Highlights

• Dissolved and particulate contaminants from Anyang tributaries were analyzed.

• Heat maps and multivariate analysis reveal pollutant features and seasonal changes.

• High correlation between suspended solids inflow and fine sediment distribution

• Re-suspended sediment oxygen demand increased with increasing microbial activity

Abstract

The importance of tributary management is increasing owing to the increase and diversity of pollutant sources in watersheds. In this study, the characteristics of dissolved and particulate contaminants in tributaries of the Anyang watershed, South Korea, were investigated using various analytical indicators (e.g., organic matter, nutrients, and spectroscopic analysis), heat maps, and multivariate analysis techniques, including cluster analysis and principal component analysis (PCA), to evaluate water quality characteristics of the tributaries and major pollutant sources. The influence of particulate matter from each tributary was also evaluated by investigating changes in sediment composition and re-suspended sediment oxygen demand (RSOD) at the mainstream of Anyang. The heat map patterns of the evaluated tributaries reflect sufficiently the characteristics of the pollutant sources, which enables the differentiation of the pollutant source according to the tributary locations and seasons. PCA results showed that water quality and spectral indicators reflected the different characteristics of the tributary; thus, it enabled a more diverse evaluation of tributary depending on pollutant source and season. The tributary watershed showed a high suspended solids (SS) discharge load depending on the watershed area (r = 0.94, p < 0.05), and the sediment near the tributary with higher SS discharge load revealed a higher content of fine sand (0.002–0.2 mm, r = 0.84, p < 0.05). The finer the particles derived from tributaries are, the higher the increase in RSOD is due to resuspension, most of which are caused by microbial activity (> 80%). Our results demonstrate that comprehensive and visual evaluation—including spectral indicators and heat maps analysis—of the tributary characteristics of pollutant sources is an efficient approach of broadening the knowledge of the distribution and effects of particulate matter from tributaries.