Anthropogenic deposits and their impact on the natural environment

Abstract

Introduction. This paper considers anthropogenic deposits as a source of environmental contaminants and a cause of air, soil, surface water and ground water pollution. Anthropogenic deposits are represented by dumps of mining enterprises, sludge from processing plants, dumps of metallurgical, fuel and energy, chemical and other industries. Their analysis is currently particularly relevant being aimed at national mineral resource base expansion and mining regions ecology improvement. Research objective is to study the direction of the environmental impact created by anthropogenic deposits formed by inactive enterprises, determine their impact on environmental pollution, and consider them as sources of secondary raw materials. Methods of research. The article is based mainly on the data obtained when studying anthropogenic deposits in the Urals. Theoretical research methods, including analysis and synthesis of data obtained by the authors and information sources on similar facilities in other Russian regions, were used to generalize the results of field and analytical studies, namely mineralogical and petrographic studies the authors performed. Results. This paper studies how various anthropogenic deposits in surface conditions impact the main components of the natural environment, namely air, soil and ground, hydrosphere and biosphere. The main indicators of heavy metals impact and concentration in Ural anthropogenic mineral formations are given. To effectively manage such facilities, it is proposed, first of all, to process, and then reclaim such deposits. Conclusions. Anthropogenic mineral deposits have an integrated negative effect on all components of the natural environment. Environmental monitoring that considers the local character of contamination dissipation is necessary to assess the impact of anthropogenic deposits. The negative environmental impact of these facilities is minimized or significantly reduced during conservation, which is carried out by surface reclamation. However, complete processing of anthropogenic mineral formations is preferable.