Author:
Dossi Carlo,Ciceri Elena,Giussani Barbara,Pozzi Andrea,Galgaro Antonio,Viero Alessia,Viganò Alfio
Abstract
Water and snow chemistry of a high-altitude karst environment, the Monte Pelmo massif in the Dolomites (Eastern Alps, Italy), was investigated by a multidisciplinary analytical approach using ‘clean’ trace-metal techniques. Main ions of environmental significance (F–, HCOO–, Cl–, NO2–, NO3–, SO42–, Na+, NH4+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, HCO3–) were analysed by high-performance ion chromatography (IC). Trace elements of natural (Li, B, Mn, Co, Cu, U) as well as anthropic (Cr, Ni, Zn, Pb) origin were investigated by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Analytical data on filtered samples indicated that snow chemistry is dominated by the dissolution of air-borne particulate matter, primarily red dust of Saharan origin, which appears to be a preferred vehicle of contaminant transportation. In water samples, dolomite weathering was the predominant chemical step in the presence of sulfate ions, leading to excess magnesium concentrations and to Mg:Ca ratios often exceeding unity. The combined use of ICP-MS for trace element determination and chemometric tools, such as principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA), provided evidence of the absence of local anthropic pollution sources, and the presence of divalent transition metal cations associated with gypsum deposits. Finally, the excess uranium content was found to be associated with karst waters, and it could possibly have been a ‘natural’ tracer to characterise deep circulations.
Subject
Ecology,Aquatic Science,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics,Oceanography
Cited by
15 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献