ECOGEOCHEMICAL MONITORING OF SOIL COVER ON DIAMOND MINING SITE IN WESTERN YAKUTIA

Abstract

The relevance of the study is caused by poor knowledge of the impact of mining activities on the components of the environment in the conditions of permafrost distribution. The main aim: geoecological monitoring of soil cover in the area of development of primary diamond deposits in Western Yakutia on the example of the industrial site of the Nyurbinsky mining and processing plant. Objects: frozen soils of the north-taiga landscapes of Western Yakutia. Methods: potentiometric, colorimetric, pipette, atomic absorption, statistical methods. Results. The paper introduces the data on the state of the soil cover of the industrial site of the Nyurbinsky mining and processing plant for a ten-year period – 2007–2018. The geochemical series of distribution of chemical elements in decreasing order of their average values for the upper 0–20 cm soil layer is as follows: Mn>Zn>Ni>Cu>Co>Cr>Pb>As>Cd. A spatial increase in the contrast of technogenic anomalies was recorded, characterizing the active accumulation of mobile forms Mn (17 times), Zn (5 times), Cd (2,6 times), Cr (2 times), Co (1,8 times) and Ni (1,6 times) in the surface organogenic horizons of soils. The accumulation of Mn, Ni, Co is mainly caused by natural (typomorphic to kimberlite elements) and technogenic (aerogenic distribution of fine particles as a result of drilling and blasting operations, wind erosion of dumps) factors. The authors have identified positive correlations between the pairs Mn–Zn, Mn–Cd, Mn–Pb, Zn–Ni, Zn–Cd, Cr–Cu (r≥0,5), as well as the effect of organic matter on the content of Mn (r=0,5), and pH values for the content of Cr (r=0,8) and Cu (r=0,5). Maps of the ecological and geochemical conditions of the soil cover of the industrial site of the Nyurbinsky mining and processing plant were constructed. At present, more than 260 km2 of the industrial site is characterized by a highly hazardous category of soil pollution with Zc>128.

Keywords

• western yakutia
• quarries for diamond mining
• kimberlite pipes
• heavy metals
• mobile forms of trace elements
• frozen soils
• total soil pollution