GEOCHEMICAL AND MINERAL INDICATORS OF DEFLATION IN URBAN AREAS USING POPLAR LEAVES

Abstract

Relevance of the work is caused by the need to assess the impact of natural and technogenic environmental factors affecting the quality of atmospheric air, soil and vegetation as well as the health of the population in urban areas. Deflation or wind erosion is soil destruction under the influence of wind. The territories in the south of Western and Eastern Siberia, the Far East, located in the valleys of large rivers, as well as in agricultural steppe regions, are especially affected by it. Winds during the periods without precipitation, dry sandy deposits along river banks, wind-impact slopes, soils of light particle size distribution, gently sloping terrain, creating conditions for unhindered movement of air flows, contribute to wind erosion. It can be local in nature, in a more active form of dust storms cause great harm to the economy. The aim of the research is to evaluate the role of atmospheric dust pollution in urban areas by studying the elemental composition of micro-sized particles using poplar leaves as a biogeochemical tablet. The methods. The elemental composition of ash samples of balsamic poplar leaves (Populus balsamifera L.) was studied by instrumental neutron activation analysis, ICP-MS and -AES; the elemental composition of micro-sized particles on the leaf surface – at a Hitachi S-3400N scanning electron microscope using a Bruker XFlash 4010 energy dispersive spectrometer; data processing was carried out using of the multivariate statistical methods. The results. The paper presents the results of the study of mineral dust from surface air, accumulated on the surface of poplar leaves. A significant contribution to the distribution of rare-earth elements on the territory of settlements located on the banks of the Ob River (Kolpashevo, Kargasok, Strezhevoy; Lake Baikal (Ust-Barguzin and Severobaykalsk), Amur River (Blagoveshchensk, Khabarovsk, Komsomolsk-on-Amur) makes a dust transfer as a result of deflation in the directions of the prevailing winds. Using the indicator Zr/Ce ratio, urbanized areas with active wind erosion were determined. Mineral particles of light and heavy rare earth elements, mainly phosphates (monazite and xenotime), as well as zircons, were found.

Keywords

• wind erosion
• rare earth elements
• zr/ce ratio
• geochemical indicator
• monazite
• xenotime
• zircon
• poplar leaves
• neutron activation analysis
• sem-eds