Source Apportionment of Inorganic Solutes in Surface Waters of Lake Baikal Watershed

Mikhail Y Semenov,Yuri M Semenov,Larisa A Begunova,Anton V Silaev

doi:10.3390/su13105389

Abstract

The aim of this study was to obtain a detailed picture of the origin of the anthropogenic and natural inorganic solutes in the surface waters of the Lake Baikal watershed using limited data on solute sources. To reveal the origin of solutes, the chemical composition of water was considered as a mixture of solutes from different sources such as rocks and anthropogenic wastes. The end-member mixing approach (EMMA), based on the observation that the element ratios in water uncorrelated with one another are those that exhibit differences in values across the different types of rocks and anthropogenic wastes, was used for source apportionment. According to the results of correlation analysis, two tracers of sources of most abundant ions present in riverine waters were selected. The first tracer was the ratio of combined concentration of calcium and magnesium ions to concentration of potassium ion ((Ca2+ + Mg2+)/K+), and the second tracer was the ratio of sulfate and bicarbonate ion concentrations (SO42−/HCO3−). Using these tracers, three sources of main ions in water, such as sulfide-bearing silicate rocks, non-sulfide silicate rocks and carbonate rocks, were apportioned. The results of cluster analysis showed the possibility of using the ratios of strontium, iron, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, and vanadium concentrations (Sr/Fe, Sr/Mn, Ni/V, Mo/V) as tracers of the trace element sources. The use of these tracers and the obtained data on sources of main ions showed the possibility of identifying the natural trace element sources and distinguishing between natural and anthropogenic trace element sources.

Highlights

The use these tracers allowed of theas three sources of 2+)/K+ a 2+ + Mg the existence of3 only twooftracers of main ionidentification sources, such
The variety of trace element compositions of surface waters in the Lake Baikal wa shed indicated the existence of multiple tracers of trace element sources, four
The variety of trace element compositions of surface waters in the Lake Baikal watershed indicated the existence of multiple tracers of trace element sources, four of which, namely Sr/Fe, Sr/Mn, Ni/V, and Mo/V, were identified

Summary

Introduction

The problem of determining the origin of solutes in surface waters is the lack of data on its possible sources. The problem of pollutant sources identification is the lack or absence of emission composition data [1] called source profiles. Without data on source profiles, the source identification is impossible, because the essence of identification is to compare the ratios of pollutant concentrations in the source emission called source tracers with those in water. The lack of the data on source profiles is important for Lake Baikal area. The only tracers ever used for source apportionment of solutes in the surface waters of the Lake Baikal watershed were polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). In the other studies concerned with identification of water pollution sources in Lake

Objectives

Methods

Conclusion