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Vol 281 Iss. 1
Pages:
95-106
In press
Article
Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology

Use of material from poor vermiculite-serpentine ores for remediation of urban soils and agrosoils in the Arctic zone of Russia

Authors:
Irina P. Kremenetskaya1
Aleksandra B. Khvostova2
Natalya V. Saltan3
Svetlana V. Drogobuzhskaya4
Marina V. Slukovskaya5
Tatyana K. Ivanova6
Anna G. Petrova7
Andrei I. Novikov8
About authors
  • 1 — Ph.D. Senior Researcher Tananaev Institute of Chemistry, Subdivision of the Federal Research Centre Kola Science Centre of the RAS ▪ Orcid
  • 2 — Postgraduate Student, Specialist Polar Experimental Station, Branch of the N.I.Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources ▪ Orcid
  • 3 — Ph.D. Senior Researcher Avrorin Polar-Alpine Botanical Garden-Institute, Subdivision of the Federal Research Centre Kola Science Centre of the RAS ▪ Orcid
  • 4 — Ph.D. Associate professor Tananaev Institute of Chemistry, Subdivision of the Federal Research Centre Kola Science Centre of the RAS ▪ Orcid
  • 5 — Ph.D. Senior Researcher Tananaev Institute of Chemistry, Subdivision of the Federal Research Centre Kola Science Centre of the RAS ▪ Orcid
  • 6 — Ph.D. Engineer Tananaev Institute of Chemistry, Subdivision of the Federal Research Centre Kola Science Centre of the RAS ▪ Orcid
  • 7 — Engineer Tananaev Institute of Chemistry, Subdivision of the Federal Research Centre Kola Science Centre of the RAS ▪ Orcid
  • 8 — Junior Researcher Tananaev Institute of Chemistry, Subdivision of the Federal Research Centre Kola Science Centre of the RAS ▪ Orcid
Date submitted:
2026-04-02
Date accepted:
2026-07-22
Online publication date:
2026-09-18

Abstract

The problem of waste disposal in the mining industry is urgent for the Arctic zone of Russia. Significant volumes of overburden rocks from the Kovdor phlogopite deposit, represented by poor vermiculite-sungulite ores, require the development of environmentally safe methods for their integration into economic circulation. The aim of the study is to assess the potential of vermiculite-serpentine concentrate (VSC) obtained from overburden rocks for the remediation of anthropogenically disturbed soils. The prospect of using VSC for improving soil properties is due to its favourable mineral composition (serpentine 30-35, vermiculite 28-31 wt.%). Laboratory experiments prepared mixtures of VSC with agrosoil (10-60 wt.%) and samples of urban soils from three cities in the Murmansk Region (Apatity, Kirovsk, and Monchegorsk) (20 wt.%), differing in the level of anthropogenic impact. The content of chemical elements in two mobile fractions was studied, phytotesting was carried out with French marigolds (Tagetes patula). VSC has an alkaline reaction (рНН2О 8.9) due to the presence of minerals in the composition capable of concentrating Ni; the gross content of this component is 730 mg/kg. It was found that the introduction of VSC increases the alkalinity of soil mixtures and the content of mobile forms of Ca and Mg. In slightly contaminated agrosoil, the content of mobile nickel when adding 10-50 % VSC increases from 1.5 to 2.5 mg/kg, with a content of more than 60 % it decreases below background values. Phytotesting showed that in the range of 10-60 % VSC, the root mass increased from 0.09-0.1 to 0.13-0.18 g/plant, there were no signs of phytotoxicity. For soils of Monchegorsk, characterized by a high level of anthropogenic contamination with nickel and copper, the introduction of concentrate, on the contrary, led to a steady decrease in the content of mobile forms of both metals. Vermiculite-serpentine concentrate can be recommended as a meliorant for soil remediation, poor in macroelements and contaminated with heavy metals.

Область исследования:
Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology
Keywords:
vermiculite serpentine nickel soil remediation urban soils phytotesting Murmansk Region
Funding:

The production of VSC and chemical studies of soils were carried out under the research topic 226021129882-5; the study of the biological response and preparation of the publication were carried out under the RSF 24-77-10055 project.

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