Koroleva I.M. The status of whitefish population from Chuna Lake in the Lapland Biosphere Reserve Russia. International Journal of Environmental Research. 2008, V.2, №2, p. 111-124.

Kashulin, N. A., et al. (Vladimirskaya, 1950, 1951, 1956; Reshetnikov, 1962, 1963, 1964 a, b, 1966, 1967, 1975). MATERIALS & METHODS The studies were performed from September 2000 till February 2001. Lake Chuna is located in the south-eastern part of the Lapland biosphere reserve (Fig.1). The catchment area of the lake is located 40 km south-west o f «Severonickel» copper-nickel industrial complex (Veshnjakov, et al., 1999). The lake’s area is 2226 hectares, over 20 km long and ~1 km wide. The lake is located 128 m a.s.l. In its eastern part, the lake is as great as 3 km. It is a deep, poorly warmed-up lake formed in a tectonic fracture (Vladimirskaya, 1951). The lake’s depth is locally rather great, reaching to 30m; it is o f an elongated shape and with an underdeveloped littoral.The studies carried out in the lake have defined two major zones: a feeding area, in the eastern and widest part of the lake, and a spawning area, in the western part of the lake where the Chuna River flows into the lake (Fig. 1).In order to determine the air-borne Ni/Cu industrial load on Lake Chuna, a model developed by N.E. Ratkin, INEP KSC RAS (Ratkin, 2006), was applied. Water sampling was carried out in the lake in the surface and near-bottom (at depth > 3 m) layers by a plastic bathometer into polyethylene bottles. Chemical-and-analytical analyses were performed in laboratory. The samples were analyzed for: pH, alkalinity, sulphates, chlorides, K, Na, Ca, Mg and heavy metals content. All the analytical methods applied to determine the major hydro-chemical parameters were adjusted to the international standards (APHA, 1975; Lurje, 1984; Semenov, 1977). The tests have been conducted by a potentiometric method (pH, alkalinity) as well as by ion-chromatography (sulphates, chlorides), atomic-emission spectrometry (K, Na) and atomic absorption methods (AAS-360-Ca, Mg), (AAS Perkin-Elmer-5000 with a graphite atomizer HGA- 400 - Cu and Ni), (AAS AAnalyst-800 - Co, Zn, Pb, Cr, Cd), (flame atomization method, AAS-30 Carl Zeiss Iena - Mn, Sr, Fe). The quality of the data obtained has been assessed by comparison with the standard-samples solutions within the framework of the international inter-calibration (Inter-comparison 0115, Norwegian Institute for Water research, 2001). Barent Sea Kolapeninsula (Russia) ChunaRiver % j f e a r e a 4 \ " Lapland reserve - - N . (Central administration) 2 . 3 • ' O •' Chuna Lake / 1 ^Щ агеа C^unaRiver Fig.1. The study area (the sampling sites are marked by points) 112