Distribution and pathways of heavy metals and sulphur in the vicinity of the copper-nickel smelters in Nikel and Zapoljarnij, Kola Peninsula, Russia, as revealed by different sample media

A pilot project for a regional environmental geochemical mapping project covering 188,000 km2 of an area exposed to severe airborne deposition of heavy metals and sulphur originating from the Nismelters of the Kola Peninsula, Russia, was initiated by the Central Kola Expedition and the Geological Surveys of Finland and Norway in 1992. To select the best suited sample media as well as sample preparation and analytical techniques for the regional project to be carried out in 1995, 10 different media were sampled in a 12,000 km2 subarea and analysed for up to 40 elements. A0-horizon (humus), terrestrial moss, snow and stream water were found to give the best picture of the deposition pattern for a number of pollutant elements (As, Cd Co, Cr, Cu, Mo, Ni, S, Sb, V). The mobilities and pathways of different elements were estimated based on the data of different media. Results obtained indicate that sulphur is not retained by the organic soil but leached to surface water together with some mobile heavy metals (e.g. Ni) and exchangeable base cations. Copper, however, is immobilised effectively by organic matter in the uppermost parts of the soil profile.