The Current Ecological State of Water and Bottom Sediments in Lakes Krugloye and Maltsevo in the Tomsk Region

• Published in: Žurnal Sibirskogo federalʹnogo universiteta. Seriâ Biologiâ (Online) Vol. 17; no. 2; pp. 211 - 224
• Main Authors: Korol, Irina S, Chuikina, Daria I, Mukhortina, Natalia A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Krasnoyarsk Siberian Federal University 01.04.2024
• Subjects: Algae; Anthropogenic factors; Aquatic ecosystems; Aromatic compounds; Bottom sediments; Calcium ions; Capillary electrophoresis; Chromatography; Ecosystem management; Ecosystems; Electrophoresis; Environmental monitoring; Fluorene; Fluorescence; Freshwater; Freshwater ecosystems; Heavy metals; Human influences; Inland water environment; Inorganic compounds; Integrated approach; Lake sediments; Lakes; Magnesium; Naphthalene; Nitrogen dioxide; Performance evaluation; Phenanthrene; Pigments; Pollutants; Pollution monitoring; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Quality management; Sediment; Sediments; Spectrophotometry; Surface water; Water analysis; Water protection; Water quality; Water quality management; Water sampling; X ray fluorescence analysis; X-ray fluorescence; Tom River; Russia
• ISSN: 1997-1389; 2313-5530

The state of freshwater ecosystems has been studied for several decades and extensively reported in the scientific literature. Programs aimed at water protection and water quality management should include geochemical monitoring of the pollutants and evaluation of the physical-chemical and biochemical processes in natural water ecosystems (both surface water and bottom sediment). The purpose of the present study was to assess the initial state of the surface water and bottom sediments (BS) of Lakes Krugloye and Maltsevo as the basis for further environmental monitoring and evaluation of the anthropogenic impact on them. The methods used to achieve this aim included extraction and determination of organic and inorganic compounds using high-performance chromatography, capillary electrophoresis, electron spectrophotometry, and X-ray fluorescence analysis. The study shows that bottom sediments of these lakes can be classified as moderately polluted, with the total content of hydrocarbons in them varying from 58.14 to 82.20 ng/g. The content of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the surface water samples varies from 0.01 to 0.13 µg/L for different compounds and in the bottom sediments - from 0.11 to 14.44 ng/g. The mixture of PAHs in the water samples contains increased amounts of such compounds as naphthalene, fluorene, phenanthrene, and benza[a]nthracene. The lighter bi- or tricyclic polyarenes, which have higher solubility, predominate in water, in contrast to bottom sediments. The contents of ions (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, NH4+, Cl-, NO2-, SO42-, NO3-, PO43-, and F-) and heavy metals do not exceed their maximum permissible concentration (MPC) values. The natural pigments identified in the BS suggest the satisfactory hydrobiological status of the lakes and indicate normal function of algal communities. The study demonstrates that Lakes Maltsevo and Krugloye can be regarded as reference water bodies, and the proposed integrated approach is an efficient tool for assessing the ecological status of the lakes, which can be used as the basis for further lake monitoring.