scholarly journals Sources, fate and distribution of inorganic contaminants in the Svalbard area, representative of a typical Arctic critical environment–a review

2021 ◽  
Vol 193 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulina Rudnicka-Kępa ◽  
Agata Zaborska

AbstractGlobal environmental changes not only contribute to the modification of global pollution transport pathways but can also alter contaminant fate within the Arctic. Recent reports underline the importance of secondary sources of pollution, e.g. melting glaciers, thawing permafrost or increased riverine run-off. This article reviews reports on the European Arctic–we concentrate on the Svalbard region–and environmental contamination by inorganic pollutants (heavy metals and artificial radionuclides), including their transport pathways, their fate in the Arctic environment and the concentrations of individual elements in the ecosystem. This review presents in detail the secondary contaminant sources and tries to identify knowledge gaps, as well as indicate needs for further research. Concentrations of heavy metals and radionuclides in Svalbard have been studied, in various environmental elements since the beginning of the twentieth century. In the last 5 years, the highest concentrations of Cd (13 mg kg−1) and As (28 mg kg−1) were recorded for organic-rich soils, while levels of Pb (99 mg kg−1), Hg (1 mg kg−1), Zn (496 mg kg−1) and Cu (688 mg kg−1) were recorded for marine sediments. Increased heavy metal concentrations were also recorded in some flora and fauna species. For radionuclides in the last 5 years, the highest concentrations of 137Cs (4500 Bq kg−1), 238Pu (2 Bq kg−1) and 239 + 240Pu (43 Bq kg−1) were recorded for cryoconites, and the highest concentration of 241Am (570 Bq kg−1) was recorded in surface sediments. However, no contamination of flora and fauna with radionuclides was observed.

2001 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 551-554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrey Proshutinsky ◽  
Mark Johnson ◽  
Tatiana Proshutinsky

AbstractThe primary goal of this paper is to demonstrate the dependence of Arctic Ocean sea-ice transport pathways on climate variations. We build our analysis on the results of Proshutinsky and Johnson (1997), Johnson and others (1999), Polyakov and others (1999) and Proshutinsky and others (1999), where we have shown that wind-driven ice motion and upper ocean circulation alternate between anticyclonic and cyclonic states. Shifts between regimes occur at 5−7 year intervals, resulting in a 10−15 year period. The anticyclonic circulation regime has been observed in our model results for 1946−52,1958−62,1972−79,1984−88 and 1998−present. The cyclonic circulation regime prevailed during 1953−57,1963−71,1980−83 and 1989−97. The regime shifts are fundamentally important to understanding the Arctic’s general circulation and particularly useful for estimating pollution transport by sea ice and surface waters. It is important to pollution studies to understand which circulation regime prevails. Initially, we simulate trajectories of a non-reactive, conservative soluble tracer. Results from this research demonstrate realistic potential flow pathlines and we describe how those pathlines change in response to climate forcing. These results can be used to aid current and future scenario risk assessments and may provide management agencies with the tools to determine where risks from contaminants might exist.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
V.B. Kalmanova

В статье представлены результаты исследования экологогеохимического состояния снежного покрова как индикатора качества атмосферного воздуха г. Биробиджана. Выявлены основные природные и антропогенные факторы, предопределяющие экологическое состояние городской территории в зимний период (климатические, планировочная структура, стационарные и мобильные источники загрязнения). Определено, что выбросы основных загрязнителей во время отопительного сезона превышает летний в 6,5 раз. Проведены геохимические исследования снежного покрова на 60 экспериментальных площадках, заложенных в различных функциональных зонах города. Выявлено значительное превышение тяжелых металлов над фоновым уровнем: железа до 60, марганца до 50, меди до 40, цинка до 20, никеля до 12, свинца до 10, кобальта до 6 раз. С 2003 по 2018 годы содержание химических элементов в снеге увеличилось в 2 раза за счет мобильных источников загрязнения, ТЭЦ, котельных. Проведена сравнительная характеристика накопления тяжелых металлов в снеге за 2003 и 2018 годы и установлен ранжированный ряд загрязняющих токсичных веществ. Разработана шкала оценки загрязнения депонирующих сред по суммарному показателю концентрации тяжелых металлов, согласно которой в Биробиджане выявлено 5 уровней загрязнения снежного покрова. В целом экологическое состояние урбанизированной территории признано неудовлетворительным (8 площади территории относится к очень высокому, 14 к высокому, 21 к выше среднему, 27 к среднему уровням загрязнения, 30 к относительно чистым районам города). По полученным результатам разработана карта в программе ArcView GIS Экологогеохимическое районирование территории г. Биробиджана по уровню загрязнения снежного покрова с выделением наиболее загрязненных участков (70 от общей площади города является загрязненной). По результатам проведенных исследований предложены конструктивные методы планирования урбанизированной территории с целью улучшения ее экологического состояния: проведение геомониторинга (контроль загрязнения снежного покрова и своевременный его вывоз на специально оборудованные полигоны). Snow cover is taken as an indicator of air quality using Birobidzhan, a middlesize city in the Russian Far East, as a case study. The main natural and manmade determinants influencing the ecological state of the urban area in winter are identified: climate, a planning structure, and the stationary and mobile sources of pollution. During the heating season the emission of major pollutants exceeds the summer level by 6.5 times. The geochemical study of snow cover was performed at 60 experimental sites in different functional urban areas. A significant excess of heavy metals over the regional background level was revealed: iron up to 60 times, manganese up to 50, copper up to 40, zinc up to 20 , nickel up to 12, lead up to 10, cobalt up to 6 times. From 2003 to 2018 the content of chemical elements in snow increased in 2 times due to the mobile sources of pollution, thermal power plants, and boilers. The comparative characteristic of accumulation of heavy metals in snow for 2003 and 2018 is carried out, and the ranked number of polluting toxic substances is established. The scale of pollution assessment in depositing environments was developed using the cumulative indicator of heavy metal concentration. Five levels of snow cover pollution are found in Birobidzhan: low, moderate, above moderate, high and very high. As a whole, the ecological state of the urban area is considered as unsatisfactory (8 of the area with a very high level of pollution, 14 with high, 21 above moderate, 27 a moderate level of pollution, 30 a relatively clean area). According to the results, a map was developed in the ArcView GIS program Ecological and geochemical zoning of Birobidzhan, using the level of the snow cover pollution with the allocation of the most polluted areas (70 of the total area of the city is polluted). According to the results, a constructive method of planning in an urban area is proposed in order to improve its environmental condition: geomonitoring as a control of pollution in snow cover and its prompt removal to specially equipped landfills.


1982 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. 107-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roland Wollast

A comparison of the concentration of dissolved and of particulate heavy metals in the aquatic system indicates that these elements are strongly enriched in the suspended matter. The transfer between the aqueous phase and the solid phase may be due to dissolution-precipitation reactions, adsorption-desorption processes or biological processes. When these processes are identified, it is further possible to develop mathematical models which describe the behaviour of these elements. The enrichment of heavy metals in the particulate phase suspended or deposited and in aquatic organisms constitutes a powerful tool in order to evaluate sources of pollution.


The Holocene ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 095968362199464
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Marcisz ◽  
Krzysztof Buczek ◽  
Mariusz Gałka ◽  
Włodzimierz Margielewski ◽  
Matthieu Mulot ◽  
...  

Landslide mountain fens formed in landslide depressions are dynamic environments as their development is disturbed by a number of factors, for example, landslides, slopewash, and surface run-off. These processes lead to the accumulation of mineral material and wood in peat. Disturbed peatlands are interesting archives of past environmental changes, but they may be challenging for providing biotic proxy-based quantitative reconstructions. Here we investigate long-term changes in testate amoeba communities from two landslide mountain fens – so far an overlooked habitat for testate amoeba investigations. Our results show that abundances of testate amoebae are extremely low in this type of peatlands, therefore not suitable for providing quantitative depth-to-water table reconstructions. However, frequent shifts of dominant testate amoeba species reflect dynamic lithological situation of the studied fens. We observed that high and stable mineral matter input into the peatlands was associated with high abundances of species producing agglutinated (xenosomic) as well as idiosomic shells which prevailed in the testate amoeba communities in both analyzed profiles. This is the first study that explores testate amoebae of landslide mountain fens in such detail, providing novel information about microbial communities of these ecosystems.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jang-Mu Heo ◽  
Seong-Su Kim ◽  
Sung-Ho Kang ◽  
Eun Jin Yang ◽  
Ki-Tae Park ◽  
...  

AbstractThe western Arctic Ocean (WAO) has experienced increased heat transport into the region, sea-ice reduction, and changes to the WAO nitrous oxide (N2O) cycles from greenhouse gases. We investigated WAO N2O dynamics through an intensive and precise N2O survey during the open-water season of summer 2017. The effects of physical processes (i.e., solubility and advection) were dominant in both the surface (0–50 m) and deep layers (200–2200 m) of the northern Chukchi Sea with an under-saturation of N2O. By contrast, both the surface layer (0–50 m) of the southern Chukchi Sea and the intermediate (50–200 m) layer of the northern Chukchi Sea were significantly influenced by biogeochemically derived N2O production (i.e., through nitrification), with N2O over-saturation. During summer 2017, the southern region acted as a source of atmospheric N2O (mean: + 2.3 ± 2.7 μmol N2O m−2 day−1), whereas the northern region acted as a sink (mean − 1.3 ± 1.5 μmol N2O m−2 day−1). If Arctic environmental changes continue to accelerate and consequently drive the productivity of the Arctic Ocean, the WAO may become a N2O “hot spot”, and therefore, a key region requiring continued observations to both understand N2O dynamics and possibly predict their future changes.


2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (10) ◽  
pp. 4027-4033 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doo-Sun R. Park ◽  
Sukyoung Lee ◽  
Steven B. Feldstein

Abstract Wintertime Arctic sea ice extent has been declining since the late twentieth century, particularly over the Atlantic sector that encompasses the Barents–Kara Seas and Baffin Bay. This sea ice decline is attributable to various Arctic environmental changes, such as enhanced downward infrared (IR) radiation, preseason sea ice reduction, enhanced inflow of warm Atlantic water into the Arctic Ocean, and sea ice export. However, their relative contributions are uncertain. Utilizing ERA-Interim and satellite-based data, it is shown here that a positive trend of downward IR radiation accounts for nearly half of the sea ice concentration (SIC) decline during the 1979–2011 winter over the Atlantic sector. Furthermore, the study shows that the Arctic downward IR radiation increase is driven by horizontal atmospheric water flux and warm air advection into the Arctic, not by evaporation from the Arctic Ocean. These findings suggest that most of the winter SIC trends can be attributed to changes in the large-scale atmospheric circulations.


Author(s):  
Andrey N. Sharov

Based on the study of the spatio-temporal aspects of the development of phytoplankton in the lakes of the North and North-West of the European territory of Russia (large lakes – Imandra, Onega and Chudsko-Pskovskoye and small lakes of the Arctic and Subarctic), the features of its structure and dynamics under the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors (eutrophication, heavy metal pollution, acidification, thermification). The species composition and quantitative characteristics of phytoplankton of large lakes of the North of Russia, small arctic lakes and lakes of subarctic regions are studied. It has been shown that diatoms predominate in arctic water bodies according to species diversity, and green and diatoms predominate in boreal ones. By biomass, diatoms dominate mainly in all cold-water lakes, with the exception of small arctic lakes, where golden algae lead. The features of the reorganization of phytoplankton in response to the action of anthropogenic factors are revealed. It is proved that in the northern water bodies the complex action of heavy metals and nutrients does not lead to inhibition of phytoplankton, and the effect of acidification in combination with heavy metals enhances the toxic effect of the latter. A feature of the response to acidification is an increase in the variability of the dynamics of the biomass of phytoplankton. It has been shown that in different types of lakes of East Antarctica under severe climate conditions under light and biogenic limitation, redistribution of autotrophic components in the formation of the biota of water bodies occurs: against the background of a decrease in the abundance and diversity of phytoplankton, the role of microphytobenthos and periphyton increases.


2013 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 29-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Kasperek ◽  
Marian Mokwa ◽  
Mirosław Wiatkowski

Abstract The aim of the study was to determine the contamination transport condition with sediment in the Widawa River, which inflows to the Odra River below Wrocław city. The transport simulations have been performed by means of HEC-RAS model, which was calibrated. Study and geochemical analyses indicate that pollutions are cumulated mainly in sediment of grain size, less than 0,20 mm. It was stated that the main sources of contaminations occurring in the Widawa River bottoms are: superficial run-off, municipal and industrial wastes. Sediment bed quality from the Widawa River in selected cross-sections has been analyzed. Samples of suspended load were collected and divided into eight fractions, for which the phosphorus concentration P was calculated. Deposit particles less than 0,20 mm contained most phosphorus, i.e. 73% (3,52 ppm), and particles greater than 0,20 mm about 27% (1,30 ppm) for the whole sample volume. Relationship between the phosphorus concentration P and the sediment grain size was determined. Analysis showed that the initiation of contamination-sediment suspension in the Widawa River is well described by Engelund criterion. Simulations of the migration of pollutions together with deposits in the Widawa River showed that during average flow discharge, the transport intensity of pollution was equal 2 mg/s, and sediments 6 kg/s. In the present work the water quality of the Widawa River has been also presented.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 414-426
Author(s):  
A.O. Adekiya ◽  
A.P. Oloruntoba ◽  
S.O. Ojeniyi ◽  
B.S. Ewulo

Abstract The study investigated the level of heavy metal contamination in plants {maize (Zea mays) and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)} from thirty soil samples of three locations (Epe, Igun and Ijana) in the Ilesha gold mining area, Osun State, Nigeria. Total concentrations of As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn were determined using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Spatial variations were observed for all metals across the locations which was adduced to pH and the clay contents of the soils of each location. The results showed that heavy metals are more concentrated in the areas that are closer to the mining site and the concentrations in soil and plants (maize and tomato) decreased with increasing perpendicular distance from the mining site, indicating that the gold mine was the main sources of pollution. The mean concentrations of heavy metals in plants (tomato and maize) samples were considered to be contaminated as As, Cd and Pb respectively ranged from 0.6 - 2.04 mg kg-1, 0.8 - 5.2 mg kg-1, 0.8 - 3.04 mg kg-1 for tomato and respectively 0.60 - 2.00 mg kg-1, 1.50 - 4.60 mg kg-1 and 0.90 - 2.50 mg kg-1 for maize. These levels exceeded the maximum permissible limits set by FAO/WHO for vegetables. In conclusion, monitoring of crops for toxic heavy metals is essential for food safety in Nigeria.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Stoof-Leichsenring ◽  
Sisi Liu ◽  
Weihan Jia ◽  
Kai Li ◽  
Luidmila Pestryakova ◽  
...  

Plant diversity in the Arctic and at high altitudes strongly depends on and rebounds to climatic and environmental variability and is nowadays tremendously impacted by recent climate warming. Therefore, past changes in plant diversity in the high Arctic and high-altitude regions are used to infer climatic and environmental changes through time and allow future predictions. Sedimentary DNA (sedDNA) is an established proxy for the detection of local plant diversity in lake sediments, but still relationships between environmental conditions and preservation of the plant sedDNA proxy are far from being fully understood. Studying modern relationships between environmental conditions and plant sedDNA will improve our understanding under which conditions sedDNA is well-preserved helping to a.) evaluate suitable localities for sedDNA approaches, b.) provide analogues for preservation conditions and c.) conduct reconstruction of plant diversity and climate change. This study investigates modern plant diversity applying a plant-specific metabarcoding approach on sedimentary DNA of surface sediment samples from 262 lake localities covering a large geographical, climatic and ecological gradient. Latitude ranges between 25°N and 73°N and longitude between 81°E and 161°E, including lowland lakes and elevated lakes up to 5168 m a.s.l. Further, our sampling localities cover a climatic gradient ranging in mean annual temperature between -15°C and +18°C and in mean annual precipitation between 36­ and 935 mm. The localities in Siberia span over a large vegetational gradient including tundra, open woodland and boreal forest. Lake localities in China include alpine meadow, shrub, forest and steppe and also cultivated areas. The assessment of plant diversity in the underlying dataset was conducted by a specific plant metabarcoding approach. We provide a large dataset of genetic plant diversity retrieved from surface sedimentary DNA from lakes in Siberia and China spanning over a large environmental gradient. Our dataset encompasses sedDNA sequence data of 259 surface lake sediments and three soil samples originating from Siberian and Chinese lakes. We used the established chloroplastidal P6 loop trnL marker for plant diversity assessment. The merged, filtered and assigned dataset includes 15,692,944 read counts resulting in 623 unique plant DNA sequence types which have a 100% match to either the EMBL or to the specific Arctic plant reference database. The underlying dataset includes a taxonomic list of identified plants and results from PCR replicates, as well as extraction blanks (BLANKs) and PCR negative controls (NTCs), which were run along with the investigated lake samples. This collection of plant metabarcoding data from modern lake sediments is still ongoing and additional data will be released in the future.


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