Buluktaev A.A.
RJEE Vol. 7 (3). 2022 | DOI: 10.21685/2500-0578-2022-3-4
Abstract | PDF (Rus) | Additional files
Receipt date 03.06.2022 | Publication date 26.09.2022
TENGUTINSKY OIL AND GAS FIELD: EXPLORING ONE EMERGENCY OIL SPILL IN THE CHYORNYE ZEMLI NATURE RESERVE
A. A. Buluktaev
Kalmyk scientific center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 8 Ilishkina street, Elista, 358000, Russia
buluktaev89@mail.ru
Abstract. Background. Oil fields operating in the territory of the Republic of Kalmykia, and specifically the ones located in specially protected natural areas, adversely affect the latter’s environmental conditions. The current situation in the Republic indicates that the existing concept of environmental protection does not solve the two main problems: firstly, it does not prevent the environment from pollution and, secondly, it does not eliminate the threat of natural resource degradation and depletion. In Kalmykia, the process of extraction and transportation of petroleum products still leaves much to be desired. Emergencies, depreciation of equipment, negligence of employees result in oil products polluting the environment. Materials and methods. The paper examines the Tengutinsky oil field located within the Chyornye Zemli Nature Reserve and specifically one accidental oil spill in the mentioned field. Laboratory and analytical studies, as well as sampling, were implemented through the use of methods generally accepted in biology and soil science. Results. Our survey of the territory revealed a technogeochemical anomaly with a total area of more than 12,000 m2. The study determines organic carbon content and that of oil products in the soils under the oil spill. As is shown, activity patterns of soil enzyme catalase are significantly inhibited under the influence of pollution. It has been proved that water-salt composition gets rearranged in soils under oil spills, which is associated with the ingress of highly mineralized formation and drilling waters into soils. Conclusions. The organic carbon content in soils under the oil spill exceeds background concentrations by 15.5 times, and the share of oil products in those soil samples reaches 12.5 %. Catalase activity under the influence of pollutants gets inhibited to zero values, and oil products cause morphometric changes in plants growing on the soils of the oil field. Changes in the anionic-cationic composition of soils manifest a significant increase in sodium and chloride ions. An oil spill leads not only to death of soil biota and vegetation but also to death of representatives of fauna.
Keywords: soils, Republic of Kalmykia, oil spill, specially protected natural areas, oil fields, oil pollution, nature reserve
Financing: the study was carried out within the framework of the state subsidy: the project “Asymmetrically developing territories facing traditional and new challenges: a study of the dynamics of socio-economic processes and the variability of the environmental situation” (state registration number: 122022700133-9) (2022–2026).
For citation: Buluktaev A.A. Tengutinsky oil and gas field: exploring one emergency oil spill in the Chyornye Zemli Nature Reserve. Russian Journal of Ecosystem Ecology. 2022;7(3). (In Russ.). Available from: https://doi.org/ 10.21685/2500-0578-2022-3-4