Aims

Official Project title:
Joint ecogeochemical mapping and monitoring at the 1:1 million scale of the west Murmansk region and contiguous areas of Finland and Norway

The primary aims to the Kola Ecogeochemistry Project are:

To map the extent of contamination by inorganic elements in various media around industrial centres

To map the content of radionuclides in topsoil throughout the Project area

To shed light on the process and the dynamics of trace element cycling in catchments

To establish a soil sample bank for future investigations

Secondary aims also have been identified, and are, among others:

To determine the natural or background geochemical variability of sampled media

To investigate how deep the atmospherically transported pollutants have penetrated the soil cover

To analyse the effect of pollution on erosion patterns, e.g. by studying overbank sediment profiles

To test the usefulness of environmental sulphur isotopes in the region

To undertake international co-operation with partners, and collaboration with other national and international institutions

NIKEL, LOOKING TOWARDS NORWAY (Photo: A. Misund)

BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF ARCTIC SCENERY (C6) (Photo: G. Kashulina)