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Data from passive sampling are used to compare the chemical compositions of water- and acid-soluble forms of aerosols in background forested regions during autumn, winter, and spring periods. We calculated the coefficients of aerosol accumulation and absolute values of aerosol enrichment, and analyzed back trajectories. Seasonal changes in the chemical composition of aerosol fractions are shown, and the presence of elements indicating the activity of thermal power plants is noted.

When analyzing chemical compositions of snow the high variability of content of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in snow cover between snowfalls is observed. Researchers explain this by concentrating of snow. However, another mechanism of atmospheric contamination of the snow cover surface is possible. It may be a precipitation of fine crystals of PAHs from the atmosphere in the composition of cryohydrates, which can form aerogenic anomalies on the snow surface at formation of hoarfrost. The process starts in the atmosphere during the interaction of finely dispersed crystals of PAHs with cloud supercooled drops. This results in the cryogenic concentration of solid particles of PAHs by way of formation of solid eutectic mixture – cryohydrates, which are a two-phase system consisting of a fine mixture of crystals of solid particles and ice. Evidence of their manifestation is the presence of the Forel hatching on the surface of the facets of the hoarfrost crystals appearing due to the different optical density of alternating zones, which consist of interpenetrating domains of crystallized solid aerosols and ice. At the same time, due to the presence of temperature inversion over the snow cover and its drying effect on the near-snow layer of air, a stable mass transport of water vapor down to the snow cover is formed, which can initiate the flow of fine cryohydrates from the PAHs. Therefore, the growth of atmospheric ice crystals, begun in the surface atmosphere, continues on the snow surface during formation of hoarfrost, thus creating a special nano-relief of snow cover. The paper presents the results of observations of changes in the concentration of individual PAHs in the upper 18 mm layer of snow at accumulation of the surface hoarfrost during a long period between snowfalls. Some micro-morphological features of the forms of skeletal rime micro-crystals are shown, with which an increase in the nano-roughness of the snow surface is associated, as well as the manifestation of the signal of the aerogenic PAH anomaly on the snow surface. Since the conditions for the formation of surface hoarfrost occur more often than for snowfalls, the hoarfrost may be an informative object of testing when detecting hydrocarbon contamination of snow cover during the intervals between snowfalls.

The article reviews data on the mercury concentrations in coals of the South of Kuznetsk basin (Kuzbas) in Kemerovo region in Russia and in the surrounding soils. The Hg concentrations in the soil (30 samples) and coal (207 samples) were determined by the atomic absorption using RA-915+ mercury analyzer with pyrolytic attachment. The comparison with previous research showed that over the last 25 years the mean Hg concentration in the soils decreased by a factor of 2.8. Based on the dominating contribution of the coal dust and coal combustion products into the total Hg influx in the environment, it is possible to predict increase of the Hg background level in the city and the surrounding area along with the coal production growth in the area without using modern effective dust suppression.

We analyze the dynamics of layer-by-layer variations in aerosol contamination of snow cover under the circulation conditions during winter at the site of the Fonovaya Observatory (Institute of Atmospheric Optics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences) in the Tom-Ob interfluve. The chemical composition of the snow cover at the observation point is characterized. It is found that in the elemental composition of the aerosol substance accumulated in the snow cover, a typomorphic association of indicator elements associated with coal mining is consistently manifested. The conclusion is geochemically substantiated that enterprises of the coal-mining industry, located southward of the region under study, have a seasonal effect on the aerosol field of the Fonovaya Observatory. It is shown that the remote sources of aerosol contamination of the snow cover should be identified through the morphometric analysis of the terrain and a retrospective estimation of temporal variability of the indices, reflecting the effect of meteorological factors (ratios of dispersion fractions of near-surface aerosol, wind regime, snowfall intensity), and in the context of specific features of the layer-by-layer distribution of indicator groups of typomorphic elements in the snow layer that characterize the specific types of industrial plants.

For the background region of Tom–Ob interfluve, we performed the comparative analysis of the chemical composition of water- and acid-soluble aerosol fractions in dry deposits, coupled with an estimation of the ratio of submicron and coarse fractions in near-ground aerosol in this background region, and a study of their mineral and material composition using scanning electron microscopy. Differences in the ratios of metals between the water- and acid-soluble fractions are revealed. It is reasonably hypothesized that water- (acid-) soluble compounds are mainly contained in the submicron (coarse) fraction.

The research is focused on determining mineralogical composition of drilling cuttings by scanning electron microscope as well as imaging the sample surface of high resolution that allows studying the structural characteristics of the site. In addition, a number of other techniques permit obtaining information on chemical composition of sample in near-surface layers. The study in drilling cuttings by means of scanning microscopy has revealed the presence of titanium, iron, zirconium oxides, iron sulphide, barium sulphate. The former is a mineral that concentrates rare-earth elements, presumably monocyte, as well as uranium silicate, etc. The results obtained confirm the data of previous X-ray structural analysis, i.e. the study samples consist of alumosilicate matrix. Apart from silicon and aluminium oxides, the matrix includes such elements as Na, K, Mg. Such a composition corresponds to rock-forming minerals: quartz, albite, microcline, clinochlore, muscovite, anorthoclase.

The paper shows the results of the accumulation of chemical elements in the limescale formed upon evaporation of underground water used by the population of Irkutsk and Tomsk oblasts. The levels are established for the accumulation of heavy metals, including rare earth and radioactive ones, in the dry residues of the limescale.

In the system of environmental monitoring, biomonitoring plays an important and independent role. The essence of the method determining the toxicants' effect consists in the specially selected organisms under standard conditions and recording different behavioral, physiological and biochemical factors. The paper studies the biological influence of modeled drilling mud components. The research results have shown the toxic effect of investigated muds. The obtained data confirm that biotesting can be applied for drilling fluids certification by the complex assessment of hazardous substances.