Urgency of the issues concerning studying water quality in mountain-glacial high-mountain regions of the Caucasus where the rivers feeding the Kabardino-Balkar Republic lowland parts originate has been highlighted. The Bezengiysky Canyon river waters have been investigated for Mn, Zn, Cu, Pb, Ag, Ni, Cr, and Cd content. The high-mountain glacial/mountain fed Cherek Bezengiysky River microelements’ concentration values have been compared from the source to the mouth both during winter low-water and glacial flood periods. It has been stated that river water microelements contamination in the high-mountain region is caused by natural geochemical and geo/morphological background and is connected with the microelements washing out mountain rocks. Earlier investigations have shown that the microelements concentration significantly drops in comparison with the upper reach when the river enters the lowlands. It was found that the Cherek Bezengiysky River waters under study in terms of Mn, Pb, Cr, Cd, Ni, Cu, and Ag content could be classified as clean water excluding Zn which made the water very polluted. Minimal, maximal and average values of the main ion and nitrogen-containing substances concentrations during winter low-water and glacial flood periods have been presented. The value of the conducted investigation is determined by the fact that the Cherek Bezengiysky River inflows to the Terek River and forms the Caspian Sea river basin.
Microelement Structure of the Cherek-Bezengiysky River Water
