Sediment and pollutants transport in river catchments: monitoring, fingerprinting and source apportionment
Astana, 17-20 November 2025
Up-to-date information

The International Conference "Sediment and pollutants transport in river catchments: monitoring, fingerprinting and source apportionment" was held in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, at the Kazakhstan Branch of Lomonosov Moscow State University from November 17 to 20, 2025.


The conference was held in person and brought together scientists working in the fields of erosion, fluvial processes, and sediment fingerprinting.


The conference was focus on the results of studies examining the rates of redistribution and accumulation of sediments in catchments across various landscape zones worldwide, using radionuclides as tracers. It was also present experience in applying the fingerprinting technique to identify key sediment sources in urban, agricultural, and other river catchments. The relevance of these approaches is particularly notable for the republics of Central Asia and Kazakhstan, where the natural environment is under increasing pressure due to the expansion of agriculture, mining, and industrial activities, thereby significantly heightening environmental risks.

The conference was address
  • 1
    Using the Fallout radionuclides (137Cs, 210Pbex and 7Be) as a tool
    for sediment redistribution assessment and sedimentation rate evaluation in different landscape zones
  • 2
    Identification of sediment sources contribution for urban, agricultural, natural and mixed river catchments based on application of fingerprinting and source apportioment
  • 3
    Sediment management as a tool to prevent natural and environmental
    risks based on the use of a set of quantitative methods
  • 4
    Levels, partitioning, and sources of heavy metals pollution in river catchments
Key speakers
  • Paolo Porto
    Dipartimento di Agraria, Reggio Calabria, Italy
    Specializes in the use of radionuclides (e.g., 137Cs, 210Pb_ex) to assess the rates of erosion and deposition processes on agricultural land, with particular focus on the Mediterranean landscapes of Southern Italy. You may refer to the abstract of the presentation.
  • Ivan Lizaga
    Ghent University, Belgium
    Specializes in soil erosion, land degradation, and modeling sediment source identification (sediment source fingerprinting), applying various methods ranging from radionuclide analysis to geochemical and isotopic approaches.
    He is one of the developers of the R package FingerPro, which enables the identification of sediment source contributions within catchments using optimal tracer selection and unmixing methods. You may refer to the abstract of the presentation.

Conference venue

The campus is a modern, international academic venue, perfectly suited for the scientific exchange of experience. Hosting the conference in Astana emphasises the relevance of the topic for the region and encourages leading researchers from different countries to take part in the event.