The rates of changes in the acid-base properties of the sandy-loamy soddy-podzolic soils of fallow lands abandoned for 5, 10, 30, and 63 years were determined. The transformation of the vegetation...

The soils of forest ecosystems are often affected by the industrial activity of mining and metallurgical enterprises, and insufficiently investigated for the content of pollutants due to enterprise emissions. Some pollutants, such as arsenic, are transported over long distances by these emissions. To analyze this connection, the present study was conducted on the eastern slope of Mount Yurma, the Southern Urals, Russia, to determine the content of arsenic in the soils of mountain forest areas in the impact zone of the copper smelter (Karabash). The physical and chemical parameters, total content of arsenic, mineralogical composition of silt, and concentration of arsenic in the silty fraction in soils located at different altitudes were determined using atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. The soils under study are physico-chemically and chemically acidic in the upper horizons with a pH of 3.26 to 4.05. The carbon of organic matter decreases with depth from 7.98 to 0.06%. Exchangeable Ca and Mg cations in the range of 2.6–8.6 mg-eq per 100 g of soil were determined. The mineralogical composition of the silty fraction consists mainly of quartz and aluminosilicates. Following an analysis of the arsenic content in the above-ground leaf litter, the bioconcentration factor (BCF) was calculated. Arsenic exceeding Clarke concentrations was recorded. In all upper soil horizons, concentrations of total arsenic exceeded background values by 3.7–5.2 times, with maximum values in the horizons A—25.3 mg/kg, in the horizons O—64.4 mg/kg. The obtained BCF > 1 data points to the biological arsenic accumulation by plants and, as a result, its input into the soil via industrial emissions from the smelter. It was found that the silty fraction plays a special role in the accumulation of arsenic in the studied soils. Accumulation of arsenic occurred mainly due to the secondary minerals of Ca and Mg. Differences in the accumulation of arsenic in the forest litter depending on the plant association were noted. The obtained results could serve as a guideline for monitoring the areas around the enterprise and enhancing the understanding of pollutants’ distribution in the soils of remote areas and mountain landscapes.

Relevance.Various types of landscapes, which are intensively used both in agricultural and mining productionare developed in the study area. Mining and processing of ore raw materials involves chemical elements in the cycle, which enter the surrounding landscapes by aerogenic or atmogenic means and pollute them. This leads to transformation of landscapes, there are man-made and geochemical anomalies. Therefore, the ecological and geochemical characteristics allow us identifying the main technogenic factors that affect negatively the surrounding landscapes. The main aim of the research is to assess the geochemical levels of heavy metals in natural and anthropogenic landscapes. Objects: soil of natural and man-made landscapes. Methods: selection and preparation of soils, determination of the elemental composition of soils by instrumental inversion voltammetric method. Results.The paper introduces the results of geochemical studies of soils of natural and technogenic landscapes (the Western part of the Chelyabinsk region and the East of the Republic of Bashkortostan). The background content for heavy metals Zn, Cd, Pb, Cu, Ni, and Co was calculated to assess the degree of contamination. Several types of landscapes (mountain, foothill, steppe, and forest) were identified in the study area. The impact of mining and metallurgical enterprises of ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, quarry-dump arrays of ore material and non-metallic on soil pollution was evaluated. It was found that the maximum excess of the background content of metals is in the vicinity of metallurgical plants, the lowest degree is near the quarry-dump systems. According to the total pollution index, it is found that the landscape soils are classified from medium to severe pollution. According to the geoaccumulation index, the main centers of pollution were identified and maps were drawn up. Актуальность.На исследуемой территории развиты различные типы ландшафтов, которые интенсивно используются как в сельскохозяйственном, так и в горнопромышленном производстве.Добыча и переработка рудного сырья вовлекает в круговорот химические элементы, которые аэрогенным или атмогенным путем попадают в окружающие ландшафты и загрязняют их. Это приводит к трансформации ландшафтов, появляются техногенные и геохимические аномалии. Поэтому эколого-геохимическая характеристика позволяет выявить основные техногенные факторы, оказывающие негативное влияние на окружающие ландшафты. Цель: оценить геохимические уровни тяжелых металлов природных и антропогенных ландшафтов. Объекты: почвы природных и техногенных ландшафтов. Методы: отбор и подготовка почв, определение элементного состава почв инструментальным инверсионно вольтамперометрическим методом. Результаты.Приведены результаты геохимических исследований почв природных и техногенных ландшафтов (западной части Челябинской области и востока республики Башкортостан). Для оценки степени загрязнения было рассчитано фоновое содержание для тяжелых металлов Zn, Cd, Pb, Cu, Ni и Co. На исследуемой территории выделено несколько типов ландшафтов (горный, предгорный, степной и лесной). Произведена оценка негативного влияниягорно-металлургических предприятий черной и цветной металлургии, карьерно-отвальных массивов рудного и нерудногоматериала на загрязнение почв.Установлено, что максимальное превышение фонового содержания тяжелых металлов – вблизи металлургических комбинатов, в наименьшей степени – вблизи карьерно-отвальных систем. По данным индекса суммарного загрязнения установлено, что почвы ландшафта классифицируются от средней до сильной степени загрязнения. По индексу геоаккумуляции выявлены основные центры загрязнения и составлены карты-схемы.

Relevance. With the development of industrial society, soils are increasingly exposed to various man-made factors, which leads to a violation of their functionality, including the impact on productivity, growth and development of representatives of flora and fauna. In the areas of operation of mining processing plants, it is especially important to monitor changes in soils and their general ecological condition. The formation of abnormal areas with a high content of heavy metals in soils leads to a modification of soil types and, as a consequence, the loss of economic potential for their use. Objective: to establish the ways of formation of anomalies in the impact zone of the mining and metallurgical combine LLC "Svyatogor", located in the vicinity of the city of Krasnouralsk, Sverdlovsk region. Objects: soils of the adjacent territory in the area of operation of the mining and metallurgical combine (the vicinity of the city of Krasnouralsk, Sverdlovsk region). Methods. In nitric acid soil extracts, the gross content of Zn, Cd, Pb, Cu was determined by inversion voltammetry. According to the obtained analysis data, data sampling, statistical processing, calculation of the anomaly threshold and further construction of diagrams of the distribution of anomalous areas with overlay on the terrain map using the method of radial basis functions were carried out. Results. According to the obtained data on the concentrations of heavy metals in the soil and the diagrams of abnormal zones, the thresholds of abnormal concentrations are determined (mg/kg) Cd=0,3; Zn=71,8; Pb=31,0; Cu=176,5. Abnormal zones with exceeding threshold concentrations are concentrated in the area of the plant and local areas in the north-east direction. To the illuvial part of the profile, the abnormal content of all metals decreases and is concentrated only in places near the source of the plant's emissions. In the upper soil horizons, concentrations exceed the anomaly threshold by tens of times. The obtained anomalous values confirm an increase in background concentrations of zinc, cadmium, lead and copper in the soils of the studied area.