Total mercury content in soils and lake sediments of Vilkitsky Island (Kara Sea)
Keywords:
mercury pollution, soil texture, soil organic matter, Arenosols, ArcticAbstract
Mercury threatens Arctic ecosystems due to its well known deleterious effects. The development of energy resources in the Russian Arctic is currently being planned, which will inevitably be accompanied by emissions of heavy metals into the environment, but little is known about the distribution of mercury in soils of the permafrost regions. Total mercury (THg) concentrations were investigated in soils and lake sediments of Vilkitsky Island located in remote area of the Arctic. The concentration of mercury in soils varied from 1 to 36,6 ng g−1, in lake sediments – from 2.0 to 5.8 ng g−1. In sandy soils of the iseland the concentration of THg was minimal and was usually not higher than10 ng g−1, whereas in loamy soils it was 3.5 times higher. Correlation analysis has shown that THg concentration depended primarily on particle size distribution, in a lesser degree – on total carbon and total nitrogen concentrations. The soils of Viltisky Island have one of the lowest mercury concentration in comparison to soils of other Arctic territories, because of the predominance of sandy marine sediments and low soil organic matter content. Under influence of human activities, THg content has increased three-fold on average. The highest concentrations were observed in soils of an abandoned polar station. Calculation of CF and Igeo coefficients demonstrated the high level of mercury pollution on local sites. The maximum content of mercury (25.7-36.7 ng g-1) was observed in coastal sediments. It is assumed that the increased mercury content is a consequence of translocation. Thus, the coastal areas of the Arctic islands are at the greatest danger of pollution.
References
Abakumov E., Shamilishviliy G., Yurtaev A. (2017). Soil polychemical contamination on Beliy Island as key background and reference plot for Yamal region. Polish Polar Research, 38(3), 313-332. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/popore-2017-0020
AMAP. (2005). Heavy Metals in the Arctic. Arctic pollution. Oslo, Norway: Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme.
Bargagli, R., Monaci, F. & Bucci, C. (2007). Environmental biogeochemistry of mercury in Antarctic ecosystems. Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 39(1), 352–360. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2006.08.005
Dai, X. Y., Ping, C. L. & Michaelson, G. J. (2002). Characterizing soil organic matter in Arctic tundra soils by different analytical approaches. Organic Geochemistry, 33(4), 407–419. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0146-6380(02)00012-8
Dorozhukova, S.Ya., Yanin, E.P. & Volokh, A.A. (2000). Natural levels of mercury in some types of soils of oil and gas bearing areas of Tyumen region. Vestnik of Ecology, Forestry and Landscape Science, 1, 157–162. In Russian.
Eyrikh, S., Shol, L. & Shinkaruk, E. (2022). Assessment of Mercury Concentrations and Fluxes Deposited from the Atmosphere on the Territory of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area. Atmosphere, 13(1), 37. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos 13010037
Fitzgerald, W.F., Lamborg, C.H. & Hammerschmidt, C.R. (2007). Marine biogeochemical cycling of mercury. Chemical Reviews, 107(2), 641–662. https://doi.org/10.1021/cr050353m
Garbarino, J. R., Snyder-Conn, E., Leiker, T. J. & Hoffman, G. L. (2002). Contaminants in Arctic snow collected over northwest Alaskan sea ice. Water, Air and Soil Pollution, 139(1), 183–214. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015808008298
Givelet, N., Roos-Barraclough, F., Goodsite, M.E., Cheburkin, A.K. & Shotyk, W. (2004). Atmospheric mercury accumulation between 5900 and 800 calibrated years BP in the High Arctic of Canada recorded by peat hummocks. Environmental Science and Technology, 38, 4964–4972. https://doi.org/10.1021/es035293l
Gulińska J., Rachlewicz G., Szczuciński W., Barałkiewicz D., Kózka M., Bulska E., Burzyk M. (2003). Soil contamination in High Arctic areas of human impact, central Spitsbergen, Svalbard. Polish Journal of Environmental Studies, 12(6), 701-707.
Hakanson, L. (1980). An ecological risk index for aquatic pollution control. A sedimentological approach. Water Research, 14(8), 975–1001. https://doi.org/10.1016/0043-1354(80)90143-8
Halbach, K., Mikkelsen, O., Berg, T. et al. (2017). The presence of mercury and other trace metals in surface soils in the Norwegian Arctic. Chemosphere, 188, 567–574
Hammerschmidt, C.R., Fitzgerald, W.F., Lamborg, C.H., Balcom, P.H. & Tseng, C.M. (2006). Biogeochemical cycling of methylmercury in lakes and tundra watersheds of Arctic Alaska. Environmental Science and Technology, 40(4), 1204–1211. https://doi.org/10.1021/es051322b
Hao, Z.L., Wang, F. & Yang, H.Z. (2013). Baseline values for heavy metals in soils on Ny-Alesund, Spitsbergen Island, Arctic: the extent of anthropogenic pollution. Advanced Materials Research, 779–780, 1260–1265. https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.779-780.1260
Hare, A., Stern, G., Kuzyk, Z., Macdonald, R., Johannessen, S. & Wang, F. (2010). Natural and Anthropogenic Mercury Distribution in Marine Sediments from Hudson Bay, Canada. Environmental Science and Technology, 44, 5805-5811. https://doi.org/10.1021/es100724y
Ji X., Abakumov E., Antcibor I., Tomashunas V., Knoblauch C., Zubzycki S., Pfeiffer E.M. (2019). Influence of anthropogenic activities on metals in arctic permafrost: a characterization of benchmark soils on the Yamal and Gydan peninsulas in Russia. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology,76(4),540-553. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-019-00607-y
Jiang, S., Liu, X. & Chen, Q. (2011). Distribution of total mercury and methylmercury in lake sediments in Arctic Ny-Ålesund. Chemosphere, 83, 1108–1116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2011.01.031
Kabata-Pendias, A. (2010). Trace Elements in Soils and Plants. 4 еd. Boca Raton, FL: Crc Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/b10158
Klaminder, J., Yoo, K., Rydberg, J. & Giesler, R. (2008). An explorative study of mercury export from a thawing palsa mire. Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres, 113(G4). https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JG000776
Kolesnikov, R.A., Makeev, V.M., Romanova, E.N., Rozhkovsky, E.V. & Vostrikov R.D. (2017). State of the environment and the accumulated environmental damage of Vilkitsky Island. Scientific bulletin of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous district, 3(96), 11–20. In Russian.
Kryazhimsky, F. V., Maklakov, K.V., Morozova, L.M. & Ektova S.N. (2011). System analysis of biogeocenoses of the Yamal peninsula: simulation of the impact of large-herd reindeer breeding on vegetation. Ecology, 5, 323–333. In Russian.
Liu, Y., Chai, X., Hao, Y. et al. (2015). Total mercury and methylmercury distributions in surface sediments from Kongsfjorden, Svalbard, Norwegian Arctic. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 22, 8603–8610. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3942-0
Loseto, L.L., Siciliano, S.D. & Lean, D. (2004). Methylmercury production in High Arctic wetlands. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 23(1), 17–23. https://doi.org/10.1897/02-644
Moskovchenko, D.V., Kurchatova, A.N., Fefilov, N.N. & Yurtaev, A.A. (2017). Concentrations of trace elements and iron in the Arctic soils of Belyi Island (the Kara Sea, Russia): patterns of variation across landscapes. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 189(5), 210. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-017-5928-0
Muller, G. (1981).The heavy metal pollution of the sediments of Neckars and its tributary: a stocktaking. Chemiker Zeitung, 105, 157–164.
Nikitin, D.A., Lysak, L.V., Mergelov, N.S. et al. (2020). Microbial Biomass, Carbon Stocks, and CO2 Emission in Soils of Franz Josef Land: High-Arctic Tundra or Polar Deserts? Eurasian Soil Science, 53(4), 467–484. https://doi.org/10.1134/S1064229320040110
Olson, C., Jiskra, M., Biester, H., Chow, J. & Obrist, D. (2018). Mercury in Active-Layer Tundra Soils of Alaska: Concentrations, Pools, Origins, and Spatial Distribution. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 32, 1058–1073. https://doi.org/10.1029/2017GB005840
Opekunova, M.G., Opekunov, A.Y., Kukushkin, S.Y. et al. (2019). Background Contents of Heavy Metals in Soils and Bottom Sediments in the North of Western Siberia. Eurasian Soil Science, 52, 380–395. https://doi.org/10.1134/S106422931902011X
Obrist, D., Kirk, J.L., Zhang, L. et al. (2018). A review of global environmental mercury processes in response to human and natural perturbations: Changes of emissions, climate, and land use. Ambio 47, 116–140 https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-017-1004-9
Poissant, L., Zhang, H. H., Cana´rio, J. & Constant, P. (2008). Critical review of mercury fates and contamination in the arctic tundra ecosystem. Science of the Total Environment, 400(1–3), 173–211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2008.06.050
Riget, F., Asmund, G. & Aastrup, P. (2000). Mercury in Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) populations from Greenland. The Science of the Total Environment, 245, 161–172. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0048-9697(99)00441-6
Riget, F., Tamstorf, M.P., Larsen, M.M. et al. (2011). Mercury (Hg) transport in a High Arctic River in Northeast Greenland. Water Air Soil Pollut. 222, 233–242. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-011-0819-4
Rudnick, R.L. & Gao, S. (2003). Composition of the Continental Crust. In Rudnick, R.L. (ed.) Treatise on Geochemistry. Vol. 3: The Crust. Elsevier Science (pp. 1–64). https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-08-043751-6/03016-4
Steinnes, E., Sjobakk, T.E. (2005).Order-of-magnitude increase of Hg in Norwegian peat profiles since the outset of industrial activity in Europe. Environ Pollut,137,365–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2004.10.008
Sun, S., Kang, S., Huang, J. et al. (2017). Distribution and variation of mercury in frozen soils of a high-altitude permafrost region on the northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 24, 15078–15088. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-9088-0
Tatsii, Y.G., Baranov, D.Y. (2022). Features of Mercury Accumulation in the Bottom Sediments of Two Arctic Lakes in West Siberia. Geochem. Int. 60, 213–221 https://doi.org/10.1134/S0016702922020094
Voitkevich, G.V. et al. (1990). Handbook of Geochemistry. Moscow: Nedra. In Russian.
Zuev, S. M. (2015). Reindeer breeding in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous district: prospects and problems. Scientific bulletin of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous district, 3(88), 103–107. In Russian.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Andrey Yurtaev, Dmitriy Moskovchenko, Ekaterina Filimonenko, Arina Pervushina, Igor Toporkov
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
