VARIATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL CONDITIONS AND POLLUTANT TRANSPORT ALONG THE LENGTH OF THE PECHORA RIVER
The current study of pollutant transport along the length of the rivers to the estuaries and revealing patterns of spatial variability of the state of river ecosystems are the priority areas of research in the field of environmental management in the Arctic region. These researches are particularly relevant for areas of intensive economic activities. The current state of aquatic ecosystems in different parts of the Pechora River is formed under the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors. The impact of oil and gas industry, located almost in the entire catchment area of the river, is of defining importance. We conducted the study on the basis of long-term hydrochemical and hydrological information provided by the Federal Service of Russia on Hydrometeorology and Monitoring of the Environment concerning the state of the Pechora ecosystems. The results of evaluation of the aquatic ecosystem variability along the length of the watercourse show, that almost all parts of the river ecosystems are in the “natural”, “equilibrium” conditions or in transitional state from “natural” to “equilibrium”. Only in the areas near the cities of Pechora and Naryan-Mar the state of aquatic ecosystems is in the crunch. Variability of component composition of the aquatic environment along the river and the level of pollution are caused by elevated concentrations of iron, copper, zinc, oil and phenols compounds, which are the priority pollutants of the Pechora ecosystem. Comparative assessment of long-term annual average volumes of pollutant inflow with their maximum admissible values for the years 2000-2012 showed, that the excess of MPC was only observed in the compounds of iron (by a factor of 3.5-12), copper (by a factor of 1.2-5.3) and zinc (by a factor of 1.3-2).