INFLUENCE OF AMBER MINING ON THE CONCENTRATION AND CHEMICAL-COMPOSITION OF SUSPENDED SEDIMENTARY MATTER (SAMBIAN PENINSULA, SOUTHEAST BALTIC)

The article is devoted to the problem of the dumping of suspended matt er from Kaliningrad Amber Mining Plant to the Baltic Sea. Estimation o f environmentally harmful pulp discharge is based on the requirements of the Russian State Service for Nature Protection (RSSNP) for maximum limited concentration of suspension in sewage wafers, using the formu la C-max = N(C-t - C-b) + C-b, but taking into consideration the separ ate fractions in both surface and subsurface waters, where C, is the c oncentration at the test site, C-b is the background concentration at the point of discharge, and N is the total dilution factor between the two sites. Field study results were the input data for maximum limite d and actual discharges' calculations and were based on 71 samples tha t showed wide variances of suspension concentrations for the internal background site of from 5.8 to 62.6 mg/L, and for the external backgro und site of from 2.9 to 27.2 mg/L. The fluctuations are explained by v ariation in wind velocities which strongly influence the swell in the coastal area, causing sediment resuspension. On the basis of the exper imental data, if is possible to plot an analytical relationship betwee n values of N and wind velocities. Samples were analyzed for grain siz e and content of Fe, Mn, Cu, and Zn. Tt is concluded that the Kalining rad Amber Mining Plant is the source of large amounts of dispersed fin e terrigenous sediments and of occurrences of trace metals associated with them and, taking into account real conditions of wind velocities and flows in the coastal zone of the sea, the study has resulted in a useful basis for more derailed investigations of the anthropogenic inf luence on the ecological system of the southeast Baltic.