TY - JOUR

T1 - Hg in snow cover and snowmelt waters in high-sulfide tailing regions (Ursk tailing dump site, Kemerovo region, Russia)

AU - Gustaytis, M. A.

AU - Myagkaya, I. N.

AU - Chumbaev, A. S.

N1 - Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

PY - 2018/7/1

Y1 - 2018/7/1

N2 - Gold-bearing polymetallic Cu-Zn deposits of sulphur-pyrite ores were discovered in the Novo-Ursk region in the 1930s. The average content of mercury (Hg) was approximately 120 μg/g at the time. A comprehensive study of Hg distribution in waste of metal ore enrichment industry was carried out in the cold season on the tailing dump site and in adjacent areas. Mercury concentration in among snow particulate, dissolved and colloid fractions was determined. The maximal Hg content in particulate fraction from the waste tailing site ranged 230–573 μg/g. Such indices as the frequency of aerosol dust deposition events per units of time and area, enrichment factor and the total load allowed to establish that the territory of the tailing waste dump site had a snow cover highly contaminated with dust deposited at a rate of 247–480 mg/(m2∙day). Adjacent areas could be considered as area with low Hg contamination rate with average deposition rate of 30 mg/(m2∙day). The elemental composition of the aerosol dust depositions was determined as well, which allowed to reveal the extent of enrichment waste dispersion throughout adjacent areas. The amount of Hg entering environment with snowmelt water discharge was estimated. As a result of snowmelting, in 2014 the nearest to the dump site hydrographic network got Hg as 7.1 g with colloids and as 5880 g as particles. The results obtained allowed to assess the degree of Hg contamination of areas under the impact of metal enrichment industry.

AB - Gold-bearing polymetallic Cu-Zn deposits of sulphur-pyrite ores were discovered in the Novo-Ursk region in the 1930s. The average content of mercury (Hg) was approximately 120 μg/g at the time. A comprehensive study of Hg distribution in waste of metal ore enrichment industry was carried out in the cold season on the tailing dump site and in adjacent areas. Mercury concentration in among snow particulate, dissolved and colloid fractions was determined. The maximal Hg content in particulate fraction from the waste tailing site ranged 230–573 μg/g. Such indices as the frequency of aerosol dust deposition events per units of time and area, enrichment factor and the total load allowed to establish that the territory of the tailing waste dump site had a snow cover highly contaminated with dust deposited at a rate of 247–480 mg/(m2∙day). Adjacent areas could be considered as area with low Hg contamination rate with average deposition rate of 30 mg/(m2∙day). The elemental composition of the aerosol dust depositions was determined as well, which allowed to reveal the extent of enrichment waste dispersion throughout adjacent areas. The amount of Hg entering environment with snowmelt water discharge was estimated. As a result of snowmelting, in 2014 the nearest to the dump site hydrographic network got Hg as 7.1 g with colloids and as 5880 g as particles. The results obtained allowed to assess the degree of Hg contamination of areas under the impact of metal enrichment industry.

KW - Hg

KW - High-sulfide Gold-bearing tailings

KW - Snow

KW - Snowmelt waters

KW - CRYOGEOCHEMICAL PROCESSES

KW - HEAVY-METALS

KW - FRENCH ALPS

KW - SURFACE SNOW

KW - ARCTIC-OCEAN

KW - TRACE-ELEMENTS

KW - High-sulfide Gold-bearing tailings

KW - ACID-MINE DRAINAGE

KW - ATMOSPHERIC MERCURY

KW - OXIDATION ZONE

KW - POTENTIAL SOURCE

KW - Environmental Monitoring

KW - Metals/chemistry

KW - Mercury/analysis

KW - Sulfides/chemistry

KW - Industrial Waste/analysis

KW - Russia

KW - Snow/chemistry

KW - Iron/chemistry

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85047406607&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.03.076

DO - 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.03.076

M3 - Article

C2 - 29579679

AN - SCOPUS:85047406607

VL - 202

SP - 446

EP - 459

JO - Chemosphere

JF - Chemosphere

SN - 0045-6535

ER -