The paper presents changes in concentration levels of dioxin-like compounds that can be observed over the course of four study seasons in water samples collected from the Arctic watershed of Svalbard. The conducted analysis involved anthropogenic and natural factors that may affect the concentration of PAHs in the study samples of water. An attempt is made to indicate the emission source of the compounds being deposited and to identify the extent to which the substances under analysis actually affect the Arctic ecosystems. Moreover, the work employs the following: diagnostic ratios PAHs, air masses backward trajectory analysis, Lidar observations and land relief analysis in order to provide a multi-level interpretation of the obtained data. Natural environment constitutes a complex system of subtle correlations that need to be perceived as a dynamic medium, in which multi-faceted processes take place.

This paper presents new insights into the global carbon cycle related to CO₂ consumption from chemical denudation in heavily glacierised Himalayan catchments. Data from previous studies of solute concentrations from glacierised catchments were reprocessed to determine the regional scale of CO₂ consumption and solute hydrolysis. The results show that ~90% of the SO₄²⁻ is derived from crustal sulphide oxidation and ~10% from aerosols and sea salts. However, HCO₃⁻ flux calculation estimates contribution from sulphide oxidation to carbonate dissolution (SO-CD) (~21%), similar to the contributions from silicate dissolution and simple hydrolysis (~21 and ~20%, respectively). Furthermore, the atmospheric CO₂ consumption estimations suggests 10.6 × 10⁴ mole km⁻² a⁻¹ (19%) through silicate weathering, 15.7 × 10⁴ mole km⁻² a⁻¹ (28%) through simple hydrolysis, 9.6 × 10⁴ mole km⁻² a⁻¹ (17%) through SO-CD reaction and 5.9 × 10⁴ mole km⁻² a⁻¹ (11%) through carbonate carbonation reaction. Our solute provenance calculations clearly indicate that HCO₃⁻ production and CO₂ consumption via silicate weathering reactions is balanced by the simple hydrolysis and coupled SO-CD process. This shows a counter mechanism operating in subglacial environments of the Himalaya as a source of CO₂ to runoff rather than a sink.

The rapid formation of glacial lakes is one of the most conspicuous landscape changes caused by atmospheric warming in glacierised regions. However, relatively little is known about the history and current state of glacial lakes in the High Arctic. This study aims to address this issue by providing the first inventory of glacial lakes in Svalbard, focusing in particular on the post-Little Ice Age evolution of glacial lakes and their typology. To do so, we used aerial photographs and satellite imagery together with archival topographic data from 1936 to 2020. The inventory comprises the development of 566 glacial lakes (146 km²) that were still in direct contact with glaciers during the period 2008–2012. The results show a consistent increase in the total area of glacial lakes from the 1930s to 2020 and suggest an apparent link between climatic and geological factors, and the formation of specific lake dam types: moraine, ice, or bedrock. We also detected 134 glacial lake drainage events that have occurred since the 1930s. This study shows that Svalbard has one of the highest rates of glacial lake development in the world, which is an indicator of the overall dynamics of landscape change in the archipelago in response to climate change.

Contamination of water and sediments with arsenic and heavy metals is a global issue affecting human health. Regions covered with Quaternary deposits have received little attention from the point of view of the flux of arsenic and heavy metals from sediments to surface water. This study aims to determine the flux of arsenic and other heavy metals from Quaternary sediments to surface waters in an area affected by the former Złoty Stok gold and arsenic mine. Contamination in surface waters and sediments was caused by arsenic, whereas concentrations of metals were usually within water quality standards. Arsenic contamination of surface water increased in the lower part of the basin covered by Quaternary sediments, and exceeded water quality standards by 2 orders of magnitude. Arsenic mass flux exceeded 8 kg/day near the confluence of the Trująca River with the Nysa Kłodzka, a main tributary of the Oder River. An increase in arsenic concentration in the lower part of the basin is related to mine tailings and preferential flow of groundwater through Quaternary sediments. In future, water resources scarcity may lead to an increase in arsenic contamination in surface and groundwater.

Arctic regions experience metal pollution, despite their remote location, and the distribution and migration of those metals determine their potential impact on the local environment. Here, a High-Arctic catchment (Revelva, Svalbard) located remotely from human-induced pollution sources is studied with respect to the distribution and migration of chosen trace elements (Ag, Al, As, B, Ba, Bi, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Cs, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se, Sr, Tl, U, V and Zn) in surface waters. The metal concentrations fluctuated in 2010–2012 between 0.01 and 354 μg L⁻¹, the highest mean-weighted concentration noted for Sr (42.5 μg L⁻¹). The concentrations in the river water were likely influenced by both natural and human-activity-related processes. These factors can produce substances of the same chemical composition (e.g. carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide and metals may be emitted both by a volcanic eruption and by industrial sources). Therefore, chemometric techniques were used in the current paper to distinguish the multiple sources of pollution in the Revelva catchment. The authors were seeking to determine whether there is indeed evidence for contamination, sufficient to cause environmental damage in polar region. As a result, it was shown that the long-range transport could play an important role in shaping the metal concentration profile of this Arctic tundra environment, capturing both the influence of volcanic eruptions within the region and the human activity in a range of distances from the study site.