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Nature and nurture: Environmental isotope story of the River Rhine

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Abstract

The total dissolved load of the Rhine river increases downstream due to the combined impact of natural and pollution loads. The natural background, controlled by geology, is soon swamped by pollution, particularly from salt and coal mining activities in Alsace and the Ruhr area. The Rhine is also a net source of CO2 from oxidation of excess organic productivity that is fuelled by nutrient pollution, a problem even more serious for some of its tributaries.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lehrstuhl fdr Sediment- und lsotopengeologie, Institut für Geologie der Ruhr-Universität, W-4630, Bochum, Germany

    D. Buhl, R. D. Neuser, D. K. Richter, D. Riedel, B. Roberts, H. Strauss & J. Veizer

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  1. D. Buhl
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  2. R. D. Neuser
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  3. D. K. Richter
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  4. D. Riedel
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  5. B. Roberts
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  6. H. Strauss
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  7. J. Veizer
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Additional information

Also Derry/Rust Research Group, Ottawa-Carleton Geoscience Center, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada KIN 6N5

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Buhl, D., Neuser, R.D., Richter, D.K. et al. Nature and nurture: Environmental isotope story of the River Rhine. Naturwissenschaften 78, 337–346 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01131605

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