Peculiarities of the chemical composition of the snow cover in the northern basin of Lake Baikal

Abstract

This article presents the 2023 data on the snow cover in the northern basin of Lake Baikal. We estimated the spatial distribution of the main chemical elements in the snow cover. The high relative concentration of nitrates and hydrogen ions was a characteristic of the ionic composition of snowmelt water in comparison with the industrial areas of the Baikal region. We calculated the accumulation of major ions and biogenic elements in the snow cover. A comparative analysis of the obtained experimental data with regional background values and results of the similar previous studies revealed a trend towards a decrease in mineralization and an increase in the acidity of snow melt waters over the past 11 years. Low values of the total amount of ions and pH in the snow cover of some areas of the northern basin of Lake Baikal allowed us to classify them as a background for the entire Baikal region.