Abstract
Snow plays an important role in air quality and winter geochemical monitoring in the South Ural region. This study deals with the air pollution monitoring of particle-bound metal(loid) concentrations using snow cover around the deepest coal mine in Eurasia, the Korkinsky coal mine. We studied the concentrations and ratios of suspended and dissolved forms of metal(loid)s (Al, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sb, Sr, and Zn) in snow samples. We examined 56 snow cover samples, collected at 12 sites located north, south, east and west of the Korkinsky coal mine. All snow samples were taken in January 2020. The spectral reflectance curves, cluster analysis, and spatial distribution maps were used to evaluate the potential sources of PM-bound metal(loid)s and the potential relationship among them. The highest concentrations (μg/L) were reported for Fe, Al, and Zn. In addition to the mine influence, burning coal for residential heating was identified as the major anthropogenic metal(loid) source. It was shown that elevated concentrations of some trace metals in snow samples were associated with southerly winds and the location of spoil heaps.
Highlights
Russia is one of the largest producers of coal and has one of the largest coal reserves in the world [1]
It can be seen that the pollution of the snow cover decreased from 2003 to 2020
Comparison between curves shows that reflectance increased from 0.9 to 0.13 from January 2003 to 2020; this was due to decreasing coal production
Summary
Russia is one of the largest producers of coal and has one of the largest coal reserves in the world [1]. A 3.5 km wide open pit spreads for over 3 km lengthwise. Over the 70 years that the Korkinsky coal mine operated, it produced over 250 million tons of coal and about. Chemical reactions inside the mine are out of control; coal oxidation can lead to spontaneous combustion and such fires cannot be extinguished with water. Pollutants generated by such combustion incidents are composed of gases, particulate matter (PM), volatile organic compounds, and trace elements. These are known to be deleterious to human health [3]. The prevailing southerly wind transfers pollutants towards Chelyabinsk, which has a population of more than 1 million people
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