THE IMPACT OF SEDIMENT GRAIN SIZE ON HEAVY METAL CONTENT

Maslennikova S.S., Larina N.S., Tyumen State University, Russia

Abstract  

In the natural surroundings tectonical, climatological, dynamic and physico-chemical conditions of  sedimentation are the crucial factors in the process of sediment composition formation. Grain size is one of the most investigated reasons of space and temporary variability in heavy metal concentration. In general, the data on grain size measurement afford to appreciate sorption capacity of sediments and arrange them. The dependence heavy metal content on grain size of sediments has been examined in the enormous amount of research works. The main conclusion is that if grain size decreases, metal content increases.
We have carried out sediment grain size measurement of three lakes (Piketnoye, Chebachje, Stanovoye) located within the territory of the Tyumen region and Kurgan region. To define grain size of these sediments the sorting of samples collected layer-by-layer has been conducted by nest of sieves (from 43 to 1000 µm). Accomplished examinations allow to state that layer-by-layer grain size measurement of sediments has significant importance in reconstruction of paleoecologic peculiarities and also influences organic and inorganic matter concentrating in the sediments in dynamics.

Keywords: sediment, lakes,  grain size, heavy metals