Abstract
Abstract Quantitative aspects of technogenic pollution of the snow cover are reported, based on field measurements made in the vicinity of the Barentsburg coalmine, Spitsbergen, in 1987. The mean total contamination of the snow cover with solid aerosols, based on cores through the total depth of the snow pack, reached levels of 300 t/ km2 for the immediate area of the settlement of Barentsburg and 30 t/km2 for the surrounding area. The rate of dustfall within the settlement is estimated to be 480 t/ km2 per year. The total amount of dust falling throughout the area of contamination which is 6 times larger than that of the settlement per se reaches 6001 per year. The data recorded on pollution of the snow cover at Barentsburg are comparable with those from the Vorkuta coalmining region. It is concluded that the pollution is local in nature. The importance of studies of snow pollution within the framework of a wider program of environmental protection of the archipelago of Svalbard is demonstrated.
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