We examine the decadal (2001–2010) regularities in the processes of distant transport of air masses and heavy metals (HM) to five locations in the North of the European territory of Russia. The spatial and seasonal differences in these processes are considered. We use the back trajectories statistical method for the transport of air masses, and a model description of the distant transport of HM on submicron aerosol particles. The study revealed the most significant sources of HM metals in different seasons for different regions, namely the industrial centers of Murmansk and Arkhangelsk oblasts, as well as the more distant Sverdlovsk, Leningrad and Vologda oblasts, and the cities of Kirov, Perm and Norilsk. The mean indicators of anthropogenic environmental pollution in the background areas of Murmansk and Arkhangelsk oblasts at a large distance from the emission sources. The estimates obtained for lead and cadmium are in a reasonable agreement with available measurements. It is shown that it is only with high winter-summer ratios of anthropogenic HM concentration (higher than 170, which corresponds to about 50% of cases) that anthropogenic impacts on the environment in a warm season can be neglected in the areas under consideration. Otherwise 14 to 45% of the anthropogenic annual flow of HM from the atmosphere can be deposited on the snow-free surface of soils and water bodies. It is found that a combination of the effectivenesses of sources and sinks during the distant transport of HM leads to uneven pollution of the territory under consideration, and this must be taken into account when selecting so-called background (low-pollution) areas separately for each pollutant involved.

Field data, collected by the authors during winter expedition studies in Kaliningrad Bay, are analyzed. Notwithstanding the presence of ice cover, considerable advective processes are shown to be...

The paper presents the results of a study conducted in 2019 in which 29 rainfall water samples were collected and analyzed. The concentration of insoluble particles in rainwater was determined, and analysis of the material composition was performed by scanning electron microscopy. The content of Al, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cr, Co, As, Sr, Cd, Mo, Ba, Be, V, and Pb was determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry on a quadrupole spectrometer Agilent7500a at the P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of RAS. The highest concentrations of insoluble particles (6.5–12.2 mg/L) with the domination of the anthropogenic components in the rainwater were revealed in the samples of the summer-autumn period, while the lowest ones (1.1–3.9 mg/L), with a predominance of biogenic and mineral components were detected in the spring period. A group of heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Zn, Cu, and Ni) of anthropogenic origin was identified by calculating the enrichment factor (EF).

The fluxes of lead, cadmium, and elemental carbon from the atmosphere to the coastal zone of the southeastern part of the Baltic Sea were assessed. The highest values of lead (11 341 μg m⁻² month⁻¹) and cadmium (682 μg m⁻² month⁻¹) fluxes were revealed in the summer season, while those of elemental carbon (0.69 mg m⁻² day⁻¹) were noted in spring. According to field measurements over a 15-year observation period (2008–2022), the annual average fluxes into the coastal zone of the southeastern part of the Baltic Sea were 4.1 kg km^–2 year⁻¹ for lead and 0.02 kg km⁻² year⁻¹ for cadmium. The calculated annual average fluxes amounted to 3.8 kg km⁻² year⁻¹ for lead and 0.03 kg km⁻² year⁻¹ for cadmium over the region under study. Cadmium emission was inconsiderable in the region. The annual average lead flux, according to field data, was 9% higher than its emission values calculated with the EMEP database. The lead fluxes obtained from both field data and calculations significantly exceed its background level of 1.86 kg km⁻² year⁻¹. In rainfall over the spring-summer periods of 2019–2022, the average concentration of elemental carbon was more than two time lower than the content of organic carbon. The flux of elemental carbon was characterized by seasonal and interannual variability. The increase in the content of elemental carbon in atmospheric precipitation over the spring season was due to anthropogenic load from local sources, namely, spring grass burning in the region. The ecosystems of the coastal zone of the southeastern part of the Baltic Sea experience the greatest anthropogenic load through the atmosphere over spring and summer with an increase in the flux of elemental carbon, lead, and cadmium.

The results of in situ studies of the geochemical characteristics of snow cover in the Russian Far North are summarized. Enrichment of the insoluble phase of snow with heavy metals in the background areas of the study area is of mixed, natural-anthropogenic origin for Ni, Cu, As, Sb, Pb, and Bi (10 < EER < 100) and mainly anthropogenic for Cd (EER > 100); the level of contamination by As, Bi, and Cd (Kc > 6) is very high. In the impact areas, the highest enrichment of the insoluble phase of snow with Co, Ni, Cu, As, Sb, and Bi (EER > 100) was determined in Monchegorsk where the geochemical transformation of the snow has a medium-moderate and very high level of polyelement (Co, Ni, Cu, As, Bi) technogenic pollution. The geochemical composition of the snow cover in the background areas is formed mainly due to soluble and in the impact areas insoluble forms of elements. A characteristic feature of REEs in solid snow sediment in the background and impact areas is the fractionation of REEs with enrichment of light REEs relative to heavy REEs and negative Eu and Ce anomalies, which indicates the absence of technogenic impact on the composition of REEs. The degrees of concentration and dispersion of U and Th and the Th/U ratio in the solid phase of snow correspond to the mixed nature of radioactivity. Chemical composition of the snow cover of background areas is formed mainly due to long-range transport of matter, and that of impact areas under the influence of local contamination sources.