Environmental impact of flooding: studies of ‘self‐cleaning’ of river ecosystem during consecutive flood events

This article presents the similarities and differences between the chemical compositions of sediments deposited by theWarta river (central Poland) during two consecutive flood events. The studies conducted revealed significant differentiation in the metal content of acid‐leached sediment fractions deposited during the summer flood event and subsequent winter flood event. The lower metal content in the sediment deposits during the winter flood event may be evidence of different transport processes and sediment deposition during the consecutive flood stages; as well as the potential ‘purification’ of the river channel from pollutants previously deposited during the summer flood event.