Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T18:41:46.887Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in snow particulates around Longyearbyen and Barentsburg settlements, Spitsbergen

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 May 2016

Anna Abramova
Affiliation:
Geoecology of the Northern Territories Research Laboratory, Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University, GSP-1, Leninskie Gory, Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation ([email protected])
Sergei Chernianskii
Affiliation:
Geoecology of the Northern Territories Research Laboratory, Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University, GSP-1, Leninskie Gory, Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation ([email protected])
Nataly Marchenko
Affiliation:
Department of Arctic Technology, University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), P.O.Box 156, N-9171 Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway
Elena Terskaya
Affiliation:
Department of Landscape Geochemistry and Soil Geography, Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University, GSP-1, Leninskie Gory, Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation

Abstract

Contamination of snow cover has been investigated in the Longyearbyen (78°13 N, 15°38 E) and Barentsburg (78°3 N, 14°12 E) areas, which are situated in the southwest part of Spitsbergen (Svalbard archipelago). Snow cover was sampled in two winter seasons, 2012–2013 and 2013–2014, at 54 locations within potentially contaminated areas. Sampling incorporated the whole snow mass and was combined with morphological observations as well as thickness and density measurements. Meltwater and suspended solids were further analysed for a wide range of contaminants including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and macro-ions. Results were contrasted with previous studies measuring the release of contaminants from snow to soil cover. It was shown in keeping with earlier studies that PAH contributions are associated with airborne particulate matter. The results, in contrast to earlier studies further demonstrated that the high concentrations of contaminants in both settlements are attributed to local sources due to combustion and industrial activity.

Type
THEMED SECTION: Arctic in the Anthropocene: sustainability in a new polar age
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aamaas, B., Boggild, C. E., Stordal, F. and others. 2011. Elemental carbon deposition to Svalbard snow from Norwegian settlements and long–range transport. Tellus. Series B, Chemical and Physical Meteorology 63 (3): 340351 Google Scholar
Achten, C. and Hofmann, T.. 2009. Native polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in coals – a hardly recognized source of environmental contamination. Science of the Total Environment 407 (8): 24612473.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ahrens, M. J. and Morrisey, D.. 2005. Biologic effects of unburnt coal in the marine environment. Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review 43: 69122.Google Scholar
Berg, T., Bartnicki, J., Munthe, J. J. and others. 2001. Atmospheric mercury species in the European Arctic: measurements and modelling. Atmospheric Environment 35 (14): 25692582.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bidleman, T.F., Helm, P.A., Braune, B.M. and other. 2010. Polychlorinated naphthalenes in polar environments – a review. Science of the Total Environment 408 (15): 29192935.Google Scholar
Boehm, P.D. and Farrington, J.W.. 1984. Aspects of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon geochemistry of recent sediments in the Georges Bank region. Environmental Science Technology 18 (11): 840845.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dahle, S., Savinov, V., Petrova, V and others. 2006. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Norwegian and Russian Arctic marine sediments; concentrations, geographical distribution and sources. Norsk Geologisk Tidsskrift 86 (1): 4150.Google Scholar
Davies, T. D., Abrahams, P. W., Tranter, M. and others. 1984. Black acidic snow in the remote Scottish Highlands. Nature 312: 5861.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Demeshkin, A.S. 2014. Otsenka zagryaznennosti pochvennogo i rastitelnogo pokrova arhipelaga Shpitsbergen [Assessment of soil and vegetation contamination in Spitsbergen]. Obshhestvo. Sreda. Razvitie [Society. Environment. Development] 3: 146151.Google Scholar
Demin, B.N., Graevskii, A.P., Demeshkin, A.S. and others. 2011. Sostoyanie i tendentsii izmeneniya zagryazneniya okruzhayushhej sredy v mestakh khozyastvennoj deyatel'nosti rossijskikh predpriyatij na arkhipelage SHpitsbergen (pos. Barentsburg i sopredel'nye territorii) za period 2002-2010 godov [State and tendencies in the change of environmental pollution at locations of economic activity of Russian enterprises on Spitsbergen archipelago (Barentsburg settlement and adjacent territories) for the period 2002–2010]. Saint-Petersburg: FGBU NPO Tayfun.Google Scholar
European Parliament. 2006. Regulation (EC) No 166/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 January 2006 concerning the establishment of a European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register and amending Council Directives 91/689/EEC and 96/61/EC). Brussels: European Parliament.Google Scholar
Evenset, A., Christensen, G.N., Skotvold, T. and others. 2004. A comparison of organic contaminants in two high Arctic lake ecosystems, Bjørnøya (Bear Island), Norway. Science of the Total Environment 318 (1): 125141.Google Scholar
FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization). 2015. World reference base for soil resources. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.Google Scholar
Felkier, L. and Garbalewski, C.. 1984. Transport of iodine and mercury contained in submicronic aerosol particles over relatively clean seas (the Antarctic) and polluted ones (the Baltic). Oceanologia 19: 4360.Google Scholar
Ferrari, C.P., Padova, C., Faïn, X. and others. 2008. Atmospheric mercury depletion event study in Ny–Alesund (Svalbard) in spring 2005. Deposition and transformation of Hg in surface snow during springtime. Science of the Total Environment 397 (1): 167177.Google ScholarPubMed
Forsström, S., Strom, J., Pedersen, C and others. 2009. Elemental carbon distribution in Svalbard snow. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 114 (D19): 18 Google Scholar
Gennadiev, A. N. and Tsibart, A. S.. 2013. Pyrogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soils of reserved and anthropogenically modified areas: factors and features of accumulation. Eurasian Soil Science 46 (1): 2836.Google Scholar
Harland, W.B., Pickton, C.A.G., Wright, N.J.R. and others. 1976. Some coal–bearing strata in Svalbard.Oslo: Norsk Polarinstitutt (Series/Report:Skrifter;164) URL: http://brage.bibsys.no/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/174002/1/Skrifter164.pdf (accessed 5 February 2016).Google Scholar
Heintzenberg, J., Hansson, H.C. and Lannefors, H.. 1981. The chemical composition of Arctic haze at Ny–Ålesund, Spitsbergen. Tellus A 33 (2): 162171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ISO (International Organization for Standardization). 2000. ISO 12884. Ambient air – determination of total (gas and particle phase) polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons – collection on sorbentbacked filters with gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric analyses. Geneva: ISO.Google Scholar
Isaksson, E., Hermanson, M., Hicks, S. and others. 2003. Ice cores from Svalbard – useful archives of past climate and pollution history. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth Parts A/B/C 28 (28): 12171228.Google Scholar
Jari, V., Isaksson, E. and Moore, J.C.. 2002. A 20th–century record of naphthalene in an ice core from Svalbard. Annals of Glaciology 35 (1): 257260.Google Scholar
Jiao, L., Zheng, G.J., Minh, T.B. and others. 2009. Persistent toxic substances in remote lake and coastal sediments from Svalbard, Norwegian Arctic: levels, sources and fluxes. Environmental Pollution 157 (4): 13421351.Google Scholar
Johnson, R. and Bustin, R.M.. 2006. Coal dust dispersal around a marine coal terminal (1977–1999), British Columbia: the fate of coal dust in the marine environment. International Journal of Coal Geology 68 (1): 5769.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kallenborn, R. and Jensen, T.W.. 2011. Persistent organic Pollutants (POPs) in background Arctic surface snow and in vertical snow profiles: POP deposition and accumulation in snow samples from GEO Summit (Greenland) and Ny–Ålesund (Svalbard). I: In: Jensen, L.M. and Madsen, L.M. (editors).The Arctic as a messenger for global processes – climate change and pollution, Arhus: Arhus Ubniversity (conference Copenhagen 3–6 May 2011. Abstract volume): 126.Google Scholar
Kallenborn, R. and Manø, S.. 2011. Atmospheric persistent organic pollutants (POPs) levels as chemical indicators for climate change in the Arctic. New data from the atmospheric POP monitoring at Zeppelin mountain (Ny–Alesund, Svalbard). In: Chemistry and Climate. New challenges for an old scientific discipline. (Conference Tromsø, Norway: 3–4 October 2011. Kjeller, NILU (NILU F, 38/2011). Tromso: FRAM. URL: http://www.schema.lu/ChemClim2011/Program-ChemClim2011.pdf (accessed 8 February 2016).Google Scholar
Kallenborn, R., Schmidbauer, N., Reimann, S. and other. 2012. Local contaminant sources in the Arctic: Volatile and non–volatile residues from combustion engines in surface oils from snow mobile tracks in the vicinity of Longyearbyen (Svalbard Norway). Berlin: SETAC (6th World Congress/SETAC Europe 22nd Annual Meeting, Berlin, Germany, 20–24 May 2012. Kjeller (NILU F, 13/2012). URL: http://berlin.setac.eu/embed/Berlin/EC_extended_abstracts.pdf (Accessed 08 February 2016).Google Scholar
Klimowicz, Z., Melke, J., Uziak, S. and other. 2009. Specificity of arctic tundra soils of Spitsbergen. Polish Journal of Soil Science 42 (1): 97109.Google Scholar
Kozak, K., Polkowska, A., Ruman, M. and other. 2013. Analytical studies on the environmental state of the Svalbard Archipelago provide a critical source of information about anthropogenic global impact. Trends in Analytical Chemistry 50: 107126.Google Scholar
Lefauconnier, B., Hagen, J., Pinglot, J and other. 1994. Mass–balance estimates on the glacier complex Kongsvegen and Sveabreen, Spitsbergen, Svalbard, using radioactive layers. Journal of Glaciology 40 (135): 368376.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, LY., Kukučka, P., Venier, M and others. 2014. Differences in spatiotemporal variations of atmospheric PAH levels between North America and Europe: Data from two air monitoring projects. Environment international 64: 4855.Google Scholar
Maenhaut, W., Cornille, P., Pacyna, J. M. and other. 1989. Trace element composition and origin of the atmospheric aerosol in the Norwegian Arctic. Atmospheric Environment 23 (11): 25512569.Google Scholar
Miętus, M. and Branch, M.. 1991. Snow depth at the Hornsund Station, Spitsbergen in 1978–1986. Polish Polar Research 12 (2): 223228.Google Scholar
Norwegian Meteorological Institute.2015. Klimastatistikk Svalbard (Climate statistics for Svalbard.) URL: http://www.eklima.no (Accessed 05 February 2016)Google Scholar
Polkowska, Ż., Cichała–Kamrowska, K., Ruman, M. and others. 2011. Organic pollution in surface waters from the Fuglebekken Basin in Svalbard, Norwegian Arctic. Sensors 11 (9): 89108929.Google Scholar
Reimann, S., Kallenborn, R. and Schmidbauer, N. 2009. Severe aromatic hydrocarbon pollution in the Arctic town of Longyearbyen (Svalbard) caused by snowmobile emissions. Environmental Science and Technology 43 (13): 47914795.Google Scholar
Russian Federation. 1991. RD 52.04.186–89. Rukovodstvo po kontrolyu zagryazneniya atmosfery, utverzhden Goskomgidrometom SSSR [RD 52.04.186–89. Instruction for the Control of Atmosphere Pollution approved by Russian National Service for Hydrology and Meteorology]. Moscow: National Service for Hydrology and Meteorology.Google Scholar
Russian Federation. 1998. Metodika vypolneniya izmerenij massovoj kontsentratsii ionov NO2-,NO3-,F- Cl-, SO42-, PO43- v probakh prirodnoj, pit'evoj i stochnoj vody metodom ionnoj khromatografii PND F 14.1:2:4. 132-98 utverzhdeno gosudarstvennym komitetom RF po okhrane okruzhayushhej sredy 2 aprelya 1998 [Methods of measurement of the mass concentration of ions NO2–, NO3–, F Cl, SO4 2–, PO4 3– in samples of natural, drinking and waste water by ion chromatography approved by Russian National Committee for preservation of the environment in 2 April 1998]. Moscow: Russian National Committee for preservation of the environment.Google Scholar
Russian Federation. 2008. Metodika vypolneniya izmerenij massovoj kontsentratsii ftorid-, khlorid-, nitrat-, fosfat- i sul'fat-ionov v probakh pit'evoj, mineral'noj, stolovoj, lechebno-stolovoj, prirodnoj i stochnoj vody metodom ionnoj khromatografii. FR.1.31.2005.01724 [Determination of chloride, fluoride, sulphate, nitrate, and phosphate ions in samples of natural, potable and sewage water FR.1.31.2005.01724. [The Standard Practice for General Techniques of Liquid Chromatography]. Moscow: Akvilon CJSC 2008.Google Scholar
Shaw, G. E. 1995. The Arctic haze phenomenon. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 76: 24032412.Google Scholar
Shevchenko, V., Lisitzin, A., Vinogradova, A., and other. 2003. Heavy metals in aerosols over the seas of the Russian Arctic. Science of the Total Environment, 306 (1): 1125.Google Scholar
Siegel, F., Galasso, J.L., Kravitz, J.H. and other. 2000. The Svalbard western coast: site of baseline geochemistry and incipient contamination. Environmental Geology 39 (7): 816822.Google Scholar
Simcik, M. F. and Offenberg, J. H.. 2006. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the Great Lakes. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg (5), Part N: 307-353. DOI 10.1007/698_5_044 Google Scholar
Soil Remediation Circular. 2013. Dutch Registry (Dutch List). URL: http://rwsenvironment.eu/subjects/soil/legislation-and/soil-remediation/ Directive on soil remediation (accessed 12 February 2016)Google Scholar
Staebler, R., Toom–Sauntry, D., Barrie, L. and others. 1999. Physical and chemical characteristics of aerosols at Spitsbergen in the spring of 1996. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres (1984–2012) 104 (D5): 55155529.Google Scholar
Stogiannidis, E. and Laane, R.. 2015. Source characterization of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by using their molecular indices: an overview of possibilities. Reviews of environmental contamination and toxicology 234: 49133.Google Scholar
Szymański, W., Skiba, S. and Wojtuń, B.. 2013. Distribution, genesis, and properties of Arctic soils: a case study from the Fuglebekken catchment, Spitsbergen. Polish Polar Research 34 (3): 289304.Google Scholar
Weinbruch, S., Wiesemann, D., Ebert, M. and others. 2012. Chemical composition and sources of aerosol particles at Zeppelin Mountain (Ny Ålesund, Svalbard): an electron microscopy study. Atmospheric Environment 49: 142150.Google Scholar