The role of forest floor in migration of metals and artificial nuclides during forest fires in Siberia

Shcherbov, B. L.

doi:10.1134/s1995425512020114

Cited by 15 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 5 publications

(7 reference statements)

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“…In summer, air masses entered from the side of the continent where the tundra and forests were burning mostly in June and July [74]. The annual area of wildfires in Siberia is about five million hectares; according to existing estimates, the annual atmospheric emission of mercury from fires in Siberia may amount to 2.7 tons [75]. Terrestrial lichens and mosses might be largely saturated with mercury in the northern regions.…”

Section: Wet Deposition Fluxmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of Mercury Concentrations and Fluxes Deposited from the Atmosphere on the Territory of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area

2021

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The problem of mercury input and its further distribution in the Arctic environment is actively debated, especially in recent times, due to the observed processes of permafrost thawing causing the enhanced release of mercury into the Arctic atmosphere and further distribution in the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem. The atmospheric mercury deposition occurs via dry deposition and wet scavenging by precipitation events. Here we present a study of Hg in wet precipitation on the remote territory of the Russian Arctic; the data were obtained at the monitoring stations Nadym and Salekhard in 2016–2018. Mercury pollution of the Salekhard atmosphere in cold time is mainly determined by regional and local sources, while in Nadym, long-range transport of mercury and local fuel combustion are the main sources of pollutants in the cold season, while internal regional sources have a greater impact on the warm season. Total mercury concentrations in wet precipitation in Nadym varied from <0.5 to 63.3 ng/L. The highest Hg concentrations in the springtime were most likely attributed to atmospheric mercury depletion events (AMDE). The contributions of wet atmospheric precipitation during the AMDE period to the annual Hg deposition were 16.7% and 9.8% in 2016/2017 and 2017/2018, respectively. The average annual volume-weighted Hg concentration (VWC) in the atmospheric precipitation in Nadym is notably higher than the values reported for the remote regions in the Arctic and comparable with the values obtained for the other urbanized regions of the world. Annual Hg fluxes in Nadym are nevertheless close to the average annual fluxes for remote territories of the Arctic zone and significantly lower than the annual fluxes reported for unpolluted sites of continental-scale monitoring networks of the different parts of the world (USA, Europe, and China). The increase of Hg deposition flux with wet precipitation in Nadym in 2018 might be caused by regional emissions of gas and oil combustion, wildfires, and Hg re-emission from soils due to the rising air temperature. The 37 cm increase of the seasonally thawed layer (STL) in 2018 compared to the 10-year average reflects that the climatic changes in the Nadym region might increase Hg(0) evasion, considering a great pool of Hg is contained in permafrost.

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Section: Wet Deposition Fluxmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of Mercury Concentrations and Fluxes Deposited from the Atmosphere on the Territory of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area

2021

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“…According to Chertov (1981), the modification of abiotic factors in ecosystems after thinning significantly impacts the forest floor, potentially increasing the humus layer. The upper O horizon (forest floor) is an important soil layer and represents a biochemical barrier for the migration of chemical elements within the forest biocenosis (Shcherbov 2012); the forest floor saturates the underlying layers with nutrients and water-soluble organic compounds, which migrate via precipitation. Changes taking place in the forest floor as a result of thinning also impact the properties of the mineral soil layers, and in a pine forest stand of the red whortleberry type, thinning resulted in forest floor compaction (Sennov 1977) or quantity reduction (del Rio et al 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thinning effects on stand formation and modifications of a young pine/birch forest: a boreal zone case study

Наквасина

Voevodkina

Волков

et al. 2019

Folia Forestalia Polonica

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Thinning of young forests attracts the attention of scientists despite the long-term commercial effect. However, these researches are scarce. Therefore, it is important to study experiments with a long history. The aim of our study is to investigate the impact of thinning carried out in young pine/birch boreal forests on stand formation, natural regeneration, ground cover and properties of the soil layers in stands. We investigated three types of thinning in young pine/birch forests. In one plot of the initial stand, thinning was performed in two stages with a time interval of 27 years; in the first stage, thinning intensity was 75% of stems, while in the second stage, thinning intensity was 30%. In two other plots, thinning was performed in one stage at a stand age of 13 years, with thinning intensities of 76 and 84%. At the stand age of 72 years (2017), integrated studies of the silvicultural and ecological states were carried out. All thinned plots had developed into pure pine stands with 28–53% thicker stems, 12–18% higher trees and a growing stock 55–92% higher compared to the un-thinned reference stand. The most pronounced differences were observed for Option 1. With thinning, forest type changed to red whortleberry type, while the un-thinned reference site developed into a blueberry type forest. Thinning in young pine/birch stands results in the formation of pure pine stands. The associated modification of environmental properties changed the composition and density of the ground cover and some properties of the upper soil layers. Two-stage thinning had the least impacts; this approach can be used to produce stands with high commercial value. It is especially recommended for young pine/birch forests in the northern taiga.

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“…The emission of 137 Cs (T 1/2 = 30 years) into the environment occurred mainly as a result of testing nuclear weapons and accidents at nuclear power plants. Currently, 137 Cs enters the atmosphere mainly as a result of several processes: the weathering of dust particles from the surface of previously contaminated soils, or the combustion of a large amount of organic material during strong natural fires [23][24][25]. Being electrically charged immediately after formation, these radionuclides are sorbed by aerosol and dust particles and fall to the Earth's surface.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

7Be, 210Pbatm and 137Cs in Snow Deposits in the Arctic Part of Western Siberia (Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District)

2020

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Radioactive isotopes (7Be, 210Pbatm and 137Cs) are used as indicators of processes associated with the transfer of matter from the atmosphere. Studying snow cover can provide information about the seasonal deposition flux of the isotopes to the Earth’s surface over the entire period of snow accumulation. The purpose of this study is to identify the features of 7Be, 210Pbatm and 137Cs deposition with the atmospheric precipitation in winter in the Arctic part of Western Siberia and to study the contribution of the particulate fractions of suspended matter in snow water to the total content of the radionuclides in samples of integrated seasonal snowfall. Snow samples were taken over a wide area along the highways around Novy Urengoy in April 2019. The suspended matter in snow samples was divided into three fractions. The isotopic composition was determined by high-resolution semiconductor gamma-spectrometry. The seasonal deposition flux of 7Be and 210Pbatm in the winter at the time of sampling averaged 58.7 and 25.2 Bq m−2 season−1, respectively. The average specific activity of 7Be and 210Pbatm in the snow water was 248.0 and 104.5 mBq L−1. The deposition flux of 137Cs from the atmosphere was low compared to 7Be and 210Pbatm and did not exceed 0.39 Bq m−2 season−1 at all sampling points. This indicates an insignificant modern flux of the radionuclide from the atmosphere. The separation of suspended matter in snow water by particulate fractions shows that the studied isotopes are present in all the extracted fractions: >3, 0.45–3 and <0.45 μm. The main part of 210Pbatm in all studied samples is in the coarse-grained fraction >3 μm. Most 7Be is contained in finely dispersed aerosols, colloids, or a dissolved component (where the fraction <0.45 μm). A significant increase in the contribution of coarse-grained fractions of suspended matter in snow water to the total activity of 7Be in snow precipitation was observed in territories with a higher anthropogenic impact.

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The role of forest floor in migration of metals and artificial nuclides during forest fires in Siberia

Cited by 15 publications

References 5 publications

Assessment of Mercury Concentrations and Fluxes Deposited from the Atmosphere on the Territory of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area

Assessment of Mercury Concentrations and Fluxes Deposited from the Atmosphere on the Territory of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area

Thinning effects on stand formation and modifications of a young pine/birch forest: a boreal zone case study

7Be, 210Pbatm and 137Cs in Snow Deposits in the Arctic Part of Western Siberia (Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District)

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