The use of Ni and Cu isotopes for tracing contamination sources in the environment remains a challenging task due to the limited information about the influence of various biogeochemical processes influencing stable isotope fractionation. This work focuses on a relatively simple system in north-east Norway with two possible endmembers (smelter-bedrock) and various environmental samples (snow, soil, lichens, PM10). In general, the whole area is enriched in heavy Ni and Cu isotopes highlighting the impact of the smelting activity. However, the environmental samples exhibit a large range of δ60Ni (-0.01 ± 0.03‰ to 1.71 ± 0.02‰) and δ65Cu (-0.06 ± 0.06‰ to -3.94 ± 0.3‰) values which exceeds the range of δ60Ni and δ65Cu values determined in the smelter, i.e. in feeding material and slag (δ60Ni from 0.56 ± 0.06‰ to 1.00 ± 0.06‰ and δ65Cu from -1.67 ± 0.04‰ to -1.68 ± 0.15‰). The shift toward heavier Ni and Cu δ values was the most significant in organic rich topsoil samples in the case of Ni (δ60Ni up to 1.71 ± 0.02‰) and in lichens and snow in the case of Cu (δ65Cu up to -0.06 ± 0.06‰ and -0.24 ± 0.04‰, respectively). These data suggest an important biological and biochemical fractionation (microorganisms and/or metal uptake by higher plants, organo-complexation etc.) of Ni and Cu isotopes, which should be quantified separately for each process and taken into account when using the stable isotopes for tracing contamination in the environment.

Department of Ecology Faculty of Environmental Sciences Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Kamýcká 129 165 00 Prague Suchdol Czech Republic

Department of Environmental Geosciences Faculty of Environmental Sciences Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Kamýcká 129 165 00 Prague Suchdol Czech Republic

Department Urban Environment and Industry NILU Norwegian Institute for Air Research Kjeller Norway

Geological Survey of Norway 7491 Trondheim Norway

NIBIO Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research P O Box 115 NO 1431 Ås Norway

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