Home – Home – Jornals – Contemporary Problems of Ecology 2003 number 2

Low I, P, F and Se of the main components of landscapes and specific diseases associated with these have been detected. Local contaminations by artificial radionuclides and heavy metals (Hg, Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd), and point wise ones by pesticides and dioxines have been found.
The modern biogeochemical condition in the Altai as a whole is satisfactory for people and for economical activities. A great attention of scientific community and authorities must be paid to the consequences of J, P, F and Se deficit and of local contaminations with man-produced radionuclides and heavy metals.

Proportions of Ti/Zr, B/Ga, Sr/Ba, Mn/Fe in soil-forming rocks differing in their genesis, granulometric and mineralogical composition in soils of West Siberia have been studied. It has been established that these geochemical criteria may be used in soil science for studying the lithological peculiarities of rocks that form the soil profile, the paleographic and geochemical condition of their accumulation, reformation conditions in the process of pedogenesis. An analysis of the content and proportions of chemical elements in various genetic soil profiles formed in the south of West Siberia has been carried out.

The results of comprehensive experimental studies of radiation situation in separate polluted sites of the former Semipalatinsk nuclear testing ground are considered. An estimation of radionuclides migration in the soil – plant system in separate pasture sites located in the testing ground territory is made.

For the first time the peculiarities of distribution of organic admixtures – hydrocarbons, phenols, xenobiotics etc. – in sweet potable waters of the basin of the upper reaches of the Ob River are considered. For this purpose, the data of chromato-mass spectrometric analysis carried out according to   the Method of the USA Environment Protection Agency (Method 625 Epa USA) were used. The highest concentrations of organic compounds have been found in alluvial water-bearing horizons. Therein, almost ubiquitously present were esters ophthalmic acid and phenols used as anti-acid additives, stabilizers of plastics and other materials.

A vast material of long-term geologic-hydrogeologic studies, including those of the authors of the present work, is summarized. The complexity of lithological structure manifested in a rhythmic alternation of strata of various genesis and composition determines the formation, diffusion and chemical character of ground waters, and ultimately the functioning and direction of dynamic and evolutionary processes of geosystems. The contrasting character, complexity and mosaicism of diffusion of ground waters and of their chemical composition are demonstrated. A storey-by-storey water impounding of the soil-ground layer has been detected, hydrogeologic-hydrochemical regimes have been distinguished. Comprehensive data on the Novosibirsk Region are presented for the first time. The materials presented must help in optimization of nature management and in the forecast of direction of evolutionary development of the territory.

An analysis of formation of water quality in a large natural-man-caused system has been carried out on the example of the change of hydrologic-hydrochemical regime of the Novosibirsk reservoir and its tail race. The character of long-term and seasonal time course of inflow and discharges, dependence of the water exchange coefficient on the water impounding of separate seasons and of the year as a whole, time course of priority chemical characteristics of water quality across the reservoir equator have been studied. It is demonstrated that the Novosibirsk reservoir, despite its small regulation capacity, has considerably improved the water resource situation in its influence zone, especially in its head race, and plays a positive role in determining the quality of water.

The species composition, numbers and biomass of hydrobionts (phyto-and zooplankton, phyto-and zoobenthos, macrophytes, fishes) of water bodies of high mountains of the Altai almost not studied in this respect are considered. It is demonstrated that the taxonomic diversity of all the groups studied and the indicators of their development under the conditions of the short period of open waters, their low temperatures and deficit of bio-genes is not high. By the sum of hydrobiological characteristics, the rivers and lakes of the Chulyshman highland and of the Ukok plateau, during the major part of the year, are ultra-and oligotrophic (oligosaprobic). Up to the present time, these water bodies  are practically non-polluted, which permits regarding them as background water bodies in biological monitoring of hydroecosystems of Siberia.

It is proposed to use the systemic medico-ecological mapping as the main tool for spatial analysis of territorial complexes of geographical factors of human diseases and of medico-ecological problems arising due to them. The main principles of such a spatial medicoecological analysis have been formulated which permit successively realizing a mapping algorithm from the components to the level of classifying the region into special medico-ecological territories. A systemic medico-ecological mapping is being proposed for the first time as a tool for considering interrelated and mutually determined subsets with a continuous accumulation of information capacity which reaches its maximum in the integral medico-ecological classification of a territory.

The variation of contamination of the atmosphere by aerosol in Barnaul City during the day is analyzed. By the data of observation of the aerosol layer with the help of a NASA solar photometer, the influence of the anthropogenous factor on the atmosphere turbidity at noon hours has been established. An increase of submicron particles` size during the day has been found.

The necessity of setting up geo-information systems (GIS) as an integrated tool for the support of decision making in the nature management sphere is substantiated. Approaches to development, structure, principles and methods of setting up GIS are proposed which ensure the solution of the complex of tasks of evaluating the current state and the changes of the natural environment under the influence of anthropogenesis factors. The presented statements have a general character and may be regarded as elements of theoretical development of geo-informatics in application to setting up GIS for the purposes of regional control of nature management and environment protection.

On the basis of longitudinal-vertical models, stratified streams, water exchange processes and processes of substance transfer in lakes and reservoirs are studied. Descriptions of models and a new formula of state equation for deep water bodies are given. The models are built in application to deep water bodies in which the water density can depend not only on the temperature and the salinity, but also on the water pressure. As examples, hydrothermal regimes of two deep stratified water reservoirs being designed, the thermal bar in the coastal zone of the Lake Baikal, hydrothermal regime and specific longitudinal bar of the Lake Teletskoye, and heat and substance transfer processes in the zone of the Teletskoye Lake adjacent to the mouth of the Chulyshman river – its main tributary.

The review presents experimental and clinical data concerning the effects of environmental estrogens on the nervous, immune, and endocrine systems. The hypotheses related to the role of endocrine disrupters, e.g. eco-estrogenes in reproductive dysfunctions, some cancers, and other pathologies are discussed.

Results of estimation of the influence of explosion works on the environment carried out in a military testing ground in the Krasnoyarsk Region are presented. Results of a chemical and biological analysis of snow, litter, air and vegetation samples collected around the object, and a description of fauna are given. It has been established that the economical activities of such objects do not contaminate the environment considerably, which is confirmed by chemical and biological control methods. A forecast of changes of environment and recommendations on ecological safety of further functioning of the testing ground are given.

The paper provides a critical discussion of the classification criteria for environmental hazards which is used in some states - e.g., the states of EC (European Community),in order to decide in what classification category a substance will fit. A new system of criteria for environmental hazards is proposed. The system includes four blocks according to the four levels of man-caused disturbances in living systems. As an example of a non-lethal but potentially important effect produced by a man-made chemical, some new data on the inhibitory effects of a surfactant on bivalves are presented. A non-ionic surfactant Triton-X100 inhibited the water filtration by mussels. Various ecologically important consequences of the inhibition of water filtration are discussed. The efficiency of the proposed system of criteria is demonstrated