Available online at

www.proenvironment.ro

ProEnvironment

ProEnvironment 5 (2012) 260 - 265

Original Article

Study on Blea and Clun Glaciar Lakes, from Fgra

Mountains
POP Andreea Ioana1, Radu MIHIESCU1, Tania MIHIESCU2*, Edward MUNTEAN2,
Claudiu TNSELIA3, Cristian MALO1, Marius-George OPREA4, Alexandru OZUNU1
1
Babes-Bolyai University, Faculty of Environmental Science, 30 Fantanele St., 400294 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
2
University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine ClujNapoca, 35 Manastur St., 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
3
Research Institute for Analytical Instrumentation, ICIA Subsidiary, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
4
Babes-Bolyai University, Faculty of Geography, 5-7 Clinicilor St., 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Received 12 June 2012; received and revised form 10 July 2012; accepted 2 August 2012
Available online 1 December 2012

Abstract

Glacial mountain lakes represent a small percentage of total surface of Romanian territory and they must be
studied to establish reference conditions, accordingly to Water Framework Directive, for the lowland, more polluted
lakes, or to examine ecological processes in areas sheltered by the effects of the direct anthropogenic disturbances, such
as local pollution or land use change. Due to the presence of fresh water resources, and suitable camping places, the
environmental impacts of tourist fluxes, in mountain areas, is concentrated in the vicinity of the mountain lakes. This
study describes the water quality of two glacial lakes (i.e., Blea Lake and Clun Lake), situated in the Southern
(Fgra) Mountains, Romania). The survey was carried out in the summer of 2011, in the ice-free period. Water
samples were collected from three different sites for each lake covering the entire lake surface and were analyzed for a
pre-defined set of physical and chemical indicators. The results have shown a generally good water quality. The
obtained data was classified according to Order 161/2006 into five quality classes, and the classification of the lake was
established by using the percentile system V (90%).

Keywords: glacial mountain lakes, Blea Lake, Clun Lake, water quality, Fgra Mountain

1. Introduction The Romanian Carpathians are part of the eastern

It has been demonstrated that mountain
lakes can act as sensitive indicators of
environmental change and human impacts such as
atmospheric pollution with examples across Europe
[1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 10, 13, 20, 21]. The Carpathians have
been described as Europe's largest mountain range
supporting a wealth of natural diversity and a rich
cultural heritage [15]. They extend over seven
countries in an almost semicircular arc (1,500 km
long and 50150 km wide), but approximately 58%
of the chain lies within Romania [1].
* Corresponding author.
Tel: 0040745516916
e-mail: tmihaiescu@yahoo.com
sector of the Alpine mountain system, well
identified by the: general direction of the main peak,
heights, massiveness and structures. They are
divided into three simplified geographical groups:
Eastern Carpathians, Southern Carpathians and
Occidentals Carpathians.
In the Carpathian Mountains region can be
found: glacial and periglacial lakes, karstic lakes,
volcanic lakes and antropic lakes. Periglacial and
glacial lakes are best evidenced in alpine zone,
carved and shaped by the action of quaternary
glaciers. The traces left by these glaciers in the
Eastern Carpathians, in Rodna Mountains and
especially in the Southern Carpathians, are well kept
at heights between 1,700 and 2,400 meters, where
 POP Andreea Ioana et al./ProEnvironment 5(2012) 260 - 265

glacial torrents began glacial erosion [17]. Most of

the lakes are relatively remote, being accessible only
via walking tracks with the exception of Blea Lake,
where there is a road through the catchment [17, 1].
Despite the difficulty of access, the tourism appears
to have significant impacts on the sensitive mountain
ecosystem. Due to the presence of fresh water
resources and suitable camping places, the
environmental impacts of tourist fluxes, in mountain
areas, is concentrated in the vicinity of the mountain
lakes. Unfortunately, an irresponsible tourist
behavior, favorised by the lack of control measures
lead to negative impacts manifested at many of the
lakes located on accessible tourist routes [18].In the
mountain landscape, the lakes can be considered to
Fig. 1. Blea Lake (original)
act as a funnel which concentrates the impacts of
tourism traffic by collecting the pollutant loads
deposited in the watershed. Periodic studies
regarding the water quality can highlight the trends
of evolution for the ecosystem at a larger scale.

2. Studied Area - Fgra Mountains - Blea and

Clun Lakes

The Fgra Mountains lie in the centre of

the so-called Transylvanian Alps (Southern
Carpathians) and rise to an elevation of 2,545 m.
The Fgra Mountains constituting the southern
extremes of the Carpathian arc are young fold
structures. This orogen has a complex geological
structure with well defined flysch, calciferous,
magmatic and metamorphic zones of different age. Fig. 2. Clun Lake (original)
However, in the highest parts of their crystalline
core, where the investigated lakes are located, they Their importance is represented by their
are made of Paleozoic igneous rocks, mostly location on main routes on the mountain ridge, or
granitoids [3]. The Fgra Mountains are an because of the road car, that runs right along the
important component of the national tourism Blea Lake, where in summer are present thousands
industry, being ranked in the top five national of tourists. The lake has a very high anthropogenic
tourism destinations in terms of tourist arrivals [18]. impact due to the large number of tourists in
Visitors number is a significant ecological stressor. summer, but also because of the many buildings that
Blea and Clun Lakes are two of the most are situated next to it
important lakes from Fgra Mountains.
Blea Lake (Fig. 1.) is one of the most 3. Material and method
famous glacial lakes in Fgra Mountains, because
high accessibility. Blea Lake and an area of about Surveys were carried out in 2011 on summer
180 hectares around the lake were declared in 1932 time, in the ice-free period. Water samples were
scientific reserve. collected from both lakes, from three different sites
Clun lake (Fig. 2.), one of the most covering the lake. The study area and the sampling
beautiful lake in the Fgra Mountains, this points are shown in Fig 3 - 4.
hovering, hanging under Negoiu steep wall of the
bucket Clunului.
Some morphometric characteristics are
presented in Table 1.

261
 POP Andreea Ioana et al./ProEnvironment 5(2012) 260 - 265

Table 1. Main morphometric characteristics of the studied lakes

Max. depth, m
Altitude, Area, Mean
Lake Coordinates Vespremeanu et al.,
m ha depth, m Borowiak et al., 2006
2008
4536'11.01"N
Blea 2,034 4.7 5.2 11.4 16.9
2437'1.69"E
4534'53.71"N
Clun 2,135 0.8 4.1 11.8 -
2434'21.76"E

clean plastic bottles and kept refrigerated at 4C,

away from light, prior to analysis. Water samples
were analyzed for a pre-defined set of physical and
chemical indicators to allow the build up of a
meaningful database that can be used for
comparative assessment and trend delineation [11].
Water temperature, dissolved oxygen,
electrical conductivity (at 25C) and pH were
measured in-situ, using a thermometer and
electrodes (WTW instruments), respectively.
The concentrations of major anions and
cations were measured using ion chromatography
(Shimadzu system), equipped with a conductivity
detector, Allsep Anion 7u column (150 x 4.6 mm)
and Universal Cation 7u column (100 x 4.6 mm).
Fig. 3. Blea Lake - sampling points location The total concentrations of metals were
(original) determined using an Inductively Coupled Plasma
Mass Spectrometer (SCIEX Perkin-Elmer Elan DRC
II).
Analyses were made in triplicate and the
mean values are reported. The samples with ion
concentrations exceeding the calibration range were
diluted accordingly and re-analyzed.
The results were interpreted by Statistica
ver. 7.0.

4. Results and disscusion

The obtained data were classified according

Fig. 4. Clun Lake - sampling points location
(original)
The water samples were collected from the
inlet, outlet and center part of the lake at about 50
cm below the water surface. Standard laboratory
procedures and appropriate conservation criteria
(cooler storage boxes, acidification, filtration
through a 0.45 m membrane filter Millipore, to
remove particulate material etc.) were followed for
analyses of water samples. Samples were stored in
262
to Order 161/2006 into five quality classes, and the
lakes classification was established by using the
percentile system V (90%) (Table 2 and Table 3).
The range of pH and conductivity in the
investigated lakes was 6.387.4 and 26.299.3 S
cm1, respectively. pH was mainly neutral (except
one value), fairly uniform values throughout all
periods of measurement. The water of the lakes was
characterized by rather high dissolved oxygen
concentrations (8.711.7 mg L1). The dissolved
oxygen concentration was dependent on the change
of temperature. The concentration of nutrients was
very low at all sites (Tab. 2 and Tab. 3), and ranged
within the orders of 0.00.18 mg L1 (NO3-N) and 0
mg L1 (PO4P). Total phosphorus and nitrates
maintained low showing a low nutrient input, which
allow the classifying of the lakes as oligotrophic
 POP Andreea Ioana et al./ProEnvironment 5(2012) 260 - 265

(according to OECD worldwide-acknowledged trophic state classification, 1982).

Table 2. The main physical-chemical characteristics of Blea Lake

Values
Parameter Class
minimum maximum mean sX
Temperature, C 12 13 12.51.15 -
pH (25C), pH unit 7.0 7.4 7.20.75 OK
Conductivity (25C), S cm-1 91.1 99.3 98.11.7 -
Dissolved Oxygen (DO), mg O L-1 8.9 10.2 9.391.1 I
Nitrates (NO3-N), mg N L-1 0 0 0 I
Total Phosphorous (TP), mg L-1 0 0 0 I
SO42-, mg L-1 3.67 4.10 3.890.2 I
Na, mg L-1 0.12 0.25 0.190.06 I
K, mg L-1 0.41 0.52 0.470.05 I
Ca, mg L-1 9.50 9.85 9.681.1 I
Mg, mg L-1 3.77 4.29 4.030.3 I
Cr, g L-1 0 0 0 I
Mn, g L-1 4.42 5.66 5.040.39 I
Co, g L-1 0.11 4.75 2.430.32 I
Zn, g L-1 1.09 1.90 1.490.06 I
Ni, g L-1 0.24 0.51 0.380.01 I
Cu, g L-1 4.51 7.79 6.151.1 I
As, g L-1 0 0 0 I
Cd, g L-1 0.17 0.66 0.220.03 I
Pb, g L-1 0 4.31 2.620.2 I

Table 3. The main physical-chemical characteristics of Clun Lake

Values
Parameter Class
minimum maximum mean sX
Temperature, C 8.7 9.3 91.02 -
pH (25C), pH unit 6.38 7.36 7.370.39 OK
Conductivity (25C), S cm-1 26.2 28.4 27.21.15 -
Dissolved Oxygen (DO), mg O L-1 8.7 11.7 9.391.38 I
Nitrates (NO3-N), mg N L-1 0.05 0.18 0,070.001 I
Total Phosphorous (TP), mg L-1 0 0 0 I
SO42-, mg L-1 4.80 15.28 9.891.8 I
Na, mg L-1 0.58 0.84 0.740.12 I
K, mg L-1 0.17 0.25 0.220.003 I
Ca, mg L-1 0.09 2.17 0.890.002 I
Mg, mg L-1 0.10 2.82 1.020.09 I
Cr, g L-1 0 0 0 I
Mn, g L-1 1.81 4.57 3.190.12 I
Co, g L-1 0.42 0.66 0.540.003 I
Zn, g L-1 1.60 1.65 1.620.02 I
Ni, g L-1 1.01 1.14 1.070.03 I
Cu, g L-1 1.89 3.9 2.890.06 I
As, g L-1 0 0 0 I
Cd, g L-1 0.17 0.24 0.200.02 I
Pb, g L-1 0 2.6 1.10.08 I

263

Total phosphorus and nitrates maintained low
showing a low nutrient input, which allow the
classifying of the lakes as oligotrophic (according
to OECD worldwide-acknowledged trophic state
classification, 1982). In Blea lake the most
abundant cation is calcium and the most abundant
anion is sulfate, results in accordance to Borowiak
et al. (2006). Heavy metal content was also low
despite of potential pollution sources originated
from the road traffic.
5. Conclusions
The results have shown the generally good
water quality, but also demonstrated the presence
of minor traces of heavy metals. The presence of
these chemical elements can be attributed to
atmospheric deposition or from the road that runs
through the Blea catchment and also because
there are some lakeside buildings associated with
tourism. Thus, in spite of the limitation to come to
conclusions with only one year survey, it is
possible to state that hydrochemistry depends on
the geology, climate and relief, with no main
influence of human activities on the chemical
characteristics. In particular, further studies are
required to identify the ecological impact of other
human disturbance and to determine the sources
and impacts of heavy metals, on the quality of the
water in Blea and Clun Lakes. It is important to
develop and promote sustainable tourism, to
enhance environmental conservation, and to
ensure that tourism development goes well with
nature, leading to increased awareness of the
importance to conserve natural attractions.
Acknowledgements
This paper was elaborated with the support of
POSDRU CUANTUMDOC DOCTORAL
STUDIES FOR EUROPEAN PERFORMANCES
IN RESEARCH AND INOVATION ID79407
project funded by the European Social Found and
Romanian Government.
References
[1] Akinyemi, F. O., Hutchinson, S. M., Mndrescu, M.,
Rothwell, J. J., 2012, Lake sediment records of
atmospheric pollution in the Romanian Carpathians.
Science Direct, in print.
[2] Arnaud, F., Lignier, V., Revel, M., Desmet, M.,
Beck, C., Pourchet, M., Charlet, F., Trentesaux, A. and
Tribovillard, N., 2002, Dating sediments from an
alpine lake (Lake Anterne, NW Alps): influence of
flood-events and gravity reworking on 210Pb vertical
Profile. Terra Nova, 14, 225232.
[3] Borowiak, D., Polkowska, aneta, Przyjazny, A.,
2006, The hydrochemistry of high-altitude lakes in
selected mountain ranges of Central and Southern
Europe. Limnological Review, 6, 21-30.
[4] Boyle, J.F., Rose, N.J., Appleby, P.A., Birks,
H.J.B., 2004, Recent environmental change and human
impact on Svalbard: the lake sediment geochemical
record. Journal of Paleolimnology, 31, 515530,
[5] Bytnerowicz, A., Godzik, B., Fraczek, W.,
Grodzinska, K., Krywult, M., Badea, O., Barancok, P.,
Blum, O., Cerny, M., Godzik, S., Mankovska, B.,
Manning, W., Moravcik, P., Musselman, R., Oszlanyi
J., Postelnicu, D., Szdzuj, J., Varsavova, M., Zota, M.,
2002, Distribution of ozone and other air pollutants in
forests of the Carpathian Mountains in central Europe.
Environmental Pollution, 116, 3-25.
[6] Curtis, Ch. J., I. Botev, L. Camarero, J. Catalan, D.
Cogalniceanu, M. Hughes, M. Kernan, J. Kopcek, A.
Korhola, R. Psenner, Michela Rogora, E. Stuchlk, M.
Veronesi and R. F. Wright, 2005, Acidification in
European mountain lake districts: A regional
assessment of critical load exceedance, Aquatic
Sciences, 67(3), 237-251.
[7] Gtescu, P., 1971, Lacurile din Romania.
Limnologie regional, Ed. Academiei Romne,
Bucureti
[8] GD, 2006, Normative 161/2006 regarding surface
water quality classification to establish the ecological
status of water bodies, First Part, No. 511 bis
13.06.2006, published in Monitorul Oficial, Bucharest
[9] Guilizzoni, A., A. Marchetto, A. Lami, N.G.
Cameron, P.G. Appleby, N.L. Rose, O.A. Schnell,
C.A. Belis, A. Giorgis, L. Guzzi, 1996, The
environmental history of a mountain lake (Lago Paione
Superiore, Central Alps, Italy) for the last c. 100 years:
a multidisciplinary palaeolimnological study.Journal of
Paleolimnology, 15 (1996), pp. 245264
[10] Kopek, J., D. Hardekopf, and E. Stuchlk, 2006,
Chemical composition of the Tatra Mountain lakes:
Recovery from acidification. Biologia, Bratislava 61,
Suppl. 18: S21S33
[11] Mihiescu, R., Andreea I. Pop, T. Mihiescu, E.
Montana, S. Bedlam, N. Muntean, Al. Ozunu, 2012,
Physico-chemical characteristics of the karst Lake
Ighiu (Romania). Environmental Engineering and
Management Journal March 2012, Vol.11, No. 3,
1821-1824
[12] Mndrescu, M., I.A. Cristea, S.M. Hutchinson,
2010, Bathymetric and sedimentological changes of
glacial Lake tiol, Rodna Massif. Carpathian Journal
of Earth Environments, 5 (2010), pp. 5765
[13] Muri, G., S.G. Wakeham, N.L. Rose, 2006,
Records of atmospheric delivery of pyrolysis-derived
pollutants in recent mountain lake sediments of the
 POP Andreea Ioana et al./ProEnvironment 5(2012) 260 - 265
Julian Alps (NW Slovenia). Environmental Pollution,
139, pp. 461468
[14] OECD, 1982, Eutrophication of water,
monitoring, assessment and control, Paris:
Organisation for Economic Cooperation.
[15] Oszlanyi, J., Grodzinska, K., Badea, O., Shparyk,
Y., 2004, Nature conservation in Central and Eastern
Europe with a special emphasis on the Carpathian
Mountains. Environmental Pollution 130, 127-134.
[16] Piota, I., 1971, Lacurile Glaciare din Carpaii
Meridionali. Ed. Acad. Romne, Bucharest (in
Romanian).
[17] Pop, Andreea I., R. Mihiescu, Al. Ozunu, T.
Mihiescu, M. G. Oprea, I. V. Ardelean, I. Lehaci,
2011, The impact of tourism in mountain lakes
ecosystems. Case study: Lake Avrig, Fgra
Mountains. Proenvironment, 4, 319 323.
[18] Romanescu, Gh., Stoleriu C., Dinu Cristina, 2010,
The determination of the degree of trophicity of the
lacustrine wetlands in the Eastern Carpathians
265
(Romania), Forum geografic. Studii i cercetri de
geografie i protecia mediului, 9, pp. 65-74.
[19] Rose, N.L., Shilland, E., Yang, H., Berg, T.,
Camarero, L., Harriman, R., Koinig, K., Lien, L.,
Nickus, U., Stuchlik, E., Thies, H. and Ventura, M.,
2002, Deposition and storage of spheroidal
carbonaceous fly-ash particles in European mountain
lake sediments and catchment soils. Water, Air, and
Soil Pollution: Focus 2: 251-260.
[20] Sporka, F., Stefkova, E., Bitusik, P., Thompson,
A. R., Agusti-Panareda, A., Appleby, P. G., Grytnes, J.
A., Kamenik, C., Krno, I., Lami, A., Rose, N. &
Shilland, N. E., 2002, The paleolimnological analysis
of sediments from high mountain Lake Nizne
[21] Terianske Pleso in the High Tatras (Slovakia).
Journal of Paleolimnology 28, 95109.
[22] Vespremeanu-Stroe, A., P. Urdea, F. Ttui, t.
Constantinescu, L. Preoteasa, M. Vasile, R. Popescu,
2008, Date noi privind morfologia lacurilor glaciare,
Revista de geomorfologie, 10, 73-87.