Element concentration, stable and radioactive isotope data from multiple environmental matrices in two mid-sized...

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Hydrology
• Geochemistry

Background:

• Intensive agricultural land use poses risks to water quality through contaminant transport.
• Understanding catchment-scale contaminant dynamics requires integrated multi-matrix data.
• Central European catchments face challenges from agricultural runoff and wastewater inputs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a comprehensive multi-matrix dataset for investigating catchment-scale contaminant transport.
• To support the validation of hydrochemical and isotopic models for contaminant fate and transport.
• To enable source characterization and pathway analysis in agriculturally impacted catchments.

Main Methods:

• Collected data from precipitation, surface water, groundwater, soil, and sediments in Koppány (Hungary) and Ledava (Slovenia) catchments.
• Utilized conventional hydrochemistry, multi-element analysis (ICP-MS), and stable/radioisotope tracers (δ²H, δ¹⁸O, ³H, ¹⁴C, δ¹⁵N_NO3, δ¹⁵O_NO3).
• Integrated new measurements with existing hydrological, hydrochemical, and land use data into a harmonized database with detailed metadata.

Main Results:

• The dataset captures diverse environmental compartments across baseflow and high-flow conditions, emphasizing erosion events.
• Elemental and isotopic signatures reveal hydrological pathways and nutrient sources.
• The harmonized database facilitates cross-matrix comparisons and supports source apportionment and transport process analysis.

Conclusions:

• The presented dataset provides a robust, multi-tracer observational basis for analyzing contaminant transport in agricultural catchments.
• This resource is valuable for evaluating and improving catchment-scale hydrological and contaminant transport models.
• The data enable a deeper understanding of contaminant behavior and fate in impacted river systems.