Snow and ice concentrations of selected persistent pollutants in the Ob-Yenisey river watershed.
As one of the largest river systems attached to the Arctic Basin, the Ob-Yenisey watershed has the potential to be a major supply route of persistent organic pollutants into marine ecosystems of the Arctic Ocean. Snowfall and ice formation taking place in the Ob-Yenisey river basin and shelf are key components of the system of processes responsible for the transfer of pollutants from this high latitude river to the adjacent Kara and Barents Seas. Here we examine a large data set on persistent organic pollutants in snow and ice determined for areas within the Ob (interior and coastal), Yenisey and adjacent shelf. Data on the levels of total oil hydrocarbons, as well as individual components for groups (PAHs, HCHs, CBs, DDTs, PCBs) were examined in this investigation for two time periods: winter (1992)-spring (1993) and winter (1993)-spring (1994). Spatial averaging of each data set for individual years was performed in order to identify large-scale geographical trends in contaminant distributions within the four regions. The analysis indicates that mean pollutant concentrations in snow are consistent throughout the watershed. Comparing data from 1992/1993 and 1993/1994, in all cases, concentrations do not vary appreciatively among the different regions. A similar finding was observed for concentrations of pollutants in ice. Persistent organic pollutants for the Ob-Yenisey watershed are in most cases not dissimilar to measurements carried out in the far north of Canada. The exception is summation operator DDT. Concentrations of this pollutant are an order of magnitude higher in the Ob-Yenisey watershed as compared to the Canadian Arctic (0.09 ng/l).
Melnikov
S
S
Regional Center 'Monitoring of the Arctic', St Petersburg, Russia.
Carroll
J
J
Gorshkov
A
A
Vlasov
S
S
Dahle
S
S
D000392:Air Movements; D001110:Arctic Regions; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis*; D007053:Ice; D009930:Organic Chemicals; D012914:Snow; D014872:Water Movements
D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D006838:Hydrocarbons; D007053:Ice; D009930:Organic Chemicals