Water and sediment chemistry of fluvial lakes of the Elbe River

The presented paper aims at the problems of fluvial lakes in middle course of the Elbe River which has been influenced by the human activity since the Middle Ages. The oxbow lakes which are extremely precious ecosystems contributing to the stability of the river ecosystem show not only the changes of the course of the Elbe River. With regard to sedimenting a great amount of pollutants, these lakes also tell about the industrial pollution to which the river was exposed mainly in the second half of the 20th century due to insufficient precautions on industrial sources causing contamination. 5 cut lakes between Hradec Králové and Mělník have been studied within this research. These lakes differ in the intensity of communication with the river, in the distance from significant sources of industrial pollution and in the use of nearby land. The research included morphometric and bathymetric measures, observation of hydrological regime, seasonal measures in the water column and regular analysis of surface water samples. Profiles of sediments in the length that the used technology allowed were sampled, so that older anthropogenic load could be found out. The amount of organic carbon and concentration of selected metal and arsenic (Ag, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Pb and Zn) were stated apart from grain size..