ENVIRONMENTAL AND GEOCHEMICAL SITUATION IN THE KOTOVSKY AREA, THE VOLGA REGION, AND THE STATE OF SURFACE ECOSYSTEMS ON THE LEFT BANK OF MEDVEDITSA RIVER UNDER STRONG ANTHROPOGENIC LOAD    

K. D. Svetashova^1,2**, M. A. Khar’kina^1*,  
N. S. Grokhol’skii ^2,3***

¹Geological Faculty, Lomonosov Moscow State University,
Leninskie gory, 1, Moscow, 119991 Russia

²Gidrospetsgeologiya, ul. Marshala Rybalko, 4, Moscow, 123060 Russia

³Sergo Ordzhonikidze Russian State University for Geological Prospecting,
ul. Miklukho-Maklaya, 23, Moscow, 123060 Russia

*E-mail: info@rector.msu.ru;
** E-mail: info@specgeo.ru
*** E-mail: office@mgri.ru

Data are provided on the ecological and geochemical situation as well as technogenic load in the Don-Medveditsa ridge, the northwestern part of the Volga Upland, Kotovskii District. The industrial complexes associated with open cast mining of iron ore and oil fields are found to be the main sources of technogenic impact there. Proceeding from the results of spectral analysis, two main polluting chemical elements were identified in geocomponents, i.e., lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd), out of 24 chemical elements found in soil, bottom sediments, surface water and plant residues of wheat. The state of terrestrial ecosystems is assessed, including the abiotic (soil, surface water, and bottom sediments) and biotic (wheat plant residues) parts. On the basis of a coupled recording of the state of the lithosphere and phytocenoses using traditional geological and biotic criteria, a map of ecological and geochemical zoning of the left bank of the Medveditsa River was compiled to a scale of 1: 200000. The ecological-geochemical zoning made it possible to distinguish territories with a certain class of ecological-geological conditions and the ecological state of systems. The aim of this study was to assess and reveal transformation in ecological-geochemical conditions under the impact of various anthropogenic factors within the area of Don-Medveditsa ridge, the Cis-Volga Upland.

Keywords: ecological and geological conditions, soil, bottom sediments, surface waters, vegetation, quarries, oil fields

REFERENCES

1. Grigor’eva, I.Yu., Baranov, D.Yu., Abyzova, A.M. Osobennosti rekul’tivatsii neftezagryaznennykh territorii v usloviyakh Zapadnoi Sibiri [Features of reclamation of oil-contaminated territories in Western Siberia]. Inzhenernye izyskaniya, 2015, no. 13, pp. 48-54. (in Russian)
2. Vorobyov, A.V. (Ed.) Zemel’nye resursy Volgogradskoi oblasti [Land resources of the Volgograd region] Volgograd, Volgograd Publ., 1997. (in Russian)
3. O sostoyanii okruzhayushchei sredy v gorode Moskve v 2017 godu [On the state of the environment in the city of Moscow in 2017]. A.O. Kul’bachevskii, Ed., Moscow, DPiOOS Publ., 2018, 358 p. (in Russian)
4. Korpakova, I.G., Pavlenko, L.F., Larin, A.A., Skrypnik, G.V., et al. Uglevodorody v vode i donnykh otlozheniyakh Azovskogo morya v predelakh litsenzionnogo uchastka OOO “NK PRIAZOVNEFT’” [Hydrocarbons in water and bottom sediments of the Azov Sea within the licensed area of LLC Prikazneft], Zashchita okruzhayushchei sredy v neftegazovom komplekse, 2014, no. 11, pp. 10-17. (in Russian)
5. Kosinova, I.I., Baraboshkina, T.A., Kosinov, A.E., Ilyash, V.V. Ekologicheskaya geologiya Kurskoi magnitnoi anomalii (KMA) [Ecological geology of the Kursk magnetic anomaly (KMA)]. Voronezh, IPTs VGU Publ., 2009. (in Russian)
6. Matishov, G.G., Nikitin, B.A., Sochnev O.Ya. Ekologicheskaya bezopasnost’ i monitoring pri osvoenii mestorozhdenii uglevodorodov na Arkticheskom shel’fe [Environmental safety and monitoring during the development of hydrocarbon deposits on the Arctic shelf]. Moscow, Gazoil Press, 2001. (in Russian)
7. Ol’khovatenko, V.E. Geoekologicheskie problemy razrabotki otkrytym sposobom ugol’nykh mestorozhdenii Kuzhetskogo basseina [Geoecological problems in open pit mining of coal deposits in the Kuznetsk basin]. Geoecological safety of the development of mineral deposits. Proc.19th annual conf. in commemoration of academician E.M. Sergeev, Moscow, 2017, pp. 67-72. (in Russian)
8. Opekunova, M.E., Opekunov, A.Yu., Kukushkin, S.Yu., Ganul A.G., et al. Rezul’taty ekologicheskogo monitoring shlamovykh ambarov neftegazodobychi severa Zapadnoi Sibiri [The results of environmental monitoring of sludge pits for oil and gas production in the north of Western Siberia].Waste management: problems of geoecology and engineering geology, Proc. 20th annual conf. in commemoration of academician E.M. Sergeev, Moscow, 2018, pp. 199-204.(in Russian)
9. Saet, Yu.E. Geokhimiya okruzhayushchei sredy [Geochemistry of the environment]. Moscow, Nedra Publ., 1990, 333 p. (in Russian)
10. Svetashova, K.D., Khar’kina, M.A. Ekologo-geokhimicheskie usloviya severo-zapadnoi chasti Privolzhskoi vozvyshennosti [Ecological and geochemical conditions of the northwestern part of the Volga Upland]. Geology in the developing world. Proc. 10th Intern. Sci. and Practical Conf. of Young Professionals, Perm, PGNIY Publ., 2018, pp. 410-413. (in Russian)
11. Trofimov, V.T., Nikolaev, A.V., Zhigalin, A.D., Baraboshkina, T.A., Kharkina, M.A., Arkhipova, E.V. Rasshirenie dobychi nefti i gaza i vozrastanie ekologicheskogo riska [Expanding oil and gas production and increasing environmental risk]. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta, Ser. 4: Geologiya, 2017, no. 3, pp. 7-16. (in Russian)
12. Trofimov, V.T., Kharkina, M.A. O soderzhanii i naznachenii geoekologicheskikh kart [On the content and purpose of geoecological maps]. Inzhenernye izyskaniya, 2017, no. 1, pp. 32-38. (in Russian)