SBR-9601272 Andrei Lapenis SUNY-Albany The research supported by this award aims to take advantage of the recent discovery of information that describes the location and circumstances of late-nineteenth-century soils samples from sites across Russia (across the East European Plain and in central and eastern Siberia). The study will: measure the accumulation of atmospheric contaminants in Russian soils by comparing the 1893 and 1996/7 samples; measure the changes in soil carbon stocks; combine these analyses to assess the effect of climate and soil type on the presence of trace metals in the soil profiles; and provide data to constrain models of atmospheric emission of these elements during Russian industrialization. The samples have been carefully stored, and with the help of a pilot award from NSF (as well as some institutional and some personal funds), the investigator has ascertained that 47 samples are in exceptionally good condition, and that the locational and attribute information is sufficient to locate and access the sites for current-day sampling. In addition, some of the sites are in environmentally protected or controlled locations. The investigator has collected long-term weather records for some of the sites already. The current research will focus on four sites, which have been located exactly from the documentation of the original samples. Three of which have the same vegetative profile now as in the late nineteenth century. All four sites will be resampled, and all eight samples will be analyzed for organic matter, radiocarbon content, trace elements, base cations, pH, and particular anthropogenic organic compounds. These data will be used to: measure the accumulation of radiocarbon and toxic metals, trace nutrients, and other atmospheric inputs; model the rate and form in which these elements are processed in the different soils and ecosystems; and relate the storage, depth distribution, and form of these constituents to climate and soils characteristics. Th is should make small but substantive progress toward large-scale estimates of organic carbon dynamics and trace-element contamination of Russian soils. The research promises advances in soils science, the interaction of climatological and ecological change, and the extent and nature of anthropogenic effects on the environment. The period bracketed by the two sampling dates entails massive industrialization in Russia, widely understood to have affected the natural environment. While the presence of only two sampling dates makes certain inferences difficult or impossible, the discovery of these samples and their documentation is a rich find. This research offers an unprecedented opportunity to study long-term carbon cycling, pollutant loading in soils, and the nature of trace elements in Russian soils.
