Pilot Project

The pilot project (1992-1993) was undertaken to harmonise field and analytical methods and to map a 12,000 km2 area around the Nikel smelter complex in Russia and extending into Finland and Norway, based on 45 sampling sites. Fifteen sampling localities were selected in each of the three countries (see map). At each locality, snow, organic soil, C-horizon (deep soil), terrestrial moss, stream water, stream sediment, and overbank sediment (top and bottom) were collected and analysed. In addition, topsoil (0-5 cm) was collected for radionuclide analysis.

The following map shows the distribution of copper (Cu) in organic soil around the Nikel smelter. Cu is one of the elements emitted in generous quantities from the smelter and, accordingly, a halo of high values is found in the immediate vicinity of the industrial sites. As the anthropogenic contribution tapers off away from the smelter complex, natural concentration levels and their inherent variability emerges.

Results of the pilot project are summarised in the report by Chekushin et al. (1993), details of which can be found in the publication list.

COPPER CONTENT IN ORGANIC SOIL (NITRIC ACID DIGESTION)
[CUMAP.GIF]
(Map: C. Reimann)
Map of Cu content (in parts per million, or ppm) in A0-soil (= O-horizon) in the pilot project area (N = 45). The square symbols are coloured according to the boxplot scale shown at the top right. Values below the median (12.7 ppm) are in shades of blue, values above the median are in green, yellow and red in order of increasing concentration. Main wind direction in the region is to the north, and major topographic features trend north-south. The diagram in the middle right is a composite diagram of frequency distribution (red bars), density curve (blue curve), scatter plots (green dashes) and boxplot distribution (blue box-and-whiskers with red outlier). Right bottom diagram is a cumulative frequency (CDF) diagram of the data.