Search

The article describes the existing climate trends for western Siberia and Altai krai; Forecasts based on two global climate models are made up to 2030. The dynamics of arable and forested areas in Altai krai under conditions of climate siccation (aridization) is analyzed based on the results of the processing of remote-sensing data and official statistics. The trends in the development of the situation and measures to achieve land degradation neutrality, including the optimization of nature management, organization, and reorganization of protected areas, are considered.

The stable water isotopes in snow (primarily 18O and 2H) are widely used for tracing hydrological and ecological processes. However, isotopic signatures of snow can be significantly modified by topography and land cover. This study assesses spatial and temporal variability of the bulk snowpack isotopic composition (δ18O, δ2H, d-excess) between forested (pine and birch) and open areas in the West Siberian forest steppes. Isotopic samples were collected over the peak snow accumulation in 2017–2019. The snow isotopic composition within forested areas differed from open steppes, mainly in reducing d-excess (1.6‰ on average). We did not find a significant effect of canopy interception on snow enrichment in heavier isotopes. Snowpack in the pine forests was even lighter by 3.6‰ for δ2H compared to open areas, probably, due to low energy inputs and interception capacity. Additionally, snow depth significantly influenced the isotopic composition spatial variability. As snow depth increased, δ18O and δ2H values decreased due to conservation within the snowpack and less influence of sublimation and moisture exchange with the soil. However, this pattern was only evident in winters with below-average snow depth. Therefore, taking into account snow depth spatial and seasonal variability is advisable when applying the isotopic methods.

This paper presents the results of a study of the Novosibirsk Tin Plant influence on the level of tin content in the environment in the southern Western Siberia. Based on the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data and the tin content in the atmospheric precipitation that falls in 2014–2018 at the radius of 200 km from the emission source, it has been found that 90% of the precipitation events with an increased tin content and 75% and 82% of all Sn fluxes fallen, respectively, in warm and cold seasons were brought to the study area by air masses previously passed over the territory of the Novosibirsk Tin Plant. During the period of observation (from April 2014 to October 2018), the mean, median and weighted mean values of tin concentrations in atmospheric precipitation in the Southern Western Siberia were 0.25; 0.11 and 0.17 μg L−1, respectively. A significantly higher volume-weighted mean concentration of Sn was in cold period due to high sorption activity of snowflakes, but atmospheric deposition fluxes of tin were slightly higher in the warm period due to the more abundant precipitation and the larger number of events. The contamination factor calculated relative to the background territory (Valdai National Park, European part of Russia) showed that atmospheric precipitation collected at the southern Western Siberia is moderately contaminated with Sn. The main factors controlling the fluxes of Sn (emitted from the Novosibirsk Tin Plant) on the territory of the south of Western Siberia are the direction of the surface air masses movement, the frequency and abundance of precipitation, as well as the seasonal features of tin distribution in the system air–precipitation.

Представлены результаты исследований первичных биологических аэрозолей (пыльцевые спектры и водоросли) в атмосферных осадках, выпадавших на территории Алтайского биосферного заповедника (Республика Алтай, Россия) с июля по октябрь 2017 года. В проанализированных пробах было интерпретировано 28 таксонов пыльцевых зерен и водорослей. Анализ обратных траекторий движения воздушных масс, рассчитанных с помощью модели HYSPLIT, позволил определить основные регионы поступления пыльцевых зерен и водорослей на территорию Алтайского биосферного заповедника за указанный промежуток времени.

The results of studying biological aerosols (pollen spectra) in precipitation registered in the south of Western Siberia in the winter of 2014/15 are presented. Pollen grains of birch (Betula sp.), willow (Salix sp.), pine (Pinus sp.), and poplar (Populus sp.) were identified in the three of 28 analyzed precipitation samples. The comprehensive analysis of synoptic conditions during precipitation, back trajectories of air masses calculated with the HYSPLIT model as well as the analysis of the Northern Hemisphere snow cover dynamics and the area of distribution of the identified taxa were carried out. The results allowed determining the Euro-Scandinavian region as the main source of pollen grains inflow with precipitation to the south of Western Siberia in March 2015.

Anthropogenic emissions of the toxic heavy metal mercury (Hg) have substantially increased atmospheric Hg levels during the 20th century compared to preindustrial times. However, on a regional scale, atmospheric Hg concentration or deposition trends vary to such an extent during the industrial period that the consequences of recent Asian emissions on atmospheric Hg levels are still unclear. Here we present a 320 year Hg deposition history for Central Asia, based on a continuous high-resolution ice-core Hg record from the Belukha glacier in the Siberian Altai, covering the time period 1680-2001. Hg concentrations and deposition fluxes start rising above background levels at the beginning of the 19th century due to emissions from gold/silver mining and Hg production. A steep increase occurs after the 1940s culminating during the 1970s, at the same time as the maximum Hg use in consumer products in Europe and North America. After a distinct decrease in the 1980s, Hg levels in the 1990s and beginning of the 2000s return to their maximum values, which we attribute to increased Hg emissions from Asia. Thus, rising Hg emissions from coal combustion and artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) in Asian countries determine recent atmospheric Hg levels in Central Asia, counteracting emission reductions due to control measures in Europe and North America.

Plastics production is growing all over the world, but the total emission of microplastics is unfortunately not reducing. In the external environment, plastics degrade over time. This leads to the appearance of smaller particles or fibers which are microplastics at sizes of less than 5 mm. Atmospheric transfer is for microplastics one of the main ways of entering the environment. The purpose of this study is to identify microplastics in the snow cover of the south of Western Siberia, as well as preliminarily assess the possible sources of their supply. Snow samples are taken during a period of maximum snow accumulation (March, 2020) according to requirements developed by the Norwegian Institute for Air Research. The microparticles are visually evaluated using a digital microscope, Dino-Lite AM211, a fluorescent dye solution, and a Wood lamp. To assess the possible atmospheric distribution and deposition of the particles, an analysis of the synoptic conditions based on data of NCEP/NCAR, ERA5, and HYSPLIT is performed. The microscopic analysis has shown that microplastics (namely, films, fibers, and granules) have been detected in 16 of the 18 snow samples in the city of Barnaul and adjacent territories, as well as fibers and granules have been revealed in 3 snow samples from the Kasmala River basin.

The results of a microscopic analysis of 39 samples of (snow) precipitation taken in the steppe zone of the south of Western Siberia during the cold period of 2019/20 are presented. The samples contain pollen grains of woody (Betula sp., Pinus sp.) and herbaceous taxa (Artemisia sp., families Asteraceae, Chenopodiaceae, Poaceae). The herbaceous samples predominate in the spectrum-51%. To determine the areas of pollen grain arrival, the frequency back trajectories of the air masses are calculated with the HYSPLIT model for the atmospheric boundary layer during 120 hours. Analysis of pressure topography maps, maps of distributions of snow cover, average velocities and wind directions has made it possible to identify the areas of arrival of the pollen grains. The area of arrival of Artemisia sp. is the territory of the Turan Plain.

The development of strategies and policies aiming at the reduction of environmental exposure to air pollution requires the assessment of historical emissions. Although anthropogenic emissions from the extended territory of the Soviet Union (SU) considerably influenced concentrations of heavy metals in the Northern Hemisphere, Pb is the only metal with long-term historical emission estimates for this region available, whereas for selected other metals only single values exist. Here we present the first study assessing long-term Cd, Cu, Sb, and Zn emissions in the SU during the period 1935-1991 based on ice-core concentration records from Belukha glacier in the Siberian Altai and emission data from 12 regions in the SU for the year 1980. We show that Zn primarily emitted from the Zn production in Ust-Kamenogorsk (East Kazakhstan) dominated the SU heavy metal emission. Cd, Sb, Zn (Cu) emissions increased between 1935 and the 1970s (1980s) due to expanded non-ferrous metal production. Emissions of the four metals in the beginning of the 1990s were as low as in the 1950s, which we attribute to the economic downturn in industry, changes in technology for an increasing metal recovery from ores, the replacement of coal and oil by gas, and air pollution control.

Human activities have significantly altered atmospheric Pb concentrations and thus, its geochemical cycle, for thousands of years. Whereas historical Pb emissions from Western Europe, North America, and Asia are well documented, there is no equivalent data for Eastern Europe. Here, we present ice-core Pb concentrations for the period 1680-1995 from Belukha glacier in the Siberian Altai, assumed to be representative of emissions in Eastern Europe and the Altai. Pb concentrations and (207)Pb/(206)Pb ratios were strongly enhanced during the period 1935-1995 due to the use of Pb additives in Russian gasoline mined in the Rudny Altai. Comparable to Western Europe and North America, Eastern European Pb emissions peaked in the 1970s. However, the subsequent downward trend in Eastern Europe was mainly caused by the economic crisis in the U.S.S.R. and not by a phase-out of leaded gasoline. Pb concentrations in the period 1680-1935, preceding the era of intensified industrialization in Russia, reflect the history of local emissions from Rudny Altai mining and related metallurgical processing primarily for the production of Russian coins. During this time, Altai ore Pb contributed about 40% of the regional atmospheric Pb.

Different biological proxies such as pollen, cysts, and diatoms were identified and quantified in the upper part of a Belukha ice core from the Russian Altai. The ice core from the Belukha glacier collected in 2001 (4062 m a.s.l., 49°48' N, 86°34' E) was analyzed with annual resolution in the period 1964–2000. Daily data of the frequency of synoptic patterns observed in the Northern Hemisphere along with daily data of precipitation have been used to identify the predominant atmospheric circulations (elementary circulating mechanisms, or ECMs) generating the entry of biological proxies on the glacier surface. It was shown that the high-resolution records of diatoms, cysts, spores, and plant pollen in the Belukha ice core are the biological proxies for the changes in the structure of precipitation in the Altai region since these records can reflect changes in the contribution of different atmospheric circulation to annual or seasonal precipitation. The joint consideration of the transport ability of the biological species and the data of precipitation allowed us to determine the main modern sources of biological proxies deposited at the Belukha glacier. The main sources of diatoms in the Belukha ice core are water bodies of the Aral, Caspian, and northern Kazakhstan basins; coniferous tree pollen originated from the taiga forest of the boreal zone of western Siberia; pollen of deciduous trees and herbs from steppe and forest-steppe vegetation in the northern Altai and eastern Kazakhstan; and cysts and spores of plants were transported from local water bodies and forests. The identified source regions of the biological species are supported by back trajectory analyses and are in good agreement with emission source regions of the trace elements in the ice core.