Ecological Problems of the Ukrainian Carpathians Regiondevelopment

Abstract

Abstract. The Carpathian region of Ukraineincludes the territory of Transcarpathian, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv and Chernivtsi oblasts with an area of 5660.7 thousand hectares (9.4% of the state territory) and is a true natural pearl of our country, where 22% of forests, 26% of nature reserve fundland is concentrated, 36% of river water resources are formed, 42% of unique and rare underground mineral water deposits are located. There is an intensification of ecologically unfavorable phenomena in the Carpathian region of Ukraine - threatening and catastrophic floods, soil erosion, pollution of surface and groundwater, windfalls, damage to forests by pests and diseases. The mineral base of the region has 271 deposits of more than 30 mineral resources of Transcarpathia.It is one of the most studied gold-bearing provinces in Ukraine. Almost 55 tonnes of gold have been explored here - the Muzhiivsky deposit and the Sauliak deposit. The Muzhiivskygold-polymetallic deposit with a gold content of 4.5-15 g/t in ore was put into commercial development in 1999. Since 2006, gold production has been suspended. Ore dumps stockpiled at an industrial site are a source of pollution of surface and underground waters [1]. The purpose of the article is to investigate the current ecological state of surface water within the Muzhiivsky gold-polymetallic deposit. Research methods. Landscape-ecological, hydrochemical method, statistical analysis, literature analysis, and stock materials have been used in the article. Results. Based on the results of geoecological studies of the territory of the gold-polymetallic deposit, the state of surface water has been assessed. According to the processed results of the analysis of water samples, it has been revealed that the main sources of pollution are two dumps of ore and orebearing rocks containing sulfides and oxides of heavy metals. Under the influence of atmospheric precipitation, weathering of ore-bearing rocks and oxidation of sulfides FeS, ZnS, PbS, CdS take place. At the bottom of the dumps, waters are formed with increased mineralization, low pH, enriched with sulfides and heavy metals, which flow into drainage channels and subsequently spread in the region’s water system. Based on the research data, a scheme of the process of groundwater pollution by dumps has been developed. It has been found that in the ore location zone near the rural settlement the filtrate from the dumps flows into drainage channels containing salts of the main types of heavy metals (cadmium, chromium, lead, zinc, copper)and exceed the maximum permissible norms. Considering that the Muzhiivsky gold-polymetallic deposit is not used due to the shutdown of the gold processing factory, it is necessary to develop a program to neutralize its negative impact on the environment.