The active mining activities have occurred intensively in Yamal Peninsula, Russia Actic, which may cause hazardous effects on local workers and indigenous Inuts. Geoaccumulation Index (I_geo), pollution Load Index (PLI), transfer factors (TFs), and hazard quotient (HQ) were utilized to the pollution level and human health risk of heavy metals in this region. Twenty samples of soil profile and five lichens were collected in this region. The highest concentrations of heavy metals were discovered in mining areas with a decreasing level of reference sites. Ni and Mn were the dominant metals in all sites. Cd, Ni, and Hg were beyond the regulatory threshold limit values. I_geo shows that Hg was highly or extremely polluted in all sites; Ni was highly moderately to highly polluted only in mining areas. PLI shows soils in all areas were polluted more than one metal. TFs of lichens showed that Cr, Hg, Cu, and Ni were more accumulated in lichens, which may cause bioaccumulation in tundra terrestrial ecosystem. (HQ) presented no health risk for adults as regarding heavy metals, while Ni, Mg, and Hg may cause potential health risks for the local children via soil ingestion.

The predicted increase of ground temperatures in the Arctic results in the deepening of the active layer and intensification of geochemical processes. Determining the responses of riparian soil systems to surrounding hydrological flows is important for understanding seasonal changes in hydrological processes. In this study, one soil core from a polygon rim (close to the Taz River, TA) and two soil cores from a riverine terrace (close to the Syoyakha River, SY and Murtyyakha River, MU) in Western Siberia, Russia, and their suprapermafrost water, adjacent surface flows, and river water were sampled for analysis of geochemical elements. Results showed that most elements above their respective detection limits began accumulating in the underlying gleyed layer during September‐October in response to the deepest thaw in the active layer. This study focused on the highly mobile elements in the deepest layer; and found that the transport of organic matter in the upper layer carried these elements to both surface water ponds/flows and suprapermafrost water, and further, to the rivers. The efflux of released elements from surface soil to surrounding surface water appeared to be low. The best linear correlation for both surface flows and river water was with Mn; therefore, Mn may be a proxy for predicting the processes occurring within the active layer during the annual summer‐autumn thaw. Moreover, landscapes with different ice contents may experience changes in the elements transported to surface waters. A general conceptual model for the response of elements to the thawing‐freezing process of the active layer is established.

The post-anthropogenic and soil cover transformations of former agricultural soils on the abandoned lands in the Russian Arctic territory are poorly investigated due to the active growth of the city complexes and increasing area occupied by agricultural lands. That is lead to an increase in the area of the arable lands surrounding the polar urbanized territories. Today, most of that land allocated for agricultural needs has been abandoned or affected by other types of land use. This study aimed to investigate the abandoned lands surrounding some of the settlements in the central part of the Yamal region. The soil diversity, morphology, and chemical and agrochemical properties were investigated with special reference to the specific transformations that occur to fallow lands under permafrost-affected cryogenic-ecosystem conditions. Analysis of data show that these soils are characterized by features relating to both, previous (and existing), anthropogenic impacts and natural processes such as cryogenic mass transfer. The degradation of the arable humus-enriched horizon was not as pronounced as it has been in more humid boreal environments over recent decades. The organic carbon content in topsoil depends on the land use and varied considerably among the soil types. The former arable topsoil horizon has been stable over time in terms of its morphological features and agrochemical state. Despite the high soil acidity levels, thenutrient content in the anthropogenically impacted soils was still high, even though being abandoned for 20 years.

Soil pollution status of urban soils in St. Petersburg city, North-west of Russia | Vyacheslav Polyakov, Alexander Kozlov, Azamat Suleymanov, Evgeny Abakumov | Agricultural Journals