Heavy Metals Accumulation in the Riverside Soil of Samsonovskaya, Lev and Vandras Minor Rivers

Abstract

Presently there is practically no research into the issue of chemical pollution of minor rivers’ (large rivers’ confluents) floodplains. Riverside soil is subject to ecological survey. During the spring floods there is floodplain’s epipedon drifting alongside with the deposition and redeposition of suspended load, which can lead to anthropogenic pollution of the floodplain. The paper presents the results of the first research into the spacial distribution of heavy metals in the floodplains of minor rivers Samsonovskaya, Lev and Vandras located in the Upper Ob basin, the southern part of Khanty-Mansijsk Autonomous District in the Tumen Region. The atomic emission spectroscopy of the rivers’ bottom deposits and floodplains revealed the presence of heavy metals like Zn, Pb, Ni, Cu, Sr, Cr, Mn. There has been studied spacial distribution of the metals in the floodplains of the rivers extending as far as 86 km (linear distance from the place of Bolshoy Salym and Vandras rivers confluence). There has been created a polynomial function model of heavy metals spacial distribution in bottom deposits and in the soil layer up to 30 cm deep, described by the second degree polynomial equation. The study detected linear dependence between the percent composition of clay particles faction and heavy metals like Zn, Pb, Cr, Mn. There has been detected an increase in the total concentration of Zn, Pb, Cr, Mn in bottom deposits and floodplains of the rivers with a high concentration of organic substances (river Samsonovskaya). Spearman correlation coefficient of the metals and organic substances has exceeded 0.7 points.