S. E. Kukina1, L. K. Sadovnikova2, A. Kalafat3, H. Hummel4, F. Regoli5
1Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
2Faculty of Soil Science, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
3University of Barcelona, Department of Geology, Geophysics, and Paleontology, Barcelona, Spain
4Netherland Institute of Ecology, Center of Estuarine and Coastal Ecology, Irseke, Netherlands
5University of Ancona, Institute of Biology and Genetics, Ancona, Italy
Received April 24, 2000; in final form, August 1, 2000
Abstract—A complex geochemical study of the estuary of the Severnaya Dvina River was performed using
the results of three oceanographical expeditions in the White Sea in 1995–1997 under the INTAS 94-
391project. The character of the distribution of water temperature and salinity, the concentration of sus-
pended matter, and the contents of Al, Fe, Mn, Co, Cu, Ni, Cr, Pb, Zn, and organic carbon in the suspended
matter and bottom sediments of the estuary is shown. The dominant role of the riverine runoff in the supply
of the elements studied to the estuary of the Severnaya Dvina River was revealed. It was found that, within
the composition of the estuarine bottom sediments, metals existed mainly in mineral forms amounting to 60–
99% of their total content. Two zones of accumulation of the bulk of the metals studied in the bottom sedi-
ments were identified in the estuary. The zones mentioned may be treated as local geochemical barriers
within the river–sea boundary zone. The key factor determining the distribution of metals in the bottom sed-
iments was the grain-size composition of the latter. The analysis of the data on the heavy metal contents in
the bottom sediments and zoobenthos of the estuary of the Severnaya Dvina River revealed no anthropogenic
pollution of the area studied.
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