Аннотация:Environmental Atlas-monograph "Selenga-Baikal" is the fundamental overview of the outputs of the Russian Geographical Society Selenga-Baikal expedition, published in 2018 by authors from Lomonosov Moscow State University and other Russian and Swedish research centers, involved in Selenga-Baikal research (see Kasimov et al., 2017). It presents studies on environmental, geochemical and hydrological issues of Lake Baikal main tributary - Selenga River. The book contains description of the Selenga catchments, assessment of catchment and aquatic landscapes and processes, as well as novel study on pollutant fluxes and its transformation in the Selenga delta. It is followed the concept of the cascade landscape-geochemical system, and emphasize the importance of linkages between sources located in the catchment and its delivery to the Lake Baikal via buffering impact of the delta. The results presented in the Book are split into 6 main parts: general description of the study areas; catchment landscapes; population and land use; geochemical assessment of mining sites and urban areas; geochemistry and hydrology of Selenga river and its tributaries; delta geochemistry and sedimentation. Both with texts, photos and illustrations, there are more than 100 original maps included into the Atlas and devoted to various aspects of Selenga river environment.
Three thematically main sections comprise general idea of the Book; hot spots, river and delta. Environmental geochemical state of the hot spots in the Selenga River Basin deals with the geochemical transformation of the urban environments. It was evaluated in three industrial cities (Ulaanbaatar, Ulan-Ude and Darkhan) and three mining centers (Erdenet, Zakamensk, Sharingol). The sources and the contents of priority pollutants in the snow, topsoils and woody vegetation of different land-use zones were determined. A series of maps was compiled, which displays land-use zones and characterize main physicochemical properties of soils and spatial distribution of priority pollutants in the depositing media – snow, soil cover and woody vegetation. The analysis of geochemical maps showed that the anomalies of heavy metals and metalloids in the urban soils are caused by the emissions of industrial enterprises and motor vehicles, levels of pollutant accumulation are controlled by the properties of urban soils, defining their absorption capacity. The environmental conditions in the mining centers are caused by geochemical features of parent rocks and ore bodies, which are usually enriched with heavy metals and metalloids (HMM). The environmental risks associated with the contamination of the mining landscapes are determined not only by the enrichment in HMMs of soils and rocks, but also are influenced by technologies used in the mining operations and storage of wastes.
Chapter on geochemistry and hydrology of the Selenga River and its tributaries presents texts and maps on sediment and pollutants transport through fluvial system of the Selenga River. Results of sediment concentrations and loads, grain size distribution, as well as geochemistry of main ions, metals and metalloids in particulate and dissolved mode are presented. The chapter is followed by integrated assessment of the Selenga River basin. A special attention is paid to the highly polluted River Tuul where integration of empirical and modeling approaches enabled to construct heavy metal budget both with quantitative assessment of sources contribution into river fluxes. In the end of the Book the chapter of buffer role of the Selenga River delta is presented. It contains unique datasets and maps on sediment and heavy metals fluxes, its seasonal variability and changes, and demonstrates importance of the delta in mitigating contaminants delivery to the Lake Baikal.