DISTRIBUTION AND PATHWAYS OF HEAVY-METALS AND SULFUR 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 proje ct covering 188,000 km(2) of an area exposed to severe airborne deposi tion of heavy metals and sulphur originating from the Ni-smelters of t he Kola Peninsula, Russia, was initiated by the Central Kola Expeditio n and the Geological Surveys of Finland and Norway in 1992. To select the best suited sample media as well as sample preparation and analyti cal techniques for the regional project to be carried out in 1995, 10 different media were sampled in a 12,000 km(2) subarea and analysed fo r up to 40 elements. A(0)-horizon (humus), terrestrial moss, snow and stream water were found to give the best picture of the deposition pat tern for a number of pollutant elements (As, Cd Co, Cr, Cu, Mo, Ni, S, Sb, V). The mobilities and pathways of different elements were estima ted based on the data of different media. Results obtained indicate th at sulphur is not retained by the organic soil but leached to surface water together with some mobile heavy metals (e.g. Ni) and exchangeabl e base cations. Copper, however, is immobilised effectively by organic matter in the uppermost parts of the soil profile. (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd