Evaluation of the ecological and geochemical state of surface water in Donbas

The article covers evaluation of the ecological and geochemical state of surface water and bottom sediments in Donbas, as well as their pollution resulting from spatio-temporal changes of natural and anthropogenic factors. It was established that chemogenic pollution occurs due to penetration of polluting elements into surface water as a result of filtration leaks from sedimentation tanks and water discharges made by enterprises of coal, chemical, metallurgical, coke-chemical and petrochemical industries. Increased concentrations of biogenic elements (mineral forms of nitrogen and iron) were recorded in the water of the Siverskyi Donets and the Luhan Rivers. The most significant deterioration of groundwater quality because of high content of sulfates and chlorides is observed within the watersheds of the Luhan River's valley. Measurement results of the metals content indicated an increased content of copper and manganese. Some values even exceed the average annual concentrations specified by the existing normative values. In general, the results of the pollutants content analysis in the river basins under study did not reveal significant changes in the content of heavy metals during the period of military actions as compared to the results of government monitoring by 2014. The obtained experimental data indicate that vanadium, chromium and copper dominate in bottom sediments of all the studied objects. The greatest accumulation of heavy metals is observed in the Bakhmutka River and the Kryvyi Torets River. The research established that copper and plumbum in the bottom sediment samples taken from the Kryvyi Torets exceed the background values by 4-5 times. Zinc and vanadium exceed the background content values by 10 and 4 times, respectively. The same indicators are slightly lower in the Volyntsevske Reservoir and this fact is associated with more intense processes of water exchange and certain peculiarities of bottom sediments granulometric composition. Concentration of zinc is 3 times as much as the background level, vanadium and manganese – twice as much. Heavy metals in the bottom sediments of the studied water bodies are characterized by uneven distribution. Vanadium and copper dominate in the content of bottom sediments. Concentrations of zinc, vanadium and nickel at certain objects also exceed their regional background content values. Titanium was detected in minimum quantities.

Assessment of ecological and geochemical state of alluvial soils of floodplains of small rivers of Perm

In the conditions of the city of Perm - a multidisciplinary industrial center of Russia, the regularities and quantitative characteristics of the redox and ecological-geochemical state of the soils of the floodplains of small rivers-tributaries of the Kama River within the Votkinsk reservoir are revealed. The regularities of the content, distribution and interrelation of potentially toxic chemical elements are established, the priority elements-pollutants, and their mobility in floodplain soils are determined. It was found that under the influence of heterogeneity of redox conditions, sorption, gley, and hydrogen sulfide geochemical barriers are formed in the soil profile. It was found that when hydrogenic pollution of urban alluvial soils occurs, natural-technogenic associations of chemical elements are formed in their profile, which differ from natural associations in the background soil. Elemental geochemical associations are characterized at different levels of technogenic load on the floodplains of small rivers. The relationship between the concentration of chemical elements and the value of the specific magnetic susceptibility in floodplain soils is determined. Keywords: REDOX STATE, HEAVY METALS, GEOCHEMICAL COEFFICIENTS, URBO-ALLUVIAL SOILS, CHEMOSEMS ON URBO-ALLUVIAL SOILS

The integrated assessment of socio-ecological tension in urbanized territories

The paper examines environmental problems of a city with a developed mining industry. Their influence on social stability, public health and demography, labor activity, migration, etc. was revealed. The methodology for assessing social and ecological tension for the city of Sibay in the Republic of Bashkortostan was tested, based on the approaches developed by I.A. Sosunova for the regions of Russia. The main materials for calculating the socio-ecological tension of the city were data from the analysis of information on the socio-economic and ecological state of the territory, conducting a sociological survey of the population, as well as assessing the ecological and geochemical state of the environment by a set of ecological indicators. All indicators were assessed using five-point scales. The final indicator was the index of social and ecological tension, which was determined by dividing the sum of points for the indicators under consideration by their number. As a result of a comprehensive analysis, it was revealed that the socio-ecological tension of the city of Sibay includes: Gorny (3,7) Yuzhny (3,2) Center (2,7) Gold (2,6) Eastern (2,4) Fishermans House (2,3) Arkaim (1,6). The use of the category of socio-ecological tension in the proposed interpretation makes it possible to identify sociological problems of behavior and society. The results of the study are recommended to be used for a comprehensive analysis of indicators for monitoring urbanized territories of a mining region, which determine its environmental safety and sustainable development, ranking the territory as well as a set of economically justified measures to include them in the programs of strategic development of the region.

Assessment of the Geochemical State of Small Rivers Using Fuzzy Set Theory

In this paper, for the assessment the geochemical state of small rivers we have solved the problem of identification of a mathematical model of self-purification processes in the rivers with low water consumption. The scheme of statistical testing of the model, allowing to create an adequate model of the object on the basis of available experimental data was developed. Finding areas of acceptable values of the model parameters is carried out during the simulation test, which is based on the Monte Carlo method. Sufficient estimation accuracy of the number of tests is obtained using the Laplace integral theorem. Approbation of the proposed scheme is done on the example of the river Tsna as a receiver of treated wastewater of industrial enterprises of Tambov. As a result of the study, the following processes occurring in the river were identified: aerobic oxidation of organic matter, nitrification, denitrification, plankton growth and death, deaeration of water with air oxygen, protein and urea ammonification, ion exchange and others. At the final stage of the study, an assessment of the geochemical state of water in the studied section of the river was carried out, including forecasts of the content of dissolved oxygen in the water.

Estimation of ecological state of national parks in megalopolises (by the example of Losiny Ostrov park, Moscow, Russia)

This paper examines the issues of environmental conditions of a national park in a metropolitan city. The main sources of environmental pollution have been identified. Geochemical state of the environment components has been determined. Main sources of man-induced load, which enable making decisions on this territory further development, have been established.