Source Apportionment of Inorganic Solutes in Surface Waters of Lake Baikal Watershed

Mikhail Y. Semenov, Yuri M. Semenov, Anton V. Silaev and Larisa A. Begunova
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Mikhail Y. Semenov: Limnological Institute of Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Ulan-Batorskaya St. 3, 664033 Irkutsk, Russia
Yuri M. Semenov: V.B. Sochava Institute of Geography of Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Ulan-Batorskaya St. 1, 664033 Irkutsk, Russia
Anton V. Silaev: V.B. Sochava Institute of Geography of Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Ulan-Batorskaya St. 1, 664033 Irkutsk, Russia
Larisa A. Begunova: Department of Chemistry and Food Technology, Institute of High Technologies, Irkutsk National Research Technical University, Lermontov St. 83, 664074 Irkutsk, Russia

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 10, 1-21

Abstract: The aim of this study was to obtain a detailed picture of the origin of the anthropogenic and natural inorganic solutes in the surface waters of the Lake Baikal watershed using limited data on solute sources. To reveal the origin of solutes, the chemical composition of water was considered as a mixture of solutes from different sources such as rocks and anthropogenic wastes. The end-member mixing approach (EMMA), based on the observation that the element ratios in water uncorrelated with one another are those that exhibit differences in values across the different types of rocks and anthropogenic wastes, was used for source apportionment. According to the results of correlation analysis, two tracers of sources of most abundant ions present in riverine waters were selected. The first tracer was the ratio of combined concentration of calcium and magnesium ions to concentration of potassium ion ((Ca 2+ + Mg 2+ )/K + ), and the second tracer was the ratio of sulfate and bicarbonate ion concentrations (SO 4 2− /HCO 3 − ). Using these tracers, three sources of main ions in water, such as sulfide-bearing silicate rocks, non-sulfide silicate rocks and carbonate rocks, were apportioned. The results of cluster analysis showed the possibility of using the ratios of strontium, iron, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, and vanadium concentrations (Sr/Fe, Sr/Mn, Ni/V, Mo/V) as tracers of the trace element sources. The use of these tracers and the obtained data on sources of main ions showed the possibility of identifying the natural trace element sources and distinguishing between natural and anthropogenic trace element sources.

Keywords: Baikal watershed; surface waters; end-member mixing analysis; solute sources; tracers; concentration ratios (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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