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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 58(7)

Water and snow chemistry of main ions and trace elements in the karst system of Monte Pelmo massif (Dolomites, Eastern Alps, Italy)

Carlo Dossi A C , Elena Ciceri A , Barbara Giussani A , Andrea Pozzi A , Antonio Galgaro B , Alessia Viero B and Alfio Viganò A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Chemical and Environmental Sciences, Insubria University, Via Valleggio 11, Como 22100, Italy.

B Department of Geology, Palaeontology and Geophysics, University of Padua, Via Giotto 1, Padua 35122, Italy.

C Corresponding author. Email: carlo.dossi@uninsubria.it

Marine and Freshwater Research 58(7) 649-656 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF06170
Submitted: 15 September 2006  Accepted: 21 May 2007   Published: 31 July 2007

Abstract

Water and snow chemistry of a high-altitude karst environment, the Monte Pelmo massif in the Dolomites (Eastern Alps, Italy), was investigated by a multidisciplinary analytical approach using ‘clean’ trace-metal techniques. Main ions of environmental significance (F–, HCOO–, Cl–, NO2–, NO3–, SO42–, Na+, NH4+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, HCO3–) were analysed by high-performance ion chromatography (IC). Trace elements of natural (Li, B, Mn, Co, Cu, U) as well as anthropic (Cr, Ni, Zn, Pb) origin were investigated by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Analytical data on filtered samples indicated that snow chemistry is dominated by the dissolution of air-borne particulate matter, primarily red dust of Saharan origin, which appears to be a preferred vehicle of contaminant transportation. In water samples, dolomite weathering was the predominant chemical step in the presence of sulfate ions, leading to excess magnesium concentrations and to Mg:Ca ratios often exceeding unity. The combined use of ICP-MS for trace element determination and chemometric tools, such as principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA), provided evidence of the absence of local anthropic pollution sources, and the presence of divalent transition metal cations associated with gypsum deposits. Finally, the excess uranium content was found to be associated with karst waters, and it could possibly have been a ‘natural’ tracer to characterise deep circulations.

Additional keywords: Dolomitic environment, inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry, karst phenomena, multivariate analysis, rock weathering, trace elements.


Acknowledgements

The authors thank Silvana Martin (Insubria University) for scientific discussions on the geological setting of the Dolomites, Mauro Valt and Anselmo Cagnati (ARPAV, Arabba (Belluno)) for snow profiling and scientific discussions on snow chemistry. Financial support from MIUR – Progetto FAR – is also acknowledged.


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