The Carbonate System of the Amur Estuary
and the Adjacent Marine Aquatic Areas

A. M. Koltunov^a, P. Ya. Tishchenko^a, V. I. Zvalinskii^a, R. V. Chichkin^a,
V. B. Lobanov^a, and D. A. Nekrasov^b

^a Il’ichev Pacific Oceanological Institute, Far East Division, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russia

^b Zhirmunskii Institute of Marine Biology, Far East Division, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russia

E-mail: iceclimber@yandex.ru

Received April 3, 2008; in final form, July 7, 2008

Abstract—In July 2007, integrated studies of the Amur Estuary and the adjacent aquatic areas were performed
on board R/V Professor Gagarinskii within the project of the Amur River basin exploration. On the basis of the
data obtained during the cruise, the carbonate system of the Amur Estuary in the summer period was consid-
ered. It was shown that the distribution of the carbonate parameters in the Amur Estuary and the adjacent
aquatic areas points to the high intensity of the bio-geochemical processes of production and mineralization of
organic matter. It was found that the organic matter destruction is prevailing over the photosynthesis in the riv-
erine part of the estuary. This aquatic area is a source of carbon dioxide for the atmosphere and rates as a het-
erotrophic basin. On the contrary, the surface waters at the outer boundaries of the estuary (the Gulf of Sakhalin
and the Tatar Strait) act as a sink of the atmospheric carbon dioxide, which is caused by the intense photosyn-
thesis in this area. This part of the estuary is treated as an autotrophic basin.

DOI: 10.1134/S0001437009050051

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