Geostatistical study of spatial correlations of lead and zinc concentration in urban reservoir. Study case Czerniakowskie Lake, Warsaw, Poland

Abstract

The article presents detailed geostatistical analysis of spatial distribution of lead and zinc concentration in water, suspension and bottom sediments of large, urban lake exposed to intensive anthropogenic pressure within a large city. Systematic chemical measurements were performed at eleven cross-sections located along Czerniakowskie Lake, the largest lake in Warsaw, the capital of Poland. During the summer, the lake is used as a public bathing area, therefore, to better evaluate human impacts, field measurements were carried out in high-use seasons. It was found that the spatial distributions of aqueous lead and zinc differ during the summer and autumn. In summer several Pb and Zn hot-spots were observed, while during autumn spatial distributions of Pb and Zn were rather homogenous throughout the entire lake. Large seasonal differences in spatial distributions of Pb and Zn were found in bottom sediments. Autumn concentrations of both heavy metals were ten times higher in comparison with summer values.

Keywords

• cross-correlations
• lead and zinc
• spatial variability
• urban lake