Hydrochemistry of southern Lake Baikal
E.I. Groshevaa,* , R.P. Losevaa, N.D. Sudakovaa, Y.S. Kusnerb
aInstitute for Ecological Toxicology, Baikalsk, RussiabInstitute for Geochemistry, P.O. Box 48, Baikalsk Irkutsk region 665914, Russia
Abstract
Recent chemical indices of water quality of southern Lake Baikal are given: colour, pH, BOD, COD and the principal ions.Chemical homogeneity and stability of the ionic composition of Lake Baikal water compared to observations in the last30 years was confirmed.q 2000 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.
Keywords: Lake Baikal; Water quality; Ionic composition
1. Introduction
In accordance with international demands on thecontrol of water quality a survey of several physicaland chemical parameters of Lake Baikal water wasconducted. A comparison of data collected in thisstudy and that in the literature (Kozhov, 1963; Falkneret al., 1991) is given.
2. Materials and methods
For the regular monitoring of southern Lake Baikalwater four sampling stations were chosen. They werelocated in the area of Baikalsk Pulp and Paper Mill,the largest industrial plant on the shore of LakeBaikal. It discharges sewage water in an area (stat.1) at a distance of 150 m from the shore at a depthof 40 m. Water samples in this station were taken at0.5 and 40 m. Stat. 2 was located at a distance of 7 kmfrom the shore where the lake is 900 m deep. Thewater samples were taken from stat. 2 at 0.5 m andnear the bottom. Stat. 3 was located at a distance of8 km to the west from the point of discharge and
150 m from the shore. The water samples werecollected at 0.5 and 40 m. Stat. 4 was located at adistance of 7 km from the shore. Water sampleswere taken from 0.5 and 900 m. Stats. 3 and 4 werechosen because of their distance from the mill effluentdischarge and from any other anthropic inputs.
At different seasons of the year, samples werecollected and colour, pH, BOD, COD, chlorides,calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, and otherions were analysed in unfiltered water. The concentra-tion of suspended solids in the Lake Baikal water isvery low.
Chemical analyses were performed according tostandard hydrochemical methods (Anon, 1977).
3. Results and discussion
Table 1 gives literature data for Lake Baikal waterin the course of the last 30 years. In Tables 2 and 3 thedata of the present investigation are reported. The datashow that there is a slight increasing trend in theconcentration of chloride. Mean concentrations inour data varied within a range from 0.71 to0.92 mg l21, whereas the average of previous datavaried from 0.44 to 0.70 mg l21.
Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 3 (2000) 211–213
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* Corresponding author.
There were no great changes from previous data onother main water quality in lake water. Despite theintroduction of significant amounts of variouscontaminants into Lake Baikal (directly into the
water and from several emission sources), investiga-tions conducted in southern Lake Baikal show that theoriginal abiotic conditions of this region have mainlybeen preserved.
4. Conclusion
Our data show that a chemical homogeneity andstability of ionic composition has been maintainedfor the last 30 years. This homogeneity is probablydisturbed only in the areas where tributaries enterthe lake. Routine control of the water quality isneeded not only for total indices, but also forindividual classes of organic and mineralsubstances.
Acknowledgements
The study was partially supported by NATOLinkage Grant No: ENVIR.LG 940380.
E.I. Grosheva et al. / Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 3 (2000) 211–213212
Table 1Literature data on Lake Baikal water composition (mg l21)
Parameter Source
Kozhov, 1963 Falkner et al., 1991
x SD (%) x SD (%)
pH 7.3 8 7.1 0.7Susp. Solids , 0.1 – 1.9 58Oxygen 9.5 11 13.5 10Ca 15.2 – 16.1 2Mg 3.1 – 3.0 1Na1 K 3.8 – 4.6 3.5HCO3 65.6 3 66.7 0.6Cl 0.56 25 0.44 5.8SO4 4.9 5 5.51 2.3NO3 0.34 46 – –PO4 0.028 52 – –Si 1.32 – 15.2 –
Table 2Chemical analysis of Lake Baikal water, station 1 and 2 (mg l21)
Parameter Station 1 Station 2
0.5 (m) 40 (m) 0.5 (m) 900 (m)
x SD (%) x SD (%) x SD (%) x SD (%)
pH 8.15 1 8.10 1 8.14 4 8.03 3Coloura 7.5 10 6.0 16 12.4 61 9.4 70Susp. Sol. 0.2 41 0.3 66 0.4 44 0.3 56Oxygen 16.6 16 12.7 2 11.2 20 11.2 40BOD 0.59 49 0.85 37 0.47 66 0.70 86COD 2.87 62 3.02 70 3.94 76 3.33 71Ca 16.4 7 16.1 8 15.2 7 15.1 3Mg 3.0 31 3.1 32 3.5 29 3.1 30Na1 K 2.9 4 4.5 5 3.8 7 3.6 2HCO3 50.3 15 46.3 19 57.7 10 58.2 8Cl 0.71 4 0.78 22 0.77 20 0.92 93SO4 4.83 17 4.81 20 5.17 16 5.21 15NH4 0 – 0 – 0.004 325 0.006 367NO2 0.001 50 0.001 57 0.002 50 0.003 50NO3 0.054 13 0.037 35 0.035 100 0.047 42PO4 0.008 33 0.008 25 0.003 166 0.008 37P (org) 0.005 200 0.004 200 0.008 125 0.004 200Si 0.90 8 0.86 5 0.68 22 0.72 26
a Cr/Co scale.
References
Anon, 1977. Guidelines for Chemical Analysis of Surface Waters,Gidrometeoizdat, Leningrad (in Russian).
Falkner, K.K., Measures, C.I., Herbelin, S.E., Edmond, J.M., Weiss,R.F., 1991. The major and minor elements: geochemistry ofLake Baikal. Limnol. Oceanogr. 36 (3), 413–423.
Kozhov, M.M., 1963. In: W. Junk, Lake Baikal and its Life. TheHague.
E.I. Grosheva et al. / Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 3 (2000) 211–213 213
Table 3Chemical analysis of Lake Baikal water, stations 3 and 4 (mg l21); ld denotes lower than detection limit
Parameter Station 3 Station 4
0.5 (m) 40 (m) 0.5 (m) 900 (m)
x SD (%) x SD (%) x SD (%) x SD (%)
pH 8.10 2 8.03 8 8.08 4 8.00 3Colour 14.3 45 8.7 65 15.0 67 7.5 72Susp. sol. 1.9 58 0.3 39 0.1 46 0.3 51Oxygen 13.5 10 9.5 11 9.8 15 12.3 6BOD 0.57 39 0.49 71 0.88 46 0.43 75COD 4.10 67 3.20 59 7.55 47 3.05 56Ca 16.1 2 15.2 4 15.2 8 16.4 7Mg 3.0 1 3.1 21 4.1 12 3.2 11Na1 K 3.8 7 4.2 11 3.4 6 3.9 5HCO3 66.7 1 65.6 3 63.5 5 58.0 10Cl 0.74 6 0.80 25 0.73 8 0.81 16SO4 5.51 2 4.85 5 5.28 14 5.00 13NH4 0.011 278 ld – 0.008 318 ld –NO2 0.005 42 0.007 56 0.003 50 0.005 39NO3 0.088 55 0.086 14 0.057 27 0.076 32PO4 0.009 75 0.008 47 0.012 25 0.006 33P(org) 0.011 135 0.016 215 0.010 155 0.004260Si 0.79 25 0.73 9 0.79 18 0.91 7
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