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Distribution of Heavy Metals in Gray Silts in the Volga Cascade of Reservoirs

  • HYDROCHEMISTRY, HYDROBIOLOGY: ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS
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Abstract

The concentrations of heavy metals in gray silts were analyzed in the Volga cascade of Reservoirs (June 2016, R/V Akademik Topchiev, Borok Village–Astrakhan City). The mean concentrations of heavy metals (Cd, Cu, As, Ni, Pb, and Zn) in gray silts of the Volga River were found to be below the tentatively admissible concentrations in soils. The maximums and minimums of the concentrations of different heavy metals were found to be attained in different locations along the Volga. At the same time, the concentrations of the majority of heavy metals in the silts in the Upper and Middle Volga (within the first ~1200 km of the expedition route) are appreciable; downstream of the Usa mouth, they are somewhat smoothed. The concentrations of V, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn in excess of the background for gray silts in the Upper Volga are mostly typical of the Kuibyshev Reservoir. The concentration of the majority of heavy metals in the examined samples is lower or somewhat higher than their concentrations in the average post-Archean Australian shale (PAAS). This suggests the conclusion that their concentrations in gray silts are mostly determined by the concentrations of heavy metals in natural sources and the effect of dilution of thin/pelite aluminosilicoclastic by nonclay material. No correlation was found to exist between the concentration of organic carbon and the majority of heavy metals.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are grateful to the crew of the R/V Akademik Topchiev and V.V. Zakonnov for their help in sampling. Illustrations to the article were made by V.A. Chernov and N.S. Glushkova.

Funding

The sampling and the pretreatment of the samples were supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project no. 14-27-00114; the interpretation of the results was carried out under Governmental Order to the Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences (subject 0128-2021-0016) and the Geological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences.

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  1. Geological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119017, Moscow, Russia

    A. V. Maslov

  2. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117997, Moscow, Russia

    I. A. Nemirovskaya & V. P. Shevchenko

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  1. A. V. Maslov
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  2. I. A. Nemirovskaya
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Correspondence to A. V. Maslov.

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Translated by G. Krichevets

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Maslov, A.V., Nemirovskaya, I.A. & Shevchenko, V.P. Distribution of Heavy Metals in Gray Silts in the Volga Cascade of Reservoirs. Water Resour 48, 977–990 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0097807821060117

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