Trace metal distribution in pristine permafrost-affected soils of the Lena River Delta and its Hinterland, Northern Siberia, Russia

Abstract. Soils are an important compartment of ecosystems and have the ability to immobilize chemicals preventing their movement to other environment compartments. Predicted climatic changes together with other anthropogenic influences on Arctic terrestrial environments may affect biogeochemical processes enhancing leaching and migration of trace elements in permafrost-affected soils. This is especially important since the Arctic ecosystems are considered to be very sensitive to climatic changes as well as to chemical contamination. This study characterizes background levels of trace metals in permafrost-affected soils of the Lena River Delta and its hinterland in northern Siberia (73.5° N–69.5° N) representing a remote region far from evident anthropogenic trace metal sources. Investigations on total element contents of iron (Fe), arsenic (As), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co) and mercury (Hg) in different soil types developed in different geological parent materials have been carried out. The highest concentrations of the majority of the measured elements were observed in soils belonging to ice-rich permafrost sediments formed during the Pleistocene (ice-complex) in the Lena River Delta region. Correlation analyses of trace metal concentrations and soil chemical and physical properties at a Holocene estuarine terrace and two modern floodplain levels in the southern-central Lena River Delta (Samoylov Island) showed that the main factors controlling the trace metal distribution in these soils are organic matter content, soil texture and contents of iron and manganese-oxides. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) revealed that soil oxides play a significant role in trace metal distribution in both top and bottom horizons. Occurrence of organic matter contributes to Cd binding in top soils and Cu binding in bottom horizons. Observed ranges of the background concentrations of the majority of trace elements were similar to background levels reported for other pristine arctic areas and did not exceed mean global background concentrations examined for the continental crust as well as for the world's soils.

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Trace metal distribution in pristine permafrost-affected soils of the Lena River delta and its hinterland, northern Siberia, Russia

Biogeosciences ◽

10.5194/bg-11-1-2014 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 1-15 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

I. Antcibor ◽

A. Eschenbach ◽

S. Zubrzycki ◽

L. Kutzbach ◽

D. Bolshiyanov ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Trace Metal ◽

Climatic Changes ◽

River Delta ◽

Metal Distribution ◽

Lena River ◽

Northern Siberia ◽

Metal Levels ◽

Trace Metal Distribution ◽

Lena River Delta ◽

Ice Complex

Abstract. Soils are an important compartment of ecosystems and have the ability to buffer and immobilize substances of natural and anthropogenic origin to prevent their movement to other environment compartments. Predicted climatic changes together with other anthropogenic influences on Arctic terrestrial environments may affect biogeochemical processes enhancing leaching and migration of trace elements in permafrost-affected soils. This is especially important since Arctic ecosystems are considered to be highly sensitive to climatic changes as well as to chemical contamination. This study characterises background levels of trace metals in permafrost-affected soils of the Lena River delta and its hinterland in northern Siberia (73.5–69.5° N), representing a remote region far from evident anthropogenic trace metal sources. Investigations on the element content of iron (Fe), arsenic (As), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), and mercury (Hg) in different soil types developed in different geological parent materials have been carried out. The highest median concentrations of Fe and Mn were observed in soils belonging to ice-rich permafrost sediments formed during the Pleistocene (ice-complex) while the highest median values of Ni, Pb and Zn were found in soils of both the ice-complex and the Holocene estuarine terrace of the Lena River delta region, as well as in the southernmost study unit of the hinterland area. Detailed observations of trace metal distribution on the micro scale showed that organic matter content, soil texture and iron-oxide contents influenced by cryogenic processes, temperature, and hydrological regimes are the most important factors determining the metal abundance in permafrost-affected soils. The observed range of trace element background concentrations was similar to trace metal levels reported for other pristine northern areas.

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From Fresh to Marine Waters: Characterization and Fate of Dissolved Organic Matter in the Lena River Delta Region, Siberia

Frontiers in Marine Science ◽

10.3389/fmars.2015.00108 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 2 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

Rafael Gonçalves-Araujo ◽

Colin A. Stedmon ◽

Birgit Heim ◽

Ivan Dubinenkov ◽

Alexandra Kraberg ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Organic Matter ◽

Dissolved Organic Matter ◽

River Delta ◽

Delta Region ◽

Marine Waters ◽

Lena River ◽

Lena River Delta

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Organic matter sources and early diagenetic alterations in Arctic surface sediments (Lena River delta and Laptev Sea, Eastern Siberia), II.

Organic Geochemistry ◽

10.1016/s0146-6380(98)00020-5 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 28 (9-10) ◽

pp. 571-583 ◽

Cited By ~ 37

Author(s):

Yahya Zegouagh ◽

Sylvie Derenne ◽

Claude Largeau ◽

G. Bardoux ◽

A. Mariotti

Keyword(s):

Organic Matter ◽

Surface Sediments ◽

River Delta ◽

Laptev Sea ◽

Eastern Siberia ◽

Lena River ◽

Organic Matter Sources ◽

Lena River Delta ◽

Arctic Surface

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Assessments of Organic Carbon Stabilization Using the Spectroscopic Characteristics of Humic Acids Separated from Soils of the Lena River Delta

Separations ◽

10.3390/separations8060087 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (6) ◽

pp. 87

Author(s):

Vyacheslav Polyakov ◽

Evgeny Abakumov

Keyword(s):

Organic Matter ◽

Soil Organic Matter ◽

Organic Carbon ◽

Humic Acids ◽

Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽

River Delta ◽

The Arctic ◽

Lena River ◽

Organic Matter Stabilization ◽

Lena River Delta

In the Arctic zone, where up to 1024 × 1013 kg of organic matter is stored in permafrost-affected soils, soil organic matter consists of about 50% humic substances. Based on the analysis of the molecular composition of humic acids, we assessed the processes of accumulation of the key structural fragments, their transformations and the stabilization rates of carbon pools in soils in general. The landscape of the Lena River delta is the largest storage of stabilized organic matter in the Arctic. There is active accumulation and deposition of a significant amount of soil organic carbon from terrestrial ecosystems in a permafrost state. Under ongoing climate change, carbon emission fluxes into the atmosphere are estimated to be higher than the sequestration and storing of carbon compounds. Thus, investigation of soil organic matter stabilization mechanisms and rates is quite an urgent topic regarding polar soils. For study of molecular elemental composition, humic acids were separated from the soils of the Lena River delta. Key structural fragments of humic matter were identified and quantified by CP/MAS 13C NMR spectroscopy: carboxyl (–COOR); carbonyl (–C=O); CH3–; CH2–; CH-aliphatic; –C-OR alcohols, esters and carbohydrates; and the phenolic (Ar-OH), quinone (Ar = O) and aromatic (Ar–) groups as benchmark Cryosols of the Lena delta river terrestrial ecosystem. Under the conditions of thermodynamic evolutionary selection, during the change between the dry and wet seasons, up to 41% of aromatic and carboxyl fragments accumulated in humic acids. Data obtained showed that three main groups of carbon played the most important role in soil organic matter stabilization, namely C, H-alkyls ((CH2)n/CH/C and CH3), aromatic compounds (C-C/C-H, C-O) and an OCH group (OCH/OCq). The variations of these carbon species’ content in separated humics, with special reference to soil–permafrost organic profiles’ recalcitrance in the current environment, is discussed.

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Coloured dissolved organic matter in aquatic ecosystems of three representative regions of the Arctic according to the data obtained in year 2019

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/202016304006 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 163 ◽

pp. 04006

Author(s):

Anastasiia Pashovkina ◽

Irina Fedorova

Keyword(s):

Organic Matter ◽

Dissolved Organic Matter ◽

Kola Peninsula ◽

Aquatic Ecosystems ◽

River Delta ◽

The Arctic ◽

Yamal Peninsula ◽

Lena River ◽

Lena River Delta ◽

The Yamal Peninsula

In this study the laboratory analysis of water samples from three representative regions of the Arctic for content of coloured dissolved organic matter (CDOM) – the important component of natural waters, which has a direct impact on state of aquatic ecosystems, was made. Samples were collected from water objects from the Kola Peninsula, the Yamal Peninsula and the Lena River Delta. The results of the analysis made it possible to determine CDOM concentrations in water. According to the average values, the highest values were obtained for the Yamal Peninsula and lowest – for the Kola Peninsula. The predominance of allochthonous CDOM in the water objects from all three regions was revealed. Moreover, the complete absence of photodegradation processes was determined. For the lakes and rivers from the Kola Peninsula it was also possible to follow seasonal dynamic of CDOM concentration in water and to compare it with earlier obtained data concerning seasonal CDOM dynamic in the Lena River Delta. Results are actual due to the currently existing tendency of climate change which leads to intensification of thermal denudation and thermal erosion processes in the cryolithozone, which are consequently increasing income of allochthonous CDOM in water objects.

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