Regional patterns of heavy metals (Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb, V and Zn) and sulphur in terrestrial moss samples as indication of airborne pollution in a 188,000 km(2) area in northern Finland, Norway and Russia

The geological surveys of Finland and Norway and the Central Kola Expedition in Russia are carrying out a geochemical mapping project in a 188,000 km(2) area north of the Arctic Circle. Several sample media (terrestrial moss, organic topsoil (0-3 cm), topsoil (0-5 cm), complete podzol profiles) were collected throughout the area during the summer of 1995 at an average density of one sample station per 300 km(2). Colour surface maps of the major airborne pollutants (Ni, Cu, Co and S) from the Russian nickel mining and smelting industry in this area, as recorded by ICP-MS and ICP-AES analysis of terrestrial mosses, clearly show the industrial sites and the areal extent of the pollution. The contrast between background and polluted sites is very large for Ni, Cu and Co, but not for S. Pollution follows the main wind and topographical directions in the area, and gradients towards the west are rather steep. Maps for some additional elements (Fe, Cr, Pb, V, Zn) show the influence of other sources than just airborne pollution on the composition of the mosses. Zn is an example of an element whose local variation is so high that no reliable regional maps can be constructed using the moss technique. A hitherto unknown, large V anomaly was detected in the surroundings of Murmansk.