Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T09:08:01.942Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Effects of clay-rich river-dam sediments on downstream fish and plant life

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2018

K. Tazaki ,
M. Sato ,
S. Van Der Gaast  and
T. Morikawa
K. Tazaki*
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science, Kanazawa University, Kakuma, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, 920-1192 Japan
M. Sato
Affiliation:
1686 Yokoyama, NyuzenShimoniikawaToyama939-0616, Japan
S. Van Der Gaast
Affiliation:
Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), P.O.Box 59, 1790AB, Den Burg, Texel, The Netherlands
T. Morikawa
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Kanazawa University, KakumaKanazawaIshikawa920-1192, Japan
*
*E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In 1985, Dashidaira Dam, equipped with a flushing gate, was built on the Kurobe River in Toyama, Japan. Since the dam sediments were first flushed out in December 1991, benthic fish counts have decreased year by year due to repeated flushing of clay-rich dam sediments.

In June 2001, the flushed dam water contained a low oxygen concentration (1 to 2 mg/l) and high concentrations of smectite and vermiculite. To establish the cause of the death of the benthic fish, living flatfish were collected from Toyama Bay in order to examine their gills, which showed tissue damage and chemical changes caused by adherent expandable clays, derived from the flushed dam sediments. For comparison, exposure experiments on rainbow trout were carried out using smectite suspensions. Examination by optical microscopy revealed that the gills had shrunk because of the smectite concentrations. Low oxygen concentrations and large amounts of expanding clays have a significant effect on downstream benthic life.

Keywords

flushingdam sedimentsexpanding clayssmectitevermiculiteflatfishoxygentrout.
Type
Research Article
Information
Clay Minerals , Volume 38 , Issue 2 , June 2003 , pp. 243 - 253
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Collie, J., Saila, S., Walters, C., Carpenter, S., Mann, C.C. & Plummer, M.L. (2000) Of salmon and dams. Science, 290, 933 – 934.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Federal Council (1991) Federal Law on the protection of waters. Swiss Federal Department of the Interior, SR, 814, 20 – 27.Google Scholar
Gartman, R. (1990) Splungen und entleerungen von stauseen und Ausgleichsbecken umweltbezogene anforderungen. Wasser, Energie. Luft, 82, 33 – 36.Google Scholar
Jackson, J.B.C., Kirby, M.X., Berger, W.H., Bjorndal, K.A., Botsford, L.W., Bourque, B.J., Bradbury, R.H., Cooke, R., Erlandson, J., Estes, J.A., Hughes, T.P., Kidwell, S., Lange, C.B., Lenihan, H.S., Pandolfi, J.M., Peterson, C.H., Steneck, R.S., Tegner, M.J. & Warner, R.R. (2001) Historical overfishing and the recent collapse of coastal ecosystems. Science, 293, 629 –637.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kareiva, P., Marvier, M. & McClure, M. (2000) Recovery and manageme nt options for Spring/Summer Chinook salmon in the Columbia River Basin. Science, 290, 977 –979.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kennedy, M.J., Pevear, D.R. & Hill, R.J. (2002) Mineral surface control of organic carbon in black shale. Science, 295, 657 –660.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kokubo, T. (2000) Effects of Dashidaira Dam sediment flushing on Kurobe River. Proceedings of an Internationa l Workshop and Symposium on Reservoir Sedimentation Management, pp. 99–116 (in Japanese).Google Scholar
Mann, C.C. & Plummer, M.L. (2000) Can science rescue salmon. Science, 289, 716 –719.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Merle, G. (2000) Some environmental aspects of flushing. Proceeding of an International Workshop and Symposi um on Reservoir Sedimentation Management, pp. 195 – 202.Google Scholar
Staub, E. (2000) Effects of sediment flushing on fish and invertebrates in Swiss Alpine Rivers. Proceedings of Internationa l Workshop and Symposium on Reservoir Sedimentat ion Mana gement, pp. 185–194.Google Scholar
Suzuki, Y., Maruyama, T., Miura, A. & Shin, J. (1997) Effects of suspended or accumulated kaolinite particles on adhesion and germination of Porphyra yezoensis conchospores. Journal of the Society of Civil Engineers of Japan, 559, 73 –79.(in Japanese with English abstract).Google Scholar
Suzuki, Y., Maruyama, T., Takami, T. & Miura, A. (1998) Inhabitation effects of suspended and accumulated particles on adhesion and development of Undaria pinnatifida zoospores. Journal of the Society on Water Environment of Japan, 21, 670 –675.(in Japanese with English abstract).Google Scholar
Tazaki, K., Kunimine, Y. & Morikawa, T. (2001) Dam sediments impacts on downstream of Kurobe River, Part 2 – The variation of water quality and suspension chemistry during discharge of dam sediments. Journal of the Clay Science Society of Japan, 41, 64 –74.(in Japanese with English abstract).Google Scholar
Tazaki, K., Nawatani, N., Kunimine, Y., Morikawa, T., Nagura, T., Wakimoto, R., Asada, R., Watanabe, H., Nagai, K., Ikeda, Y., Sato, K., Segawa, H. & Miyata, K. (2002) Sediment characteristics of Dashidaira Dam reservoir at Kurobe River and Toyama Bay, and flushed suspension impacts on fishes. Journal of the Geological Society of Japan, 108, 435 –452.(in Japanese with English abstract).Google Scholar