Geoecology of Thermokarst Lakes of Western Siberia in the Zone of Influence of an Arctic Town (A Case Study of the Town of Nadym)

Abstract

The paper provides geoecological assessment of natural and urban thermokarst lakes for the town of Nadym, typical of the West Siberian Arctic. Although there is no developed industry in the town, we have found that there occurs an anthropogenic transformation of the geochemical composition of the surface waters of urban thermokarst lakes in comparison with background ones, which is manifested in an increase in the alkalinity of water and in chronic contamination with petroleum products. The reasons for these changes are littering of coastal zones with construction debris and historical pollution with cement dust from the house-building plant. Surface waters and bottom sediments of urban lakes contain significant concentrations of petroleum products, which for a long time have been carried into lakes by surface runoff from the territory of garage cooperatives of the industrial zone. It is shown that geochemical analysis of urban lakes should consider not only neutral or increasing effects of natural factors but also local conditions and the historical aspect of anthropogenic impact.

Snow contamination by heavy metals and metalloids in a polar town (a case study of Nadym, Russia)

“…The business and public area is located in the town center. Gas-fired boilers, a thermal power plant, and vehicles are the main current sources of pollution (Soromotin et al 2022). Previous studies have revealed environmental pollution.…”

“…Based on Pb and As content, the soils are classified as "unpolluted" and "moderately polluted" (Nizamutdinov et al 2021). Changes in the water composition of urban lakes have also been identified (Soromotin et al 2022).…”

Challenges of Changing Water Sources for Human Wellbeing in the Arctic Zone of Western Siberia

“…The following supporting information can be downloaded at: https: //www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/w15081577/s1, File S1: Research Methods to Characterize the Chemistry of Thermokarst Lake Water [47][48][49][123][124][125][126][127][128][129]; File S2: Material and Methods of Medical Research [130][131][132][133][134][135][136].…”

“…The chemical composition of lakes is also significantly affected by the thawing of organogenic soil horizons [43]. However, the surface waters contain large amounts of Fe, Mn, Cd, Pb, and Cu absorbed by organic components [38,[44][45][46], and in many river sediment samples, high levels of petroleum products, such as Pb, Cr, Zn, Ni, Fe, Mn and Cu (compared to the approved values [47-49]), have also been detected [46]. The trace elements accumulate in the seasonally thawed active layer from thawing snow and melting ice in spring, and they are concentrated in autumn as they are expulsed from the freezing active layer.…”