Volume 94, Issue 3

This paper shows the results of environment assessment within some cities of Western Siberia (Omsk, Tomsk, Kemerovo) impacted with different types of industries and fuel energy. This assessment is made on the basis of chemical composition study of particulate matter deposited in the snow cover. It is determined the marker elements (heavy metals, radioactive, rare and rare-earth elements) in the particulate phase of snow, which is reflected the specific emissions from different types of industries (oil-refinery, petrochemical plants, mechanical and instrument engineering factories, brickworks, thermal power plants) in the urban areas.

The Drosophila melanogaster organism is highly sensitive Biotester to mutagens or mutagenic carcinogens and can reveal mutations in both somatic and germ cells. The results of assessing the genotoxicity of snow samples from different inhabiled localities of Murmansk region – a region of with increased anthropogenic load – are shown in the article. In addition to the detection of genotoxic effects in different settlements, a highly significant correlation with the content of a number of metal ions in the samples, which makes the obtained results especially relevant.

Based on field studies of the snow cover and systematization and analysis of scientific data and technical literature data, the distributions of fluorine, sodium, and lithium, as elements included in the raw materials used for aluminum production, in the snow cover in areas proximal to Siberian aluminum smelters were considered. The results showed that the changes in concentrations of fluorine, sodium, and lithium in the snow cover near various plants have the same dispersion pattern, which can be described by an exponential relationship. Exponential relationships of diminishing concentration with distance from the emission source had high correlation coefficients. From the examples established by these relationships, an assumption was made that the behavior of these aerosols in the atmosphere is determined by the general physical and chemical properties, irrespective of the technologies and natural climatic regions of the plant locations. It is suggested that deposition of aerosols from industrial aluminium production can be achieved at a minimum distance from the plants or within the plant area through particle enlargement by various technological methods in aluminium production or by changing the atmospheric scattering capacity.

This study is focused on the quantification of dust load on snow cover and chemical elements content in the solid phase of snow cover in the impacted areas of cement plants (the south of Western Siberia). Applying the instrumental neutron activation analysis, we identified chemical composition in the samples of the solid phase of snow cover. The results demonstrated that the dust load corresponded to the permissible pollution levels in the living zones. Dust pollution level varied from moderately hazardous to highly hazardous in the north-western impacted zone of the cement plants and raw material open pits. It was found that the predominant chemical element is Ca, as well as a group of rare-earth (Yb, Tb, Sm, La, Ce, etc.) elements in the solid phase of snow cover from the impacted zone of the cement plants.

The article presents the results of the study conducted on the territory of the Almaty agglomeration (AA) in the first half of 2019. During the expeditionary studies, sampling was carried out at 30 permanent points established taking into account the degree of anthropogenic load and sources of technogenic pollution. The content of trace elements (TE) in the snow was determined by a flame atomic absorption spectrometric method using an AA-7000 spectrophotometer with a hollow cathode lamp and with a nozzle burner operating on an acetylene-air mixture. The paper considers the amount of content of copper and lead in the snow, as well as the nature of their distribution over the study area. Calculations were carried out on the number of depositions of the TE in question per unit area over the territory of the agglomeration, with the allocation of zones experiencing the highest technogenic load.

The article presents an analysis of air masses and precipitation transport to the area of EANET monitoring station in Russian Primorsky Krai (Primorskaya) during the warm seasons (June–October) for the period 2013–2018. The relative contributions of chemical compounds transfer from marine or continental regions were defined. The probability of sulfate and nitrate concentration values in precipitation was calculated separately in line with backward trajectory sectors. Obtained information is used for estimating contributions of marine and continental sources into wet deposition fluxes onto the Russian Far East areas.

The paper presents the results of a study conducted in 2019 in which 29 rainfall water samples were collected and analyzed. The concentration of insoluble particles in rainwater was determined, and analysis of the material composition was performed by scanning electron microscopy. The content of Al, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cr, Co, As, Sr, Cd, Mo, Ba, Be, V, and Pb was determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry on a quadrupole spectrometer Agilent7500a at the P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of RAS. The highest concentrations of insoluble particles (6.5–12.2 mg/L) with the domination of the anthropogenic components in the rainwater were revealed in the samples of the summer-autumn period, while the lowest ones (1.1–3.9 mg/L), with a predominance of biogenic and mineral components were detected in the spring period. A group of heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Zn, Cu, and Ni) of anthropogenic origin was identified by calculating the enrichment factor (EF).

In the study, the content and speciation of Mn, Pb, Cd, Zn, Cr, Ni, Co, Cu, and Fe in the snow cover at the mouth of the Onega river (White Sea basin) at the end of the winter periods in 2018, 2019 and 2020 were determined. Winter 2019 year was the snowiest, as the maximum values of the snow cover depth and water equivalent were almost two times higher than in all other years. The total content of suspended matter in the snow cover was 0.2–5.5 μg/L. Increased concentrations of suspended solids were identified near highways. Mn, Cr and Ni were present in the snow cover mainly in their dissolved form, while Fe, Pb and Co were mostly contained as solids. The algological composition of the snow cover was also studied.

To assess the quality of atmospheric air, the authors propose to apply the process of dry deposition of impurities on an artificial underlying surface that binds impurities in contact with it. The mass of these impurities is calculated upon laboratory exposure, after being transferred to an aqueous solution. The ease of absorber fabrication and the low cost facilitate the monitoring of air pollution at various points in woodlands, where the stationary stations for air-pollution-monitoring are very difficult and costly to arrange. A large number of control points makes it possible to identify forest areas with the highest levels of air pollution. A dynamic air-quality study at one of the monitoring points is necessary and sufficient to determine the concentration of impurities. The authors surveyed an urban forest using the proposed method, and the survey results confirmed that areas with an elevated concentration of airborne nitrogen dioxide exist within the woodland. This can lead to soil eutrophication and changes in forest biodiversity at the species and ecosystem levels.

At present there is a steady increase in scientific publications on studying the chemical composition of snow cover. At the same time, there are practically no modern publications on the methods of snow cover sampling for chemical analysis. The rapid development of analytical ways to determine the composition of samples in general justifies the need to improve the methodology of snow cover sampling. Today, researchers use a variety of adapted sampling methods depending on the goal, the geographic location of the study area, and the analyzed component. Each publication contains a rationale for the sampling method used. This article describes the methodology of sampling snow cover to determine its density. Methods of taking snow cover samples to determine its chemical composition most often depend on the chosen practices. The primary systematization of snow cover sampling methods has been carried out. Synthesis of literature reveals some problems, including the need for improved standardized techniques of snow sampling for chemical analysis and for the development of applied instrumentation to address snow geochemistry.

This paper presents the results of studying the contents of total (TOC) and dissolved (DOC) organic carbon in atmospheric precipitation and their deposition fluxes on the territory of the city of Barnaul. Samples of atmospheric precipitation (rain and snow) were collected from May 2016 to December 2020 in the city center, additionally at the end of winter 2018–2019 samples of snow cover were taken in the territory of the city and its environs. The studies showed a significant content of organic carbon (OC) in atmospheric precipitation: the weighted average concentrations for the study period were 7.2 ± 0.6 and 4.2 ± 0.4 mg/L for TOC and DOC, respectively. The annual flux of OC deposition with atmospheric precipitation on the territory of Barnaul over the past three years has varied within 2.4–3.9 t/km 2 for TOC and 1.4–2.1 t/km 2 for DOC. To visualize the spatial distribution of organic matter over the territory of Barnaul, simple kriging was used, implemented in the Geostatistical Analyst module (ArcGIS ® Desktop). The flow of organic carbon input into the snow cover during the winter period was used as data for the geostatistical model. According to the model, the deposition of OC from the atmosphere occurs unevenly throughout the urban area and depends on the location and intensity of pollution sources.

The article assesses the environmental pollution level in urban areas of the Russian Federation regions. Environmental monitoring data were used as data sources. For each Russian region the environmental pollution level was considered as the sum of pollution indices for the basic environmental media: air, surface water and soil. It allowed ranking regions and grouped them into categories (from extremely high polluted to extremely low ones). The air pollution monitoring network in cities and industrial centres does not cover all regions of the country, leading to undetermined air pollution level in 12 of 85 regions and thus to underestimated environmental pollution level there. The paper proposes to use the monitoring network data of the snow cover chemistry for the air pollution assessment in problematic regions and more accurate calculation of the environmental pollution level in them. Based on the air monitoring data for 2018 we revealed regions with high and extremely high levels of air pollution, their list was added after analyzing the snow cover chemistry data. As a result, the total assessment of environmental pollution was recalculated upward.

Natural ecosystems have become at risk due to the accelerating industrial and technological development over the past century accompanied by increasing pollutant emissions into the atmosphere. It realized mostly by means of matter overloads into nature areas caused by deposition of pollutants, especially sulfur and nitrogen oxides, which can significantly affect to change ecosystem state and on substance migration. The Critical Loads method is used to assess the sustainability of ecosystems exposed to atmospheric deposition. The corresponding maximum intake of sulfur and nitrogen is estimated based on the scheme of the stationary mass balance of ions in soil solutions. The critical loads were calculated for estimating the risk threshold of acid deposition for the ecosystem of the Russian Far East using the results of regular monitoring at the EANET Primorskaya station.

The expected growth of the global economy and the projected rise in world population call for a greatly increased supply of materials critical for implementing clean technologies, such as rare earth elements (REEs) and other rare metals. Because the demand for critical metals is increasing and land-based mineral deposits are being depleted, seafloor resources are seen as the next frontier for mineral exploration and extraction. Marine mineral deposits with a great resource potential for transition, rare, and critical metals include mainly deep-sea mineral deposits, such as polymetallic sulfides, polymetallic nodules, cobalt-rich crusts, phosphorites, and rare earth element-rich muds. Major areas with economic interest for seabed mineral exploration and mining are the following: nodules in the Penrhyn Basin-Cook Islands Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the Clarion–Clipperton nodule Zone, Peru Basin nodules, and the Central Indian Ocean Basin; seafloor massive sulfide deposits in the exclusive economic zones of Papua New Guinea, Japan, and New Zealand as well as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the three Indian Ocean spreading ridges; cobalt-rich crusts in the Pacific Prime Crust Zone and the Canary Islands Seamounts and the Rio Grande Rise in the Atlantic Ocean; and the rare earth element-rich deep-sea muds around Minamitorishima Island in the equatorial North Pacific. In addition, zones for marine phosphorites exploration are located in Chatham Rise, offshore Baja California, and on the shelf off Namibia. Moreover, shallow-water resources, like placer deposits, represent another marine source for many critical minerals, metals, and gems. The main concerns of deep-sea mining are related to its environmental impacts. Ecological impacts of rare earth element mining on deep-sea ecosystems are still poorly evaluated. Furthermore, marine mining may cause conflicts with various stakeholders such as fisheries, communications cable owners, offshore wind farms, and tourism. The global ocean is an immense source of food, energy, raw materials, clean water, and ecosystem services and suffers seriously by multiple stressors from anthropogenic sources. The development of a blue economy strategy needs a better knowledge of the environmental impacts. By protecting vulnerable areas, applying new technologies for deep-sea mineral exploration and mining, marine spatial planning, and a regulatory framework for minerals extraction, we may achieve sustainable management and use of our oceans.