Home – Home – Jornals – Contemporary Problems of Ecology 2014 number 4

A methodological approach to estimation of flow, balance and accumulation of heavy metals in a lake in the conditions of long-term air pollution was considered. On the example of the Chunozero Lake, the estimation of accumulation of heavy metals in sediments for more than 70-years period of activity of the mountain-metallurgical enterprise (“Severonickel” company) and Lapland State Biospheric Reserve was carried out. It was determined, that thickness of the polluted sediments on a greater part of lake water area averages 2 cm, and average sedimentation rate for last 20 years equals 1 mm/year. The metals accumulated in lake sediments can represent danger of pollution of water column in the future, especially in the case of development of lake eutrophication. Due to the nature of substances flow in Chunozero, running type of water masses movement and an elongated form of the lake, sediments accumulate only about 3 % of the heavy metals entering the catchment area, in contrast to the largest lake in the Murmansk Region - Imandra, where the accumulation of heavy metals reaches 55 %, mainly due to their entering with the wastewater and also because of low velocity of water flow.