Vasil'chuk Y.K., Belik A.D., Vasil'chuk A.C., Budantseva N.A., Vasil'chuk J.Y., Ginzburg A.P., Bludushkina L.B. —
Variations of the composition of PAHs and the ratio of carbon and nitrogen in the soils of Batagaika thermoerosive carter in Northern Yakutia
// Arctic and Antarctica. – 2020. – ¹ 3.
– P. 100 - 114.
DOI: 10.7256/2453-8922.2020.3.33583
URL: https://en.e-notabene.ru/arctic/article_33583.html
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Abstract: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are the ubiquitous organic pollutants. They are formed as a result of incomplete oxidation of organic substance, for example, technogenic fuel combustion, heating system, wildfires, volcanism, and decomposition of organic residues. Special attention is given to pyrogenic factor of the formation of PAHs in soils. The subject of this research is PAHs in the soils of Batagaika thermoerosive carter in Northern Yakutia in Verkhoyansky Ulus in Yakutia. The author examines the peculiarities of two soil sections (indices B-VG-2019/1 and B-VG-2019/3). Both soils are post-pyrogenic and contain visible traces of a recent fire: embers are found in subsurface horizons of the examined sections, which indicate the recent fire. The following conclusion were formulated: 1) in soils, dicyclic PAHs account for 93%, while the proportions of tricyclic and tetracyclic compounds are roughly equivalent (4% and 3%, respectively); 2) the average values of individual PAHs in the upper (up to 30 cm) and lower (deeper than 30 cm) horizons differ. In the upper horizons, their total concentration is 27 ng/g, while in the lower horizons it is 14 ng/g; 3) in this case, the key biomarker of fires is naphthalene and its homologues. The absence of PAHs with considerable molecular weight most likely testifies to the relatively low fire intensity. The highest values of C/N ratio are noted in the bedding horizon: 10.89 and 3.31, and the lower soils are characterized with approximately 1, which is substantiated by the low content of carbon and nitrogen in the soil profile.