Hydrochemical parameters of contaminated sections of the Shagan River within the Semipalatinsk test site
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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32523/2616-6771-2025-151-2-294-307Keywords:
small river, hydrochemical parameters, pollution, chemical elements, spatial distributionAbstract
The article presents data on the distribution of major ions and trace elements in the waters of contaminated areas of the Shagan River, located within the Semipalatinsk Test Site (STS), where increased concentrations of tritium (3H) were previously noted. Exceedances of maximum permissible concentrations (MPC RK for surface water of 2 and 3 classes of water use) on total mineralisation, hardness indicators, the sum of cations Na++K+, Mg2+, and anions HCO3- Cl-, SO₄²- at the investigated sites of the river watercourse are marked. The problem of microelement composition formation at the site of direct discharge of contaminated fracture and under-channel waters into surface waters of the Shagan River (site «2nd» km) and at the site of the ‘old’ channel with water penetrations coming out of the zone of soil piles of the Atomic lake was considered. The total content of chemical elements in water samples was investigated using the atomic absorption spectrometry method. More than 99% of the sum of masses of all chemical elements with concentrations above 0.1 µg/dm3 is determined by the presence of 13 elements distributed both in the main and «old» channel. Relative to the average concentrations in river waters of the world, their content in the main channel of the Shagan River is distributed in the following order: U>Pb>Zn>La>Sr>Mn, whereas in the «old» channel U> Mn>Fe>Al> La>Zn>Sr>Cu>Ba. In the context of the area's geochemical specificity, these distributions reflect differences in element input sources and migration or deposition features in distinct channel zones.
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Copyright (c) 2025 A. Temirzhanova, Zh. Baigazinov, N. Mukhamediyarov, M. Aktaev, K. Duskayev, D. Turgaliyeva, N. Berikbol, A. Anuarbekova (Author)
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