In shallow lakes, wind-driven turbulence and thermally induced convection control water mixing. Together, and depending on depth, they interact with microplastic (MP) settling to determine how particles are distributed throughout the water column. To investigate these processes, two MP addition experiments were conducted in a 112 m 3 aquatic mesocosm during summer using 1–5 µm microspheres. High resolution data on MP concentra...

Zusammenfassung Neben den Auswirkungen des Klimawandels gestaltet sich die Beurteilung der Effekte der Post-Bergbau-Ära auf Wasserhaushalt und Qualität der Spree in der Zukunft als anspruchsvoll. Ziel dieser Studie ist es, das komplexe Zusammenspiel zwischen Oberflächen- und Grundwasser im Kontext der Verockerungs-Problematik der Spree besser zu verstehen. Dabei werden Ergebnisse einer kontrovers diskutierten Arbeit aus dem Ja...

Microplastics residence times in lakes are currently poorly understood. In this work, settling experiments with pristine and biofilm‐colonized microplastic particles were combined with model calculations to evaluate settling velocities, particle distributions, and residence times in the epilimnion, metalimnion, and hypolimnion of a hypothetical stratified lake broadly based on Upper Lake Constance. Settling velocities of vario...

Mercury accumulation in lake sediments is a widespread environmental problem due to the biomagnification of Hg in the aquatic food chain. Soil Hg concentrations, catchment vegetation, erosion, and lake productivity are major factors controlling the accumulation of Hg in lakes. However, their influence on the Hg mass balance in lakes with different catchment characteristics and trophic state is poorly understood. In this multil...

Zusammenfassung Eine unbekannte, schwer zu bestimmende aber zentrale Komponente in der Verockerungs-Problematik der Spree ist der lokale Grundwasserzufluss. Als Teil dieser Studie wurden mithilfe des natürlichen Tracers Radon ( 222 Rn) die lokalen Grundwasserzuflüsse in die Spree und Kleine Spree im Lausitzer Braunkohlerevier bestimmt. Der gesamte Grundwasserzufluss, für das 20 km lange Teilstück der Kleinen Spree und den 34 k...

Mercury (Hg) is a toxic trace element known to highly accumulate in aquatic biota and uptake by algae is the main entry‐point into the aquatic food chain. However, the effect of changes in solar irradiance and climatic conditions on Hg uptake by algae is largely unknown. We analyzed the link between sediment Hg accumulation, cyclic changes in total solar irradiance (TSI), and related changes in lake productivity as well as cli...