Distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in snow particulates around Longyearbyen and Barentsburg settlements, Spitsbergen

Abstract

Contamination of snow cover has been investigated in the Longyearbyen (78°13 N, 15°38 E) and Barentsburg (78°3 N, 14°12 E) areas, which are situated in the southwest part of Spitsbergen (Svalbard archipelago). Snow cover was sampled in two winter seasons, 2012–2013 and 2013–2014, at 54 locations within potentially contaminated areas. Sampling incorporated the whole snow mass and was combined with morphological observations as well as thickness and density measurements. Meltwater and suspended solids were further analysed for a wide range of contaminants including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and macro-ions. Results were contrasted with previous studies measuring the release of contaminants from snow to soil cover. It was shown in keeping with earlier studies that PAH contributions are associated with airborne particulate matter. The results, in contrast to earlier studies further demonstrated that the high concentrations of contaminants in both settlements are attributed to local sources due to combustion and industrial activity.

The Great Acceleration of fragrances and PAHs archived in an ice core from Elbrus, Caucasus

“…In Himalayan, Tibetan and Xinjiang sites 15,[35][36][37] , as well as in Japanese snow 50 B(b)F and B(k)F concentrations consistently remain higher than B(a)P. European snow samples usually also show the same prevalence of B(b)F and B(k)F 17,[38][39][40][41]43 . In Arctic sites this predominance is generally less pronounced: the three isomers exist at similar levels in Svalbard snow 8,51 , while B(a)P prevailed in northwestern Canadian locations and far east Russian background sites 46,52 . In Antarctica, a clear B(a)P predominance exists in Northern Victoria Land 53 and in the Talos Dome ice core 13 .…”

Spatial Differences in the Chemical Composition of Surface Water in the Hornsund Fjord Area: A Statistical Analysis with A Focus on Local Pollution Sources

“…Svalbard is a remote archipelago, yet it is exposed to long-range transported contamination. While the exposure to external factors has been known for a long time (e.g., [1,2]), the local pollution there may be more important in some locations, such as settlements [3,4] which were typically established as mining towns. The mining, power production, transport, waste and sewage disposal all contribute to the local pollution [5].…”

Palaeo-notch sediments as reliable proxy records for climate change and anthropogenic activities: a short review

“…Polkowska et al (2011) also reported that pollutants from the Europe could be transported to Svalbard through longrange transport. In addition, it is noteworthy that there exist many regional pollution sources, including local residents (Andersen et al 2004), e reconstructed photosynthetic biomass variations based on phytol in Ny-Ålesund (Yang et al 2019), f loadings for factor 1 (PC1) represents the total organic matter input in the palaeo-notch sediment (Yang et al 2019) activities (Kallenborn et al 2017), scientific expedition (Jia et al 2012), mining activities (Abramova et al 2016) and tourist shipping (Kozak et al 2013). The pollution could be recorded in the lacustrine sediments (Jiang et al 2011a;Liu et al 2012), ice cores (Isaksson et al 2003) and even seal hairs (Sun et al 2006b).…”