Stream water geochemistry from selected catchments on the Kola Peninsula (NW Russia)and in neighbouring areas of Finland and Norway: 1. Elements levels and sources

Abstract

The pH, electrical conductance and concentration of six anions and 33 cations were determined in stream waters sampled in 1994 from eight arctic catchments on and adjacent to the Kola Peninsula (Russia, Finland and Norway). The catchments are located at various distances (5--300 km) from the major industrial emissions centres of Monchegorsk, Nikel and Zapoljarniy in Russia. The source of the elements can be (1) natural, marine (sea spray), (2) natural, geogenic (blowing soil/dust, till, bedrock), and/or (3) anthropogenic, industrial (emissions from smelters, dust from mining, etc.), each source showing a distinct signature. The median concentration of many contaminants can vary by up to three orders of magnitude from polluted to remote locations, and the concentration ranges observed in different catchments often do not overlap. This implies that contamination falls sharply with distance from source, but is quite profound and lasting close to the emission centres. Elevated trace metal contents in the most polluted streams indicates that deposited contaminants are transferred to the aquatic ecosystem, and eventually can reach the ocean.

Stream water geochemistry from selected catchments on the Kola Peninsula (NW Russia) and in neighbouring areas of Finland and Norway: 2. Time-series

“…Next, the presence of a sharp peak for C2 corresponding to the main snowmelt event in the catchment (end of April 1994) is observed. This is a typical example of heavy metal pulse (and acid pulse, as discussed above) from the snowpack to the stream: the peak concentration of Cu in stream water in C2 (1100 #g/l, see Caritat et al, 1996) is in agreement with its median concentration in snow here (555 #g/1 in meltwater, see Ayr~is et al, in prep. ), bearing in mind that thawing/freezing will upconcentrate the meltwater relative to the bulk snow (e.g.…”

“…The Ni peak in late April in C2 is synchronous with the pH trough and coincides with snowmelt flooding . The peak concentration of Ni in stream water in C2 (1100 #g/l, see Caritat et al, 1996) is consistent with Ni being derived from the snowpack (median 258 #g/1 in meltwater, see .~_yr~s et al, in prep.). This is completely in agreement with earlier findings that the first 30% of meltwater can have an average pollutant concentration 2-5 times that in the bulk snowpack it originates from (e.g.…”

“…Results from all the eight catchments are summarised in Caritat et al (1996), and are illustrated here in the form of time-series for a selection of parameters/elements from C2, C5 and C8 in Figures 2-4. The parameters pH and EC are fundamental water properties depicting the dramatic effect of springtime snow melt on stream water chemistry, whilst the selected elements are meant to represent mostly anthropogenic emissions (Cu, Ni, As, S, but also in part A1 and C1), geogenic input (A1, Rb, but also in part Ca) or sea spray (C1, but also in part Ca), as interpreted in the companion paper .…”

“…More information about the "Kola Ecogeochemistry Project" is posted on the world wide web (http://www.ngu.no/Kola). In the companion paper, Caritat et al (1996) present the levels ofpH, electrical conductance and concentration of 39 major, minor and trace ions in stream waters collected over the period March through November 1994 in these eight catchments of the central Barents Region. Here, the data collected at weekly intervals in three of these catchments is presented and discussed in terms of time-series, paying particular attention to the relationship between contamination, buffering capacity and stream water response.…”

Diurnal variations of trace metals and heterotrophic bacterioplankton concentration in a small boreal lake of the White Sea basin

“…Quantitative characterization of these relationships in water systems requires detailed analysis of microbial population, phytoplankton, dissolved organic carbon and major and trace elements. Boreal lakes represent an important and highly attractive subject of research in view of various environmental issues raised in the subarctic region, including, for example, pristine concentrations of metals and trace elements that are most likely to be affected by the human impact (Roederer, 1991;de Caritat et al, 1996). Another important environmental issue is the fate of organic carbon in lakes that is likely to significantly control the CO 2 balance in high latitudes (Smith et al, 2004;Shirokova et al, 2009).…”