Spatiotemporal Variability of the Organic Matter and the Rates
of Its Transformation in the Ob Inlet

A. I. Agatova, N. M. Lapina, and N. I. Torgunova

Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography, Moscow, Russia

e-mail: biochem@vniro.ru

Received January 11, 2012; in final form, May 1, 2012

Abstract—The data on the qualitative and quantitative variability of the organic matter (OM) and its transfor-
mation rates in the waters of the Ob Inlet during different seasons are considered. The OM distribution was
quite nonuniform over the entire Ob Inlet aquatic area: the concentrations of C_org varied from 2.8 to 14.1mg/L
and from 0.32 to 4.59 mg/L for the dissolved and particulate forms, respectively. The maximum concentrations
of dissolved OM were registered in the main flow of the Ob River water supplied to the bay, whereas the min-
imum concentrations were characteristic for the near-bottom layers formed by the Kara Sea waters of high
salinity in the northern part of the bay. Both in the summer and in the autumn, the fraction of particulate matter
within the total OM reached its maximum values in the mixing zone of the Taz and Ob riverine waters, as well
as in the mixing zone of the Ob River and Kara Sea waters. These boundary zones were characterized by the
widest variability of the elemental (C : N : P) and biochemical (proteins and carbohydrates) composition of the
OM, as well as of its transformation rates measured by the activities of the enzymes (alkaline phosphatase and
the electron transport system).

DOI: 10.1134/S0001437013010013

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