Elbe
Elbe river
Fourth largest river area in Central Europe.
On its 1,100 km course from its source in the Sudeten Mountains to its estuary at Cuxhaven, the Elbe drains a catchment area of 148,268 km2. A part of the catchment area, 97,119 km2 in size, is on German territory, with 727.7 km of river.
Average water flow is 313.0 m3/s at the Czech border and 877.3 m3/s at Cuxhaven.
79,177 km2 of the catchment area, inhabited by 13.6 million people, lies in those Länder created to replace the former administrative units of East Germany. These Länder draw 80% of their total water requirement from the Elbe.
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Search data
Sub-areas
| Grenze Deutschland/Tschechische Republik | First sub-area in the river Elbe after crossing the Czech-German border. |
|---|---|
| Raum Zehren | Transition area between the upper and middle courses of the river Elbe. |
| Unterhalb Saalemündung | Samples in this sub-area are analysed to investigate the pollution of the river Elbe after taking on the waters from the rivers Saale and Mulde. |
| Raum Schnackenburg | Nearest natural section of the River Elbe. |
| Unterelbe | Only sub-area in the tidal section of the river Elbe. |
Specimen
| Zebra mussel | Common mussel species as invasive animal in rivers and lakes with high information level for water pollution |
|---|---|
| Bream | Bioindicator in rivers and lakes |
| Suspended particulate matter | Fine insoluble mineral or organic particles in the water phase |
Analytes
| Metals | Eighty percent of all elements on earth are metals |
|---|---|
| Nonmetals | Only eighteen elements in the periodic table |
| Organometallic compounds | Organic substances with at least one metall atom |
| Chlorohydrocarbons | Group of organic compounds with at least one covalently bonded chlorine atom |
| Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons | Group of organic compounds with at least three condensed six-membered rings |
| Triclosan | Chlorinated aromatic biocide |
| Polycyclic musks | Class of synthetic fragrances |
| Alkylphenol compounds | Class of non-ionic surfactants and their degradation products |
| Supplementary parameters | Additional information for the interpretation of contamination data |
Sampling period
1993 - 2012