Aggregation of floodplain soils based on classification principles to predict concentrations of nutrients and pollutants

Aggregating floodplain soil- and substrate-types allows a simple and practicable transfer of their properties, with little loss of information. Spatial distribution of floodplain soils along the Central Elbe River with increased concentrations of nutrients and heavy metals tend to be determinable and definable. Soils of the low-lying terraces (“Tschernitzen” consisting of floodplain silt and loam) and soils in depressions (“Gleye” consisting of floodplain clay and silt) have the largest concentrations of nutrients and pollutants because they reveal high humus content and fine mineral particles as a result of sedimentation through frequent or extended flooding periods with low flow-rates. Proper knowledge of the distribution of floodplain soil- and substrate-types allows predicting spatial distributions of concentrations of nutrients and pollutants, although high variability within soil types and transitions between them remains a challenge to be solved.