Voronezh State University, Voronezh, Russia:

V. A. Budarina, Associate Professor, Candidate of Juridical Sciences
I. I. Kosinova, Professor, Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences

Belgorod State University, Belgorod, Russia¹ ; Kazan Federal University, Kazan, Russia²:

F. N. Lisetsky^1,2, Professor, Doctor of Geographic Sciences, fnliset@mail.ru

The impact of mining production on the natural environment shows itself in many ways: through changes in the chemical and mechanical composition of the atmosphere, deformation of the earth’s surface, activation of exogenous geomorphological processes, violation of hydrological regime, surface water and groundwater alteration, degradation of soil and vegetation cover, disruption of functioning (vital activity) of living organisms—from bacteria to humans. The purpose of this work was to assess the main trends of transformation of the ecological-resource and ecological-geochemical functions of the lithosphere within the Stary Oskol–Gubkin mining area of the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly. This area is a key site for such research in the central part of Russia, which is due to its natural and manmade features: the initial high quality of the natural environment, the high population density—36 people / km², and the extremely high level of induced load as a result of the mineral mining and processing activities. The research methods included field observations, as well as soil sampling at 12 key sites and at three main rivers of the district. The ecological and geochemical studies were carried out using the quantitative atomic spectral analysis. In the process of research, the tendency of significant alkalinization of soils and surface waters was revealed to exceed background values by 30–50%. Extraction and processing of iron ore has led to a significant degradation of the ecological and resource function, which is manifested in the removal of soil cover over the areas of tens of km². The main polluting elements are indicated, including Zn, Pb, Mo, Co, Cr, B, Cu. The trend of transformation of the macro- and mesocomponent composition of surface waters was recorded. The content of calcium, sodium, chlorides exceeds the similar indicators in other rivers by 2 to 10 times, and this excess in terms of the content of sulfates is 70 times.

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