology evolution relevant for this paper. Based on publications by Vurm (2001) and
Mihaljevič et al. (2006).
total susceptibility in SI units, V0 is nominal volume (10 cm3) of the
measuring cell, m is the weight of the sample (g), and 1000 is a factor to
convert cm3/g to m3/kg.
Channel dynamics was evaluated by Imperial Obligatory Imprints of
the Stable Cadastre maps (published in 1840s) and orthophotos (1937,
1953, and nine between 1967 and 2015). The DTM was obtained from a
2011 laser-scanning dataset (DMR-5G) purchased from the Czech Office
for Surveying, Mapping, and Cadastre (ČÚZK) and the Military
Geographic and Hydrometeorology Office (VGHMÚŘ). Data sources
were processed using ArcGIS 10.3.1 for Desktop software. The GIS
evaluation of the channel dynamics and selection of perspective study
sites was initiated by Uhlík (2016) and then further corroborated within
this work.
DEMP was performed with either of two instruments: (i) GEM2
(GEOPHEX, the USA) operates with frequencies of 6.525, 13.025,
27.025, and 47.025 Hz, which represent depth penetrations of ap-
proximately 6, 4, 2, and 1 m in the Litavka floodplain, respectively. The
data density was approximately 3 to 4 scans per 1 m of profile. (ii) CMD
(GF Instruments, s.r.o., the Czech Republic) operates with two fre-
quencies and the CMD-4 detector (horizontal, single frequency).
Continuous data acquisition with global positioning system GPS was
used with settings given by coil distance for a depth extent of ap-
proximately 3 m. Both instruments produced comparable results. The
DEMP-measured data were processed with the programmes WinGEM2
and DIKINS_analyzer (GEOPHEX, the USA). The results were presented
as contour maps of resistivity (Ω·m). The contour maps were computed
with Surfer software (Golden Software, the USA) by the kriging method.
ERT was acquired with the ARES system (GF Instruments, the Czech
Republic) with 0.5 m electrode distance and a Schlumberger electrode
configuration with a maximal distance of current electrodes of 20 m
(corresponds to imaging depth of approximately 4 m). The
Schlumberger array is recommended for sedimentary bodies with sharp
and sub-horizontal boundaries. 2D resistivity sections were compiled
using the programme Res2Dinv (Geotomo Software, Malaysia) with the
L2-norm approach (a standard method–least squares inversion) with 5
iterations. The RMS error of final resistivity models was always < 7%,
which is a mark of high data quality and model stability because each
model represented > 4000 resistivity measurements.
Mineral analysis was performed with the DXR Raman microscope
(Thermo Scientific) with a green laser, 10× objective, and a total
magnification for imaging of 100×. A subsample of grain-size fraction
0.1–0.2 mm was poured on two-sided adhesive tape and the spectra of
100 particles were acquired in each examined sample. The RRUFF da-
tabase (www. http://rruff.info/) was used for the spectra assignment.
Particle size distribution functions (PSD) of fine sediments were
obtained by laser granulometer ANALYSETTE 22 MicroTec plus
(Fritsch) with a measuring range from 0.08 μm to 2 mm. Samples were
dispersed in ultrasonic disintegrator, which is a part of the granul-
ometer measuring line; i.e., no chemical sediment pre-treatment was
used to destroy organic matter.

Table 1
Validation of XRF analysis using SRM2711a.

Al Fe Ti Pb Zn

Certified 6.72 ± 0.06 2.82 ± 0.04 0.317 ± 0.008 0.140 ± 0.001 414 ± 0.011
Obtained 6.0 3.03 0.29 0.16 408

160
M. Faměra et al.
4. Results
4.1. Topography, resistivity, and lithology
The recent channel dynamics were evaluated from 1840s maps and
maps and orthophotos from the 20th century (Fig. 4–5). The river
channel was subsequently unstable in places, with a considerable lat-
eral erosion rate (Fig. 5). This instability has produced a highly variable
surface topography of the channel belt with point bars and abandoned
side channels and channel bends. The river tends to repeatedly use
formerly abandoned side channels that makes the channel belt topo-
graphy distinct from the rest of the floodplain.
The sediments of the current channel belt are coarser, sandy with
pebble and gravel admixtures, and thus have higher electrical resistivity
than the finer, mostly silty cover of the floodplain top in elevated sur-
faces of the distal floodplain. The contours of the current channel belt
161
Catena 165 (2018) 157–172
Fig. 4. The example of recent channel dynamics in the
Valcha area: map of 1840s and orthophotos from the 20th
century.
can be drawn as an envelope of the corresponding geomorphic shapes
in DTM and the extent of higher resistivity domains (Fig. 4). In most
ERT images (Fig. 6), natural levees are discernible as wedge-shaped
higher resistivity domains.
The channel dynamics and variegated topography of the channel
belt contrasts with the featureless floodplain surface; only creeks and
ditches disturb the distal floodplain flatness. However, the shallow
subsurface of the floodplain is much more variegated than its topo-
graphy–it typically shows elongated higher-resistivity domains in the
DEMP images. Field examination of those domains revealed much
coarser lithology with prevailing sand and gravel and pebble ad-
mixtures compared with typical floodplain loam. We interpret those
higher-resistivity bodies in the floodplain as abandoned channel belts
buried by shallow blankets of loams (Fig. 6).
The ERT imaging was performed in sections through the most re-
markable DEMP contrasts. The ERT thus showed several laterally
M. Faměra et al.
contrasting resistivity domains in each studied section (Fig. 6). The
results of DEMP and ERT are in good agreement; the low-resistivity
areas in DEMP are coincident with presence of low resistivity strata in
top or the ERT profiles.
4.2. Element composition and magnetic susceptibility
Most floodplain sediments of the Litavka River are severely enriched
in Pb and Zn (Fig 7A and C, respectively) and to a lesser degree in Ag,
As, Cd, Cu, Sn, and Sb compared with UCC (Rudnick and Gao, 2003).
The enrichment is unequivocal in both raw (Table 2) and Al- or Fe-
normalized element concentrations. The risk elements are associated in
two groups based on correlation of their concentrations: Ag-As-Pb-Sb
and Cd-Zn, whereas Cu and Sn behave in a specific manner (Table 4).
We further focused on Pb, one of the major element pollutants and the
one with relatively low post-depositional mobility compared, e.g., to Cd
and Zn (Hudson-Edwards et al., 1998).
A common routine to establish local geochemical background is
based on identification of sediments below polluted strata, not im-
pacted by reductimorphic processes and exhibiting stable (depth-in-
dependent) concentrations of risk elements (Bábek et al., 2015; Matys
Grygar and Popelka, 2016). In the Litavka floodplain this routine pro-
duced a set of background candidates, of which Al- and Fe-normalized
concentrations were close to the UCC; an example for Pb as the target
element and Al as the reference element is shown in Fig. 8A. However,
the plots of risk element concentrations in background candidates
against Al and/or Fe (and other potential reference elements suitable
for geochemical normalization, Rb and Ti) exhibit a considerable
scatter of composition (Fig. 8A) compared with simple curves expected
for the geochemical background function. The reasons for the scatter
can be the post-depositional migration of risk elements (more details
are below), which especially impacts the older sediment strata covered
or surrounded by younger, severely polluted sediments. The same
conclusion has been drawn by Nováková et al. (2015).
The Pb concentrations were evaluated using the shape of the dis-
tribution functions to find natural breaks sensu Matschullat et al.
(2000). Logarithms of Pb concentrations (Fig. 9A) had two local
maxima centred at approximately 40 and 4000 ppm Pb (chemostrati-
graphic units U and S, respectively, Fig. 7A) and a flat minimum be-
tween 60 and 1000 ppm with particularly low probability of con-
centrations of approximately 400 ppm. That bimodality was not
removed by the geochemical normalization, i.e., it was not driven by
grain-size fractionation (plots are not shown). We thus used 60 ppm as
Fig. 5. DEMP and DTM maps with historical channel positions and positions of drill cores in Trhové Dušníky (A) and Valcha (B). Interpreted boundaries of the coarse channel fills are
highlighted by hatched lines.
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Catena 165 (2018) 157–172
an upper boundary for operationally defined classes of Pb-unpolluted
sediments and sediments with hundreds and thousands ppm Pb as
weakly polluted and severely polluted, respectively. The upper
boundary of 60 ppm was compatible with the Pb concentrations in
background candidates (Fig. 8A) with some “safety threshold” because
of possible enrichment by post-depositional migration.
The distribution functions of χ values had two maxima centred at
approximately 8·10−8 m3/kg and 60·10−8 m3/kg (Fig. 9, lithostrati-
graphic units U + W and S + R, respectively in Fig. 7) and a minimum
between 20·10−8 and 30·10−8 m3/kg (Fig. 9B). Dlouhá et al. (2013)
found similar bimodality of χ with a threshold between the topmost
strata and strata at depths of 30–40 cm in the Trhové Dušníky area; they
found that the topmost strata contained spherules rich in Fe oxides
typical for high-temperature processes. The χ values and Pb con-
centrations are interrelated. In the depth profiles the threshold of χ was
passed at Pb concentrations of several thousand ppm Pb, i.e., close to
the Pb threshold for severely polluted strata. Most points on the plot of
Pb concentration versus χ are clustered in two nearly rectangular areas
(Fig. 10C): one with χ < 25·10−8 m3/kg and Pb < 2000 ppm (area I,
45% samples) and the other with χ and Pb above those thresholds (area
III, 41% samples). Remaining areas II and IV included mere 7 and 6%
samples, respectively.
The Fe/Al ratio in unpolluted samples was 0.47, i.e., close to the
UCC mean of 0.48 (Fig. 8B). In the entire sediment collection, the Pb
and Fe concentrations were correlated (Fig. 10B); in polluted sediments
Fe/Al was thus increased. This increase was not driven by the depth of
the deposits because the thickness of Fe-enriched polluted sediments is
quite spatially variable (more details are below). We thereafter ex-
pressed the Fe content in the sediments as LEF Fe using Al as the nor-
malizing element (the geochemical background function of Fe is the
regression line in Fig. 6B).
The Zr content in the floodplain sediments (80–400 ppm) was
considerably scattered, partly in relation to the sediment coarseness and
partly in relation to pollution (Fig. 8C and 10A). The mean Zr con-
centration was 290 ppm in sediments with Pb < 100 ppm and only
130 ppm in sediments with Pb > 10,000 ppm. The decrease in Zr con-
tent in polluted sediments is demonstrated in Fig. 7B by contrast be-
tween chemostratigraphic units U + W and S + R. The UCC mean for
Zr is 193 ppm (Rudnick and Gao, 2003), whereas the loess samples in
the overview by Hu and Gao (2008) contained 218–589 ppm Zr. The
geological map of the Litavka catchment indeed shows loess outcrops
along the western floodplain edge north of Trhové Dušníky (Fig. 1). We
sampled one such loess profile in the Litavka valley edge above the
M. Faměra et al. Catena 165 (2018) 157–172

Fig. 5. (continued)

inundated floodplain (LO, KL53); here the Zr concentrations were
270–400 ppm. Those facts encouraged the evaluation of Zr depth pro-
files in the sediment cores. The Zr concentration in sediments is also
controlled by grain-size sorting (Matys Grygar and Popelka, 2016;
Matys Grygar et al., 2016b); to correct for that effect we selected Ti as
the normalization element because both Ti and Zr are mainly carried by
heavy minerals in medium grain size fractions (silt, very fine sand). The
resulting background function for Zr is shown in Fig. 8C; the Pb-pol-
luted samples had less Zr. We thus converted the Zr concentrations to
LEFs for chemostratigraphic evaluation corrected for sediment grain
size. We attribute the change in Zr content to varying contribution of
loess (with high Zr concentration) and gangue from mining (with the Zr
concentration slightly below UCC) in the alluvium (Fig. 8C).
4.3. Pollutant distribution in the floodplain
Pollutants in overbank fines are quite heterogeneously distributed
in the floodplain fill. The heterogeneity has at least three dimensions
(controlling factors): the depth below the actual surface, the distance
from the current channel, and the distance from mining and smelting
areas. The maximal pollutant concentrations at the study sites did not
decrease with increasing distance from pollution sources. The largest
concentrations of Pb (22,000 ppm, i.e., 2.2%) were found in the finest
deposits of the former fish pond in the Dominikální Paseky area, the

Fig. 6. Interpreted ERT images in Trhové Dušníky (A), Valcha (B) and Trhové Dušníky north (C). The river channel is in right side of the figure (light blue arrow), beginning of ERT lines is
shown in Fig. 5. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

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Fig. 7. Boxplot of Pb concentration (A), LEF Zr (B), Zn concentration (C) and χ (D) for each sediment unit defined in Table 3.

place most remote among study sites from the mining and smelting
areas (Fig. 4). The pond was shown in the Stable Cadastre maps (1840s)
but is filled by sediment now, and it was just filled during the period of
maximal pollution. Moderate pollution was found in the Trhové Duš-
níky site, i.e., in a place close to the pollution sources.
The heterogeneities due to sampling depth and distance from the
channel are interrelated. The pollutant depth profiles are not laterally
homogeneous across the floodplain, similar to the resistivity domains
visualised by DEMP and ERT. The depth profiles of pollutants and χ in
the distal floodplain show generally upward-increasing trends (Fig 11A
and B). The upper parts of certain profiles in the proximal floodplain
and most profiles in the actual channel belt, particularly those with
overall concentrations of Pb > 3000 ppm, exhibit a certain upward
decrease of the Pb concentration as well as an increase of LEF Zr, i.e., a
decrease of the pollution signals (Fig. 11C). Assuming that the flood-
plain sediment age must decrease upwards but there is a possibility of
hiatuses (non-deposition or reworking; Lewin and Macklin, 2003), we
divided the analysed sediments into four consecutively deposited che-
mostratigraphic units shown in Fig. 7 and 11 and defined in Table 3.
Another expression of pollution chemostratigraphy is the set of horizons
shown in Fig. 12. Those horizons show upward pass of chemical com-
position of sediments through certain pollutant thresholds. Those hor-
izons are skewed in floodplain cross sections (Fig. 12).
4.4. Mineral analysis
Raman microanalysis was applied to the 0.1–0.2 mm size fraction of
100 arbitrarily selected grains per a sample; samples were selected to
represent all pollution chemostratigraphic units defined in Table 3.
Unpolluted and weakly polluted floodplain sediments were mainly
composed of quartz, irregularly shaped fragments of sedimentary rocks
(fluorescing clay matrix, minor anatase and quartz, and occasional

Table 2
Risk element concentrations, 206Pb/207Pb of sediment samples selected to cover the Pb concentration variability and depth range of examined sediments. Analyses were obtained by ICP-
MS except for KL44A 10–15 (XRF).

Sample Siteb ERT section Unitc Fe (%) Zn (ppm) Cd (ppm) Sb (ppm) Pb (ppm) U (ppm) 206
Pb/207Pb 108·χ (m3/kg)

UCCa 3.92 67 0.09 0.4 17 2.7

TNL17 35–40 upper reach, floodplain U 1.64 53 0.8 2.7 22 2.5 1.202 10
TNL24 150–155 TD, distal floodplain ÈRT1 U 1.95 52 0.7 1.9 51 1.9 1.178 11
TNL9 120–125 Č, floodplain; U 2.34 102 1.3 2.2 17 2.5 1.192 5
TNL6 90–95 TD, floodplain; W 2.48 2380 23 11 610 3 1.162 15
near ERT2
KL4 35–38 DP, pond S 8.17 4565 56 897 18,800 5.4 1.165 40
KL44A 10–15 V, floodplain; ERT5 S 6.05 8700 40 380 10,600 < 10 44
KL13 25–30 TDN, bank R 4.73 8250 139 171 3600 10 1.163 67
KL8 0–5 V, bank; ERT4 R 4.07 3890 36 134 2850 11 1.165 57

a
Rudnick and Gao (2003).
b
TD Trhové Dušníky, TDN Trhové Dušníky north, V Valcha, Č Čenkov, DP Dominkální Paseky.
c
Chemostratigraphic units defined in Table 3 and shown in Fig. 7.

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M. Faměra et al. Catena 165 (2018) 157–172

Fig. 8. The concentrations of Pb (A), Fe (B), and Zr (C) versus normalizing elements in the background candidates (see text for explanation). Also shown are points representing UCC
(Rudnick and Gao, 2003) and average loess (Hu and Gao, 2008).

Fig. 9. Distribution function of Pb (A) and

magnetic susceptibility (B) in all collected se-
diments, both of them showing bimodality.

165
M. Faměra et al.
Fig. 10. Relationships between Pb concentrations and LEF Zr (A), Fe (B), and magnetic susceptibility (C) in all sediments. LEF Zr was calculated using background function shown in
Fig. 6C.
carbonaceous material), and minor anatase and albite. The mineral
grains/rock fragments were mildly rounded in the least polluted sedi-
ments and more angular in severely polluted sediments. In polluted
sediments we identified abundant dark particles rich in carbonaceous
matter (with a typical pair of broad bands at ~1590 and ~1360 cm−1)
and carbonates with spectra similar to smithsonite (ZnCO3). Carbonate
parent rocks were missing in the corresponding sub-catchment (Fig. 1),
whereas smithsonite is a major product of sphalerite weathering in
fluvial sediments (Hudson-Edwards et al., 1998).
We also analysed a loess sample from the erosion bank near the
Trhové Dušníky area to evaluate a hypothesis of the loess as a parent
rock of the Litavka floodplain sediments. The loess specimen was
mainly composed of well-rounded grains of quartz and minor albite and
anatase, while carbonaceous grains were missing. Raman analysis this
showed that polluted and unpolluted sediments differed also in medium
grain sizes, not prone to post-depositional translocations.
5. Discussion
5.1. Pitfalls of polluted floodplain studies
The first pitfall of studies in polluted floodplains is related to con-
siderably heterogeneous spatial distribution of pollutants. In the
Litavka floodplain, the previous researchers (Žák et al., 2009; Nováková
et al., 2015) relied on the analysis of erosion banks. The Litavka
channel belt is, however, very dynamic, in places with very fast lateral
channel shifts (Fig. 4). The current channel belt has clear geomorphic
signs of lateral channel shifts also in our studied sites (outline of the
channel belt in Fig. 5). We assign part of this dynamics to the channel
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Catena 165 (2018) 157–172
recovery from the historical engineering efforts (Taufmannová, 2007).
In such situation, sampling in erosion banks cannot represent the
floodplain. We thus performed sampling in the floodplain with a con-
siderable density (cross marks in Fig. 4) and consider this adequate to
the real floodplain complexity. Much less dense sampling can be found
in current reports on polluted floodplains.
The second pitfall of the stratigraphic use of pollutant depth profiles
in mining-impacted floodplains is the post-depositional migration of
many risk elements. This topic was first explicitly addressed by Hudson-
Edwards et al. (1998), who concluded that weathering of sulphide ores
in alluvium can be fast and may cause decimetre-scale horizontal
movements of risk elements because of low pH and water table fluc-
tuations, particularly for Zn. The migration would be particularly likely
in sandy (more permeable) strata and may impact both soluble ions
(Hudson-Edwards et al., 1998), for the finest particles of atmospheric
fallout (Ciszewski et al., 2008; Hobo et al., 2010; Kapička et al., 2011),
and in near-bank deposits in permanent contact with river water (Matys
Grygar et al., 2013). The migration may be considerable not only in the
vertical direction but also laterally because of subsurface water and
pollutant flows (Aleksander-Kwaterczak and Ciszewski, 2016), for
which laterally stable sandy intercalations in the floodplain (buried
levees, abandoned channels, deposits of single extreme floods) may
represent important transport routes.
To avoid the possible effects of migration inherent to risk elements,
we used the χ depth profiles because the extra (anthropogenic) portion
of ferromagnetic particles in the Litavka alluvium is carried by rela-
tively large particles (Dlouhá et al., 2013). Moreover, the LEF Zr should
be stratigraphically reliable because both Ti and Zr are conservative in
soil profiles of the temperate zone, Zr is mainly carried by coarse-silt to
M. Faměra et al. Catena 165 (2018) 157–172

Fig. 11. Typical element- and χ-depth profiles in distal floodplain (A), proximal floodplain (B), and fill of recently abandoned channel (C). Chemostratigraphic units are indicated by
letters explained in Table 3.

the finest-sand particles of zircon, and Ti is mainly in silt-size heavy
minerals (Matys Grygar and Popelka, 2016), which are not likely to be
translocated after deposition. In Fig. 12 the Pb pollution > 1000 ppm
(already very severe) is usually deeper than the χ step, and, moreover
the difference in depths of the Pb and χ steps is highly variable, that we
interpret as a consequence of migration rather than pollution chemos-
tratigraphy. One more support to our classification of pollution status of
the Litavka floodplain sediments was provided by Raman analysis of
fine sand fraction (Section 4.4). We thus, perhaps surprisingly, pre-
ferred to avoid pollution chemostratigraphy mostly relying on the
target element pollutants Pb and Zn.
5.2. Evaluation of electrical resistivity imaging
The DEMP produced areal images of the heterogeneities of the
floodplain fill within a few hours per each image shown in Fig. 5 (right
panels). Those heterogeneities were checked by the ERT and coring in
lines crossing the maximal resistivity contrasts in the DEMP patterns
(Fig. 5); acquisition of each ERT line lasted approximately one half of a
working day. On the base of physical examination of the floodplain fill
we interpret the prominent resistivity contrasts in DEMP images as
boundaries between coarser sediments of former channel bottoms or
terraces and finer deposits of abandoned channels or channel belts
(Fig. 5). In the ERT4 section in Valcha the former channel belt is bor-
dered by a terrace, a very coarse, unpolluted sediment body (Fig. 6B).

Table 3
Pollution chemostratigraphy units and their tentative assignment to periods of time.

Unit name Unit code Pb (ppm) U LEF Fe LEF Zr χ (m3/kg) Time period

−8
Unpolluted U < 60 No ~1 ~1 < 25·10 Pre-mining
Weakly polluted W ~102 No ~1 ~1 < 25·10−8 Early mining
Severely polluted S ~103 (˄) No > 1.4 < 0.7 (˅) > 25·10−8 1850–1950
Pollution recovery R ~103 (˅) Yes >1 < 0.7 (˄) > 25·10−8 After 1950

(˅) upward decreasing, (˄) upward increasing.

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M. Faměra et al. Catena 165 (2018) 157–172

Fig. 12. Pollution chemostratigraphy for the

Litavka floodplain in Trhové Dušníky (A) and
Valcha (B) superposed on the corresponding ERT
images.

Table 4
Squares of regression coefficients of direct proportionality between concentrations of
pollutants and concentrations of Pb or Zn. Values larger than 0.5 are in bold font.

Ag As Cd Cu Sb Sn Zn

Pb 0.8546 0.6741 <0 0.3705 0.7553 0.3934 0.3197

Zn 0.0836 0.3070 0.6716 <0 <0 0.0675

The confirmation of the sediment body as a terrace, probably best

achieved by dating, exceeded the scope of this work, but it is note-
worthy in the context of the pollution studies that the sediments in this
body and around it are unpolluted (Fig. 12B). Those unpolluted strata
are spatially very limited and thus the chance for their identification by
arbitrary sampling would be low; however, their relevance for deli-
neating floodplain architecture and the pollution pattern is indis-
putable. Note that the abandoned channels are not really clearly dis-
cernible from the topography because of floodplain flatness and the Fig. 13. Distribution functions of fine overbank sediments in Valcha, ERT4 section. Distal
past terraces may have been hidden in fill-in-fill structures (Schirmer, floodplain sediments: 1 (KL32 80–90) and 2 (KL31 150–160), levee deposits: 3 (KL29
70–75) and 4 (KL31A 20–30). Resistivity (in parentheses in plot) was taken from ERT.
1995) as discussed below and shown in Fig. 14C.
The electrical resistivity imaging of floodplain sediment bodies has
several limits. There is no straightforward interpretation of averaged particularly the mineralogy of clay mineral assemblages (Kaufhold
electrical resistivity in terms of sediment grain size based on some ta- et al., 2015). It is thus essential to verify resistivity imaging by sampling
bulated “master” values for all types of sediments or soils because re- and sediment examination individually for each study area. Typically
sistivity is also controlled by the sediment grain-size, water saturation, there is no systematic difference in lithology/topography on both sides
salinity, and mineralogy (Samouëlian et al., 2005; Corwin and Lesch, of the floodplain and we thus assume ERT transects on the left side of
2005; Shevnin et al., 2007; Martens and Walraevens, 2009), the floodplain represents the entire floodplain well. ERT4 and ERT5

168
M. Faměra et al.
covers majority of the floodplain width, ERT1 is also situated in a part
where practically only recent/actual channel belt is on the opposite side
of the floodplain.
In Fig. 13, PSDs are shown for two major kinds of fine floodplain
sediments together with mean resistivity of the corresponding strata
estimated from the ERT profiles (Fig. 6). Proximal (levee) sediments
(fine sand with silt admixture, the two curves to the right in Fig. 13)
have resistivity ~300 Ω·m. Distal floodplain sediments (clayey silts, the
two curves to the left in Fig. 13) has resistivity 10–100 Ω·m. Such a clay-
content control of resistivity allows for distinguishing levee deposits in
the ERT images (greenish-coloured wedges near river channel in Fig. 6)
and finding extensive deposits of the finest overbank deposits in DEMP
(green-coloured areas in Fig. 5) and ERT images (blue areas in Fig. 6).
Deposits with resistivity > 500 Ω·m include coarse sand sometimes
with larger clasts; they are not accessible by the used drill corer. Such
coarse deposits are of two kinds: (1) buried terraces (reddish colours in
Fig. 5 and 6, resistivity > 1000 Ω·m in ERT), and (2) laterally extensive
channel bottom deposits found below finer overbank sediments in
major part of the floodplain (the resistivity boundary 300–400 Ω·m in
ERT, upward change from greenish to bluish colours at depth of ~2 m
in Fig. 6). We found a good coincidence of the later boundary with the
maximal depth accessible to drill corer (lower grey line in Fig. 12),
which also confirms the depth scale produced by the ERT data pro-
cessing. The deposits denoted as terrace in Fig. 5 contain a substantial
amount of pebbles and coarser clasts and are poorly accessible even by
shovel.
Conventional DEMP produces averaged surface resistivity that leads
to substantial information reduction but can quickly identify subsurface
contrasts worth further examination. A more time-demanding ERT
analysis can reveal also sediment stratification if the contrasting strata
are sufficiently thick; with the 0.5 m spacing between electrodes used in
this work the strata must be thicker than 0.3–0.5 m and possess a re-
sistivity contrast more than approximately one order of magnitude (i.e.,
sand/coarse sand layer versus clayey silt) to be visualised; otherwise,
the data processing would merge them (V. Beneš, personal commu-
nication). Another limit of ERT is that it does not show the top ~0.3 m
(Matys Grygar et al., 2016b).
Despite those limitations, geophysics enabled a qualified optimiza-
tion of sampling strategy that was more convenient than ‘blind’ sam-
pling or systematic sampling in floodplain transects at distances com-
parable to- or lower than the channel width (Houben, 2007). In the
Litavka floodplain, Houben's approach would require approximately a
hundred or more cores per a transect. Resistivity imaging is un-
doubtedly less time consuming. The method of dense coring was also
used by Erkens et al. (2009), Hobo et al. (2010), and Notebaert et al.
(2011), among others; however, they worked in floodplains where to-
pography was not completely levelled by recent aggradation (as in the
Litavka floodplain) and the coring could thus have also been guided by
the topography.
5.3. Time constraints for pollution chemostratigraphy
The depth-age model for the Litavka floodplain sediments is inferred
from relationships between pollution evolution and mining and
smelting history, several 14C data, and identification of former channels
and ponds using historical maps and aerial photographs. Those inter-
pretations could theoretically be supported by dating alluvium, e.g.,
using optically simulated luminescence, which is planned for near fu-
ture.
We attribute the pollution climax to the ore mining peak shown in
Fig. 4. The construction of high furnaces in the Lhota smelter and re-
placement of charcoal by coke between 1850 and 1907 increased the
smelting temperature; high temperature processes in turn produced
more ferromagnetic particles, which is in our opinion reflected by the χ
“step” (pass through the threshold of (20−30)·10−8 m3/kg) shown in
Fig. 11 and 12. We assigned the decrease of Zr in the polluted sediments
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Catena 165 (2018) 157–172
to enhanced amounts of gangue introduced into the fluvial system,
which dilutes the loess-derived Zr-rich sediment component.
Three charcoal fragments were found in the top 80 cm of the allu-
vium in the erosion bank in the Trhové Dušníky area near the TNL3
core (Žák et al., 2009) and at depth of 117.5 cm in TNL3 (Nováková
et al., 2015), both near the beginning of ERT2 line (Fig. 5A). Their ages
fell into the equivocality interval of the 14C dating curve in 1650–1950;
however, their statistically most probable values are in the 18th century
(Nováková et al., 2015) and the 19th century (Žák et al., 2009). We
interpreted those dates as ages of trees, from which charcoal was pro-
duced and used in metallurgy before coke was introduced. The strata
around those charcoals in the TNL3 profile had mean Pb concentrations
of approximately 5000 ppm and LEF Fe > 1.4, with the pass of χ above
its threshold of (20–30)·10−8 m3/kg at a depth of 108 cm. Those find-
ings showed that the most severe floodplain pollution indeed occurred
during the peak mining (Table 3, unit S). The thickness of the unit S is,
however, only ~50 cm in profiles 8–70 m far from the erosion bank
along ERT2 line Fig. 12A. Majority of overbank fines in the distal
floodplain (total thickness of 150–180 cm) is thus older than the pol-
lution climax.
After 1948, uranium was extracted in the nearby ore region east of
Příbram (Uhlík, 2016 and references therein), and indeed certain se-
diments from the current channel belt have elevated U concentrations.
However, we did not find U pollution in the floodplain, and U was
always enhanced only in strata with decreasing Pb concentrations, i.e.,
younger than the assumed ore mining climax (Table 3, unit R). Those
sediments are only found in the current channel belt that also confirms
the relevance of near-channel deposition.
Historical maps also allow for establishing certain time constraints
for the pollution chemostratigraphy. We examined historical channel
position in Stable Cadastre maps (1840s) and the military map of 1953
and current situation. All sediment profiles taken in the former channels
depicted in the historical maps had LEF Fe > 1.6 with χ above the
threshold of (20–30)·10−8 m3/kg. The maximal LEF Fe and Pb con-
centrations (peak > 10,000 ppm) were found in sites, which were in
channels depicted in the 1843 map but not in 1953 (KL9, KL11). The
sediments in former channels depicted in the 1953 map had < 7000
ppm Pb (KL2, KL3, KL6, KL10, KL14, KL17); most of them “only” ca
3000 ppm Pb, and pollution by U (KL2, KL3, KL14, KL17). Those con-
straints show that the Pb pollution of the Litavka floodplain peaked
before 1950 and then declined in accordance with the mining history
(Fig. 3).
5.4. Polluted sediments in the Litavka floodplain architecture
The impression of an extensive aggradation in the Litavka flood-
plain and thus the image of pollution evenly spread over the floodplain
surface (Žák et al., 2009; Nováková et al., 2015) stemmed from a
combination of two facts: (i) sampling in the channel belt caught se-
verely polluted strata in nearly the entire thickness of sediments above
the channel bottom, and (ii) severe pollution was also found in the
distal floodplain where, unfortunately, deeper strata and the floodplain
edges were not systematically examined. As discussed above, sampling
in the channel belt, where non-systematic (chaotic) channel shifts
(Fig. 4) have produced reworked channel belt (Fig. 4) with relatively
young deposits, cannot really represent the floodplain stratigraphy.
Using the pollution chemostratigraphy, we could now judge the role of
aggradation and lateral deposition during the mining peak and around
it.
Our sampling, targeted on the resistivity contrasts, allowed us to
find weakly polluted or unpolluted sediments relatively close to the
floodplain surface at nearly the same altitude as severely polluted strata
(ERT2 and ERT4 lines in Fig. 12). It rules out the aggradation as the
only floodplain-forming process in recent centuries according to the
scenario in Fig. 14A. For example, the aggradation by severely polluted
sediments younger than the pollution (enhanced χ, decreased Zr
M. Faměra et al.
Fig. 14. Three scenarios of the deposition in the Litavka floodplain during the mining period with prevailing aggradation (A), lateral reworking with minor aggradation (B), and filling of
the space between terraces (C).
content) is represented by up to a few dm of equally polluted sediments
on the top of the floodplain in ERT2 and ERT4 sections (Fig. 12).
Skewness of the pollution chemostratigraphic horizons in those two
quoted sections (Fig. 12) documents that lateral deposition has pre-
vailed in those sites according to the scenario in Fig. 14B. The shape of
the polluted sediment bodies indeed resembles those in the floodplains
of the Lienne and Geul rivers with prevailing lateral accretion and
minor aggradation (Notebaert et al., 2011). Only in ERT5 nearly all fine
floodplain sediments are polluted as if the aggradation (scenario
Fig. 14A) prevailed. Either the proportion of lateral reworking and
aggradation has varied from site to site, or ERT5 profile accidentally
caught place with particularly fast recent lateral channel shifts.
Another crucial question for the Litavka floodplain architecture is:
has the mining-polluted alluvium replaced (reworked) older floodplain
deposits (scenario in Fig. 14B), or has the lateral accretion filled space
that was empty before the mining activities (scenario in Fig. 14C) and
thus elevated the flood basin? The former scenario (Fig. 14B) would be
consistent with the Holocene evolution of larger fluvial systems as de-
scribed by Schirmer (1995) for middle European rivers, Erkens et al.
(2009) for the Rhine River, and Macklin et al. (2013) for most northern
UK upland rivers–the early Holocene narrowing and incision of the
channel belt within the Pleistocene glacial or fluvial deposits was fol-
lowed by lateral reworking and a minor aggradation in the youngest,
anthropogenically affected channel belt. The scenario in Fig. 14C, with
aggradational filling of formerly free space between early Holocene
terraces by anthropogenic alluvium, would be consistent with the
model of the artificial addition of solids into a river system in amounts
exceeding the usual transport capacity of the river (Miller et al., 1998;
James, 2013) and is broadly considered probable for smaller catch-
ments under anthropogenic pressure. The aggradation scenario
(Fig. 14C) was proposed for the Litavka River system by Žák et al.
(2009), who listed forest clearance and subsequent catchment erosion,
mining, and failures of tailing ponds as the sources of fine overbank
sediments in the Litavka floodplain. However, the geological map of the
Litavka catchment (Fig. 1) shows abundant fine-grained sediment in
higher-order valleys (the Quaternary loams) and loess outcrops around
the trunk channel–there have thus been sufficient natural sources of
fine sediments in the Litavka floodplain even before the human impact.
We interpret the elongated higher-resistivity domains in the DEMP
images and their cross sections in the ERT images as coarse fills of
former channels (ERT2 and ERT5 lines in Fig. 6) abandoned before the
map produced in 1840s. In all ERT lines (and also in ERT3, Fig. 6C) a
single horizontal basis of both those coarse channel fills and horizontal
170
Catena 165 (2018) 157–172
bodies of overbank fines can be distinguished at the depth of ~2 m. We
interpret it as the erosion basis of the fluvial system; its horizontal
shape is more compatible with the scenario of minor aggradation of the
Litavka floodplain. We thus consider the scenario in Fig. 14B most
realistic for the Litavka floodplain evolution during the mining period.
We are aware that dating of the pre-mining alluvia would be necessary
to finally decide between the scenarios depicted in Fig. 14, however,
already at this stage we can state that lateral deposition has definitely
been relevant in floodplain filling of the Litavka River.
The volume of unpolluted sediments in the studied transects is
surprisingly small, as if the floodplain fill had been laterally reworked
within no more than a few centuries. A similar conclusion has recently
been made in the Ploučnice River, a stream of comparable size to the
Litavka River (Matys Grygar et al., 2016a). This evaluation may seem to
contrast with the stability of the channel belt position since the Stable
Cadastre maps (1840s); however, the channel position has been sys-
tematically impacted by engineering measures such as artificial channel
straightening in most of the river length (Taufmannová, 2007), which
did not prevent smaller channel shifts (Fig. 4) but likely excluded more
extensive channel avulsions. Because those measures are now kept only
near buildings, the Litavka River is expected to rework the most pol-
luted strata along the current channel in the next few centuries.
6. Conclusions
A rational strategy for deciphering floodplain architecture can start
with DEMP imaging that quickly produces rough images of the dis-
continuities in the floodplain fill; then, the ERT lines through the DEMP
resistivity contrasts can considerably improve spatial resolution of the
DEMP imaging. The target sediment bodies can be, e.g. paleochannel
fills, edges of erosional remnants of older floodplain surfaces, and
buried terraces. The geophysical work must be completed by sampling
in the major resistivity domains, which is the most time-demanding
part of the work and can thus be minimised in volume without missing
relevant details. In the Litavka fluvial system, this approach also al-
lowed for the identification of substantial contrasts in the pollution
status of sediments that mirror the floodplain architecture and assign
the age of young sediments with less effort and expenses than either
adequately dense ‘blind’ drilling across the floodplain or direct dating
methods. The proposed approach is particularly efficient when surface
topography cannot be used as a guide for floodplain description, but
should be applicable to any fluvial system.
Correlation horizons in the Litavka floodplain based on pollution
M. Faměra et al.
stratigraphy were selected with respect to a well-known tendency of
small and mobile pollutant species, such as Zn and, to lesser degree, Pb
to post-depositional migration. For the Litavka floodplain we re-
commend the use of signatures derived from conservative elements
such as Zr and Ti and the presence of magnetic particles. We, however,
assume that in all fluvial systems severely impacted by ore mining,
processing, and smelting, some proxies less prone to post-depositional
migration than common heavy metals could be identified and used
analogously to their use in the Litavka River.
Acknowledgment
P. Uhlík (J. E. Purkyně University) performed initial GIS work to
select perspective study sites. M. Maříková and P. Vorm (Institute of
Inorganic Chemistry, Řež) assisted in sediment sampling and performed
majority of very demanding laboratory work; M. Maříková performed
also Raman microanalysis. V. Beneš (G-Impuls, Prague) performed ERT
and part of DEMP, processed the results of resistivity measurements
into graphical form, and contributed to the interpretation of the re-
sistivity parameters. Part of DEMP was performed with instruments
from Palacký University in Olomouc. Research was funded by Charles
University (GAUK project no. 925016), Czech Science Foundation (16-
00800S), and J.E. Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem (IGA project
No. 44204 15 0076 01). The authors are grateful to reviewers and the
editor (G. Verstraeten) who helped to improve the clarity of the pre-
sentation. TMG coordinated the work, interpreted data, and evaluated
the floodplain architecture, KK coordinated and performed fieldwork
and made overviews of XRF analyses, JE guided GIS works and per-
formed and presented its other part, ŠT assisted in fieldwork and per-
formed and presented a part of GIS work, and MF assisted in fieldwork,
performed magnetic susceptibility analyses, graphically presented
geophysical and geochemical results, and contributed to the manuscript
processing. There is no conflict of interest for any of the authors.
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