The biogenic and pyrogenic factors of heavy metal and radionuclide accumulation in the peat soil of the central part of the East European plain

Sergei A. Tobratov; Olga S. Zheleznova

Sergei A. Tobratov State University named for S.A. Yesenin
Olga S. Zheleznova State University named for S.A. Yesenin

Keywords: Biogenic, pyrogenic, contribution, peat deposition, landscapes, soil

Abstract

The article deals with the evaluation of the contribution of peat deposition (a natural process causing long-term removal of toxic elements from the migration streams) to the natural capability of the Meshchera lowland landscapes to act as the buffer with respect to the anthropogenic input of heavy metals (HM). It was found that even despite the prevalence of peat soil, it plays a minor role in the heavy metal assimilation capacity of the landscapes, compared to the accumulation of heavy metals by wood and bark, which is 5 to 9 times higher, and to the involvement of heavy metals in the recyclic flows, which is 70 to 150 times higher. In the conditions of the low trophic level of sandy substrates in Meshchera, the mobile forms of heavy metals are extensively involved in the biogenic migration, and peat accumulates them residually, in small amounts. The highest probability of accumulation in peat is typical of slow-moving toxic agents (Pb), while the lowest one is typical of highly mobile biophiles (Zn). The main factors of the vertical distribution of heavy metals in peat strata are their accumulation in the boundary layers, i.e. pyrogenic and tree-stump horizons (2010, the Early Subatlantic, the Subboreal, and more ancient ones), including that in the course of vertical water migration. All of the above factors significantly impede the use of peat deposits in the Polesye-type landscapes as the natural site for studying aerial technogenic pollution. Fires in forest and peat areas release up to 43% of radiocesium deposited in peat into the atmosphere along with the combustion gases, while natural radionuclides remain relatively stable.

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Author Biographies

Sergei A. Tobratov, State University named for S.A. Yesenin

Ph.D. in biology Head of the Landscape Geochemistry laboratory associate professor at the Chair of Physical Geography Ryazan State University named for S.A. Yesenin

Olga S. Zheleznova, State University named for S.A. Yesenin

Ph.D. in biology Scientific worker of the Landscape Geochemistry laboratory Ryazan State University named for S.A. Yesenin

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