Assessment of Bottom Sediment Quality Based on Application of Statistical Methods of Data Analysis: Case Study of the Sestra River

Statistical methods of data analysis have been used to study the correlation between the benthic characteristics and the geochemical and toxicological characteristics of bottom sediments of the small river of Sestra. As shown, a relatively wide scope of biological and chemical data is needed to assess the quality of bottom sediments of the Sestra River.     

Quality Assessment of Freshwater Ecosystems by the Functional State of Bivalved Mollusks

Water Resources - The characteristics of cardioactivity and the accumulation of metals in the tissues of bivalve mollusks from different water areas of the eastern Gulf of Finland and Rybinsk...     

Assessment of the Uvod Reservoir pollution with heavy metals

Concentrations of heavy metals (Cu, Ni, Cd, Pb, Cr, and Zn) in bottom sediments, water, snow, and biota of the Uvod Reservoir, as well as of rare-earth elements (Ce, Dy, Er, Eu, Gd, Ho, La, Lu, Nd, Pr, Sm, Tb, Y, and Yb) in its water are assessed. Geochemical studies of concentrations of Cu, Ni, Cd, Pb, Cr, and Zn in soils, water, and snow allow us to state that the metals enter the reservoir mostly from natural sources; however, some part of them are of anthropogenic origin. The sum of concentrations of light rare-earth elements (La, Ce, and Nd) make almost the total of all rare-earth elements in the reservoir—from 70 to 97%, depending on the sampling site. The highest concentrations of metals (and the highest percentage of their labile forms) are recorded in the Priplotinnyi and Kolbaskinskii (in macrophite deposits) pools and at the site of water inflow from the Volga-Uvod canal. There is also reason to suppose a secondary entry of the elements under study into the water mass. The largest variations in metals’ concentrations are observed during the periods of spring and autumn floods, when a great quantity of terrigenous suspended matter enters the water body. The distribution of the above metals and rare-earth elements in water is uneven; their highest concentrations are observed in the site of water inflow from the canal and in the Uvod River (the latter is likely to be due to the effect of the settlement of Pistsovo). The analysis of biota (fennel-leaved pondweed and zooplankton) has shown that the Uvod Reservoir is polluted with heavy metals.