Recent sediments of Arctic small lakes (Russia): geochemistry features and age

Geochemical Indicators for Paleolimnological Studies of the Anthropogenic Influence on the Environment of the Russian Federation: A Review

“…In Monchegorsk, the other city of Murmansk Region mentioned before, the main anthropogenic load on Lake Komsomolskoe comes from Kola MMC emissions [81]. The stable dynamics of increased concentrations of a wide range of heavy metals such as Ni (up to 2140 mg/kg, while the background is 89 mg/kg), Cu (up to 2607 mg/kg, background is 68 mg/kg), Cr (up to 335 mg/kg, background is 54 mg/kg), Zn (up to 335 mg/kg, background is 41 mg/kg), Co (up to 129 mg/kg, background is 4 mg/kg), V (up to 140 mg/kg, background is 35 mg/kg), Pb (up to 100 mg/kg, background is 8 mg/kg), Cd (up to 2.5 mg/kg, background is 0.4 mg/kg), Sb (up to 3.3 mg/kg, background is 0.2 mg/kg), etc., were fixed in recent sediments of this lake [82]. Similar tendencies of heavy metals behavior, shown earlier on the example of other lakes in the impact area of the plant, remain there, mainly because Lake Komsomolskoe is located 4 km from the metallurgical plant [34,35].…”

“…Similar tendencies of heavy metals behavior, shown earlier on the example of other lakes in the impact area of the plant, remain there, mainly because Lake Komsomolskoe is located 4 km from the metallurgical plant [34,35]. Besides, the impact of the Mazut thermal power plant located on the premises of the metallurgical plant was noted for the first time using marker element V. The average sedimentation rate, calculated using 210 Pb isotope activity in this urban lake, was 2.7 mm/year [82]. The comparison of the age of sediments and the dynamics of behavior of heavy metals showed that the increase in main pollutants content began in the late 1930s when the plant near Monchegorsk started operating.…”

“…In lake sediments of pristine areas of the northern part of Murmansk Region (the area of the Rybachy Peninsula), the increased concentrations of Ni (up to 127 mg/kg, background is 25 mg/kg), Cu (up to 370 mg/kg, background is 35 mg/kg), Co (up to 40 mg/kg, background is 4.2 mg/kg), Pb (up to 82 mg/kg, background is 10 mg/kg), As (up to 6.3 mg/kg, background is 1.8 mg/kg), Sn (up to 32 mg/kg, background is 0.8 mg/kg), Bi (up to 1 mg/kg, background is 0.06 mg/kg), Sb (up to 0.5 mg/kg, background is 0.08 mg/kg), and Tl (up to 0.11 mg/kg, background is 0.09 mg/kg) were found. Paleolimnological studies of lakes in the south of Murmansk Region and the north of the Republic of Karelia showed that the range of transport of emissions from Kola MMC enterprises reached ~250 km [82]. The sedimentation rate in lakes of pristine taiga landscapes of Northwest Russia can be ~0.6 mm/year based on the 210 Pb isotope [82].…”

“…Paleolimnological studies of lakes in the south of Murmansk Region and the north of the Republic of Karelia showed that the range of transport of emissions from Kola MMC enterprises reached ~250 km [82]. The sedimentation rate in lakes of pristine taiga landscapes of Northwest Russia can be ~0.6 mm/year based on the 210 Pb isotope [82].…”

Elemental Concentrations of Major and Trace Elements in the Spring Waters of the Arctic Region of Russia

“…The intensive development of the region, which has a population of more than 700,000 people, refused from the discovery of numerous deposits of mineral resources, which have been actively developed since the first half of the 20th century. Their extraction, processing, and transportation has a constant negative impact on the environment, including pollution of both soils [42,43] and water bodies [4,[44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52]. At the same time, the territory of the peninsula is marked on the map "Global geography of incident threat to human water security and biodiversity" as an area with a low risk of possible pollution.…”