Earth’s Cryosphere, 2016, Vol. XX, No. 1, p. 25-28

HYDROBIOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF AND METHODS FOR DETERMINING DUST POLLUTION LEVEL OF NIVAL-GLACIAL SYSTEMS

M.S. Dementyev

North Caucasian Federal University, Institute of Mathematics and Natural Sciences,
2, Kulakov ave., Stavropol, 355029, Russia; dement@mail.ru

The global pollution is one of the main causes of degradation of nival-glacial systems. The consequences of this process have been studied by the example of alpine lakes of the Big Zelenchuk Basin. It has been found that the dusting of snow and ice caused an adequate increase in the mineralization of alpine lakes. The accumulation of chemicals has been marked in the lacustrine organic oozes. The increased mineral nutrition base in these lakes was responsible for a noticeably higher productivity level of the phytoplankton; beetles, caddisflies and other aquatic animals have become numerous. This allowed developing a novel method for remote determinations of the degree of dust contamination of nival-glacial systems by defining the color of water in alpine lakes.

Atmospheric dust, glacial lakes, nival-glacial systems, chemical composition, phytoplankton, the remote scan of color