Nickel in the waters of Lake Teletskoye tributaries (the results of long-term studies)

Abstract

Ecological and biogeochemical studies carried out in the Lake Teletskoye basin in 2016–2021 showed that the total nickel content in the waters of the lake’s tributaries ranged from 0.12 to 4.6 μg/dm3, an average of 1.8 ± 0.1 μg/dm3. The content of dissolved forms of nickel in rivers of the basin varied as 0.1–4.4 μg/dm3. It was within the maximum permissible concentration (MPC), being consistent with the published data for natural waters of Siberia. However, this indicator significantly exceeded the global average. It was established that in the waters of western tributaries of the meridional part of Lake Teletskoye the concentrations of dissolved Ni were significantly higher than in the waters of eastern tributaries. This may be explained by higher soil maturity of the western coast and iron presence, as well as greater sedimentary deposits and stronger anthropogenic impacts. In June 2022, the excess of MPC for nickel in the waters of western tributaries was recorded for the first time in several years of observations that may be explained, among other things, by increasing anthropogenic loads on the ecosystem of the catchments. The waters of the Chulyshman River bring up to 3.5 tons of nickel into Lake Teletskoye during spring-summer floods and 0.8 tons in the autumn low water periods, while the contribution of other tributaries to Ni input to the lake is at least 1–2 orders less. In the summer high-water period, the value of the module of nickel runoff from the catchment areas of different-size tributaries of Lake Teletskoye practically does not differ (0.19–0.21 kg/month from km2). During autumn low water, the nickel removal is more determined by intra-soil processes occurred in the catchment.

Keywords

• lake teletskoye
• water
• ni
• catchment area