Geoecological Assessment of Snow and Ice on the Southern Coast of the Baikal Lake

Abstract

The purpose is geoecological assessment of the current chemical composition of the snow cover and ice of Listvyanka village, as well as the coastal part of the Baikal Lake area. Materials and methods: The studies were carried out on the basis of chemical analysis of meltwater samples of snow and ice. To assess the current composition of snow and ice in the study area, electrometric methods, titrometry, argenometry, turbidimetry and photometry were used. The content of mobile forms of metals was carried out on the Optima 2000DV instrument – an optical emission spectrometer. The concentrations of suspended solids, sulfates, chlorides, nitrogen-containing substances, phosphates, as well as metals such as chromium, manganese, nickel, copper, zinc, strontium and lead were determined in the studied samples. Results and discussion: Based on the results obtained during the chemical analysis, a modern geoecological assessment of the state of snow cover and ice in the territory under consideration was given. The excess of the MPC for some substances, as well as the territorial patterns of the distribution of pollutants, were revealed. Based on the obtained data, maps of the distribution of suspended substances, sulfates and chlorides were constructed.