Belousova A.P., Oboturov A.S., Rudenko E.E. Assessment of Groundwater Protection and Vulnerability in the Lena River Basin, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) // Ecosystems: ecology and dynamics. No 1. 2025. P. 59-81. | Abstract | PDF | Reference

 

For the first time, the methodology of small-scale (1:5 000 000) assessment of the protection and vulnerability of groundwater was applied in the Lena River Basin in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The already developed approach has been improved in order to apply it to an understudied and both geologically and landscape difficult area that mostly consisted of a cryolithozone.

To create a map of protection level, the following temporary maps were compiled: map of aeration zone, map of soil sorption capacity, map of protection zone, and map of active soil layer capacity. To create a map of the resulting vulnerability for the most industrially developed part of the Neryungrinsky District, we assessed a potential hazard to environment posed by the polluted groundwater of 4 wells that were part of the state monitoring network. Using mercury as an example, we showed that this indicator could change significantly and reach its highest values due to a large weight coefficient and inaccurate determination of water elements that characterize the 1^st class of hazard. Despite our studies being observational and lacking quantitative assessments, its results indicate that the groundwater of the Lena River basin requires protection due to the increasing anthropogenic pressure associated with mining.

Funding. This work was carried out as part of the scientific program of the Water Problems Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, project No. FMWZ-2025-0002.

Keywords: groundwater, protection, vulnerability, protection zone, aeration zone, active layer.

DOI: 10.24412/2542-2006-2025-1-59-81

EDN: MZBZRS