The purpose of the study was to investigate possible environmental impacts of a reduced catchment area (~25 %) for Kaunisjärvi lake and Patojoki river due to establishment of a iron ore mine in Kaunisvaara, Pajala municipality. To accomplish this, two methods were used; first a literary study was inducted to establish impacts of reduced inflow to lakes and reduced flow in rivers. Secondly, the state of the waters was determined by collecting background data from the mining company (Northland Resources SA) which included chemical- and biological parameters. The result showed that a reduced inflow can affect a lake by either eutrophication or oligotrophication, depending on the lakes condition and the character of the inflow, which in turn has impacts on the entire food-web. Reduced flow in rivers also has impacts on the entire food-web by increased water temperature, decreased dissolved oxygen levels, decreased inundation (witch effects nutrient and organic material exchange), decreased biodiversity in phytoplankton, benthos and fish and inhibiting migration, studies differed in effects on pH and alkalinity. The result also showed that both Kaunisjärvi and Patojoki are affected by nutrient load and organic matter, which impacts the entire ecosystem of the waters. Possible consequences for Kaunisjärvi and Patojoki of reduced inflow and reduced flow are discussed. The report concluded that the reduced catchment area will have impacts on environmental goals set by EU and also on national level, but that the interest of exploitation weighs higher.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:umu-73441 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Grönberg, Emma |
| Publisher | Umeå universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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