The role of colloidal matter in transfer of chemical elements in the boreal zone (European Russia)
The objective of this thesis was to study element speciation and migration in the boreal environments (Karelia and Central Russia). Specific goals were to i) characterize the molecular weight distribution of trace elements and organic matter (OM) in various types of natural waters, ii) reveal the TE colloidal forms dependence in the continuum soil solution - bog - stream - feeding and terminal lakes in the surface waters of boreal watersheds, and iii) quantify the dependence of stable and radiogenic element isotopic composition on the size fraction, element speciation and physico-chemical conditions of surface waters. The main originality of the work is to apply the method of cascade filtration to study the molecular weight distribution of trace elements in surface waters and to combine the geochemical and isotope techniques, for the first time on the same natural objects, and particularly within the watershed continuum soil solution - bog - stream - feeding and terminal lakes, in order to better understand the factors that control biogeochemical cycling of elements in the subarctic region. The first part is devoted to general introduction and the insight into the problems. The second chapter is aimed at studying natural organic matter size distribution in the natural waters with different redox and hydrodynamic conditions in the continuum soil solution - bog - stream - feeding and terminal lakes for a small watershed with homogeneous bedrock composition. In particular, we investigate organic matter concentrations, weight-average molecular weights, optical properties and carbon/nitrogen ratios to get the information about the origin of DOM (autochthonous / allochthonous), its aromaticity, and its hydrophility / hydrophobicity. The third chapter describes the study the molecular weight distribution of trace elements and it provides quantitative characterization of TE colloidal speciation in pristine, organic-rich rivers and surface waters. We demonstrate that, using TE correlations with iron and OM in the filtrates, one can characterize colloids distribution and compare partition coefficients in the continuum soil solution - bog - stream - feeding and terminal lakes, and also compare natural and modeling data. The fourth chapter describes the results of variations of stable (Cu, Mg) and radiogenic (Sr, Nd) isotopic composition in filtrates and ultrafiltrates of various size fraction in the different types of natural waters of south and north of European Russia boreal zone allowing to identify the factors influencing the isotopic composition variation along the landscape continuum in different size fractions. Finally, the fifth part is devoted to study the variations of iron isotopic composition of different water types and colloidal size fractions. In particular, we investigate the dependence of isotopic composition of filtrates and ultrafiltrate son iron and OM concentrations, pH and other physico-chemical factors. The sixth chapter presents the main conclusions and perspectives. Investigations carried out in this study should contribute to the prediction of TE and OM behavior in the Arctic and boreal regions due to climate warming mostly pronounced in these latitudes.