The Altai glaciers are natural collectors of global and regional atmospheric pollution. The purpose of this study is to determine the occurrence of heavy metals in high-mountain unexplored glaciers of the Altai and to make attempt to identify a source of lead pollution using its isotopic ratios. Concentrations of heavy metals and isotopic composition of Pb in high-mountain firn from Western Plateau of the Katun' ridge were determined by ICP-MS. The obtained occurrence of heavy metals is comparable with the data on Alpine region. Pronounced variations in concentrations within centimeter depth scales are associated with relative contributions from the different natural and anthropogenic sources of heavy metals fallouts. Measured isotopic ratios of Pb confirm anthropogenic origin of the lead pollution of the Altai high-mountainous region.
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Николаева et al. (2003) studied this question.