Vol. 337 No. 5 (2026)
DOI https://doi.org/10.18799/24131830/2026/5/5069
Assessment of heavy metal content in soils and bottom sediments of the south-eastern part of the Kamchatka Peninsula
Relevance. The need for a comprehensive study of the composition and ecological state of soils and bottom sediments of a unique area with high bioresource and tourist potential. Aim. To assess the ecological state of soils of different land use and bottom sediments of the coastal territory of the south-eastern part of the Kamchatka Peninsula with respect to heavy metals. Objects. Virgin, agrogenic, disturbed soils of the south-eastern part of the Kamchatka Peninsula and bottom sediments of the Avacha Bay. Methods. Acid-soluble forms of heavy metals were determined by atomic-absorption analysis on atomic-absorption flame-emission spectrophotometer AA-6800 F Shimadzu. Physicochemical properties of soils were determined according to standard methods. Results and conclusions. With the increase of anthropogenic pressure in volcanic soils of light texture, acidity and organic matter content decreases. The content of most heavy metals in soils is within the official norms, there are single cases of insignificant exceedances of copper, zinc and cadmium. In bottom sediments exceedances are observed for copper, zinc and cadmium in most of the samples. Soils of the south-eastern part of Kamchatka peninsula in absolute majority of cases are characterized by permissible (by Zc) or weak (by NPI) level of pollution and insignificant value of potential ecological PERI risk. Pollution of most of the bottom sediments is assessed as medium to strong, with PERI values ranging from negligible to very high. The total ecological risk for benthic organisms m-PEL-Q ranges from medium-low to high. The high content of heavy metals in bottom sediments is very most likely a consequence of a natural geochemical anomaly.
For citation: Zharikova E.A., Semal V.A., Nesterova O.V. Assessment of heavy metal content in soils and bottom sediments of the south-eastern part of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Bulletin of the Tomsk Polytechnic University. Geo Assets Engineering, 2026, vol. 337, no. 5, pp. 83-93. https://doi.org/10.18799/24131830/2026/5/5069
Keywords:
heavy metals, soil pollution, potential ecological risk, geochemical anomaly, bottom sediments, Kamchatka Peninsula
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