Regional variation of snowpack chemistry in the vicinity of Nikel and Zapoljarnij, Russia, northern Finland and Norway

The Geological Surveys of Finland and Norway, in co-operation with the Central Kola Expedition, Russia, are carrying out a major geochemical mapping project (1992–1996) of the western half of the Kola Peninsula and the adjacent areas in Norway and Finland (188 000 km2). A part of this project was a pilot study of the area surrounding the nickel industries in Nikel and Zapoljarnij, Russia, and the iron ore mine and mill in Kirkenes, Norway, using a variety of sample media. Snowpack samples taken at the end of the 1991–1992 winter proved to be well suited to characterising the industrial emissions in this area. By separately analysing meltwater and filter residues, water soluble and particulate emissions can be differentiated. Results show that, for the majority of elements, particles govern the total deposition chemistry. Four different sources of element input can be distinguished: (1) industrial emissions, (2) sea spray, (3) geogenic dust and (4) anthropogenic dust. Multi-element analysis, using ICP-MS, ICP-AES and ion chromatography, followed by regional mapping, showed that all the elements analysed for, namely Ag, Al, As, B, Ba, Be, Bi, Ca, Cd, Cl, Co, Cr, Cu, F, Fe, K, La, Li, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, P, Pb, S, Sb, Sc, Se, Si, Sr, Th, Ti, Tl, U, V, Y and Zn, show unusually high concentrations in the vicinity of the nickel industry in Russia.