A. S. Filippov

Multidisciplinary studies of the separating lakes at different stage of isolation from the White Sea performed in March 2012

639 The multidisciplinary expedition was performed from March 20 to April 2, 2012, on the Kindo Penin sula in Kandalaksha Bay of the White Sea. The expe dition was aimed to study the salty waterbodies that appeared due to the separating of the sea inlets from the sea by the isostatic lifting of the seashore. The sci entists from the Biological and Geographical Faculties and the Belozersky Institute of Physico Chemical Biology of Lomonosov Moscow State University, the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, the Winogradsky Institute of Microbiology, Zubov State Oceanograph ical Institute, the Institute for Information Transmis sion Problems (the Kharkevich Institute), and the Institute of Ecological Problems of the North (Urals Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences) partici pated in the expedition. The work was performed at the N.A. Pertsov White Sea Biological Station of Lomonosov Moscow State University.

Dispersed organic matter and its fluxes in oceans and seas from the example of the White Sea: Results of a 12-year study

Annual and long-term quantitative estimations of the vertical fluxes of sedimentary matter in the White Sea are the basis for direct calculations of the gain of chemical components and minerals and diverse pollution of the surface layer of the bottom sediments. The White Sea, one of six Russian Arctic seas, may be considered as a megapolygon for further modern study using the new mechanisms of Arctic sedimentogenesis discovered. This work is directed at elaboration of new technologies of complex study of seas using submarine sedimentation and regular vessel observatories. The first priority task is year-round monitoring along the Northern Sea route.

Composition of the suspended particulate matter at the Severnaya Dvina River mouth (White Sea) during the spring flood period

The grain-size and mineral composition of the suspended particulate matter (SPM) of the Severnaya Dvina River mouth is studied, as well as the content of several lithogenic elements in the SPM during the spring flood in May 2004. The data published on the composition of the riverine SPM in the White Sea basin are very poor. The spring flood period when more than half of the annual runoff is supplied from the river to the sea in a short time is understood more poorly. The report considers the comparison results for the grain-size compositions of the SPM and the bottom sediments. The data of laser and hydraulic techniques of the grain-size analysis are compared. The short-period variations of the SPM concentration and composition representing two diurnal peaks of the tide level are studied. It is found that the SPM is mainly transferred during the spring flood as mineral aggregates up to 40 μm diameter. The sandysilty fraction of the riverine SPM settles in the delta branches and channels, and the bulk of the fine pelitic matter is supplied to the sea. The mineral and chemical composition of the Severnaya Dvina River SPM is determined by the supply of substances from the drainage basin. This substance is subjected to intense mechanic separation during the transfer to the sea. The key regularities of the formation of the mineral composition of the SPM during the flood time are revealed. The effect of the grain-size composition of the SPM on the distribution of the minerals and elements studied in the dynamic system of the river mouth are characterized.

Specific features of the distribution of trace and rare earth elements in recent bottom sediments in the lower course of the Severnaya Dvina River and White Sea

The paper discusses results of the lithogeochemical examination of recent bottom sediments in the lower course of the Severnaya Dvina River and White Sea. It has been established that the average concentration of several trace elements (Hf, Sc, Co, Y, Ni, V, Cr, Zr, Ba, and others) therein correlates with the content of the silt-pelite fraction. Maximal concentrations of the majority of above elements are confined to the silty-clayey sediments at the Basin/Dvina Bay boundary. They localized near the coastal zone only for some clastophile (Zr, Cr, and others). Typical values of the hydrolyzate module, chemical index of alteration, and Al2O3/SiO2 ratio in the aleuropelitic and pelitic sediments of the Severnaya Dvina River delta, Dvina Bay, and the Dvina Bay Basin boundary suggest that these sediments are confined to sufficiently cold climate settings. Data points of sediment composition in discriminant paleotectonic diagrams are scattered over a large field probably due to high contents of the weakly weathered plagioclases, micas, and amphiboles, as well as the hydrogenic process promoting the accumulation of Fe and Mn. The PAAS-normalized spectra of rare earth elements (REE) in bottom sediments of the Pinega and Severnaya Dvina rivers, marginal filter of the latter river, Dvina Bay, and the Dvina Bay Basin boundary are similar to the REE distribution in clayey rocks of the ancient platform cover (except for a slight positive Eu anomaly). The REE systematics and distribution pattern of compositional data points of recent bottom sediments in the GdN/YbN-Eu/Eu* and Eu/Eu*-Cr/Th diagrams and values of several indicator ratios of trace elements suggest that the studied rocks were formed by the mixing of clastic materials from geochemically contrast provenances: northwestern provenance (Kola-Karelia geoblock), which is mostly composed of the Archean and Early Proterozoic crystalline complexes, and the southeastern provenance (northwestern periphery of the Mezen syncline), which is almost totally composed of Phanerozoic sedimentary rocks. The latter provenance likely played a crucial role in the geochemical signature of recent bottom sediments over a significant area of the White Sea.

Multidisciplinary studies in Onega Bay of the White Sea and the estuary of the Onega River during the summer period

The distribution of the temperature and salinity, current velocities, suspended particulate matter, bottom sediments, bottom morphology, and planktonic and benthic organisms during the summer period are studied in the estuary of the large Onega River and the coastal areas of Onega Bay (White Sea) influenced by interacting marine and riverine factors.

Manifestation of marine and riverine factors in the tide and ebb phases along the white sea coasts of different configuration

The peculiarities of the distributional patterns of the water temperature, salinity, current velocities, particulate matter concentration, bottom contour, and zooplankton abundance were studied in relation to the marine-riverine interactions and tide/ebb phases for coast lines of different configurations in the White Sea during the cruises of the R/V Ekolog (August of 2006 and 2007). A significant difference in the manifestation of the combined effect of the marine and riverine impacts (the estuarine concave relief) and only the marine impact (the open-sea straight-line portion) was observed, which results in both variations in the sea water level and the distributional patterns of the suspended matter and the zooplankton.

Multidisciplinary Investigations of the White Sea during the Period of the Summer Low Water in 2009 Onboard the R/V Ekolog

630 Multidisciplinary expedition onboard the R/V Ekolog was carried out in the White Sea during the period of the summer low water on July 5–17, 2009. The expedition was organized by the P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Water Problems of the North of the Karelian Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The studies were carried out in the framework of the White Sea System project (the project leader is Academician A.P. Lisitzin) [5], and the project aimed at studies of the natural processes in the tidal shore zones of the White Sea (the project leaders are Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences N.N. Filatov and Correspond ing Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yu.S. Dolotov) [2, 8]. Researchers from different institutes participated in this expedition: the P.P. Shir shov Institute of Oceanology (including its North western Branch), the Institute of Water Problems of the North of Karelian Research Center of RAS, the Federal State Unitarian Research and Production Company for Geological Sea Surveys (SEVMOR GEO), the D.V. Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Phys ics (SINP) of Moscow State University, the Sergo Ordzhonikidze Moscow State Geological Prospecting University, and the Zoological Institute. The route of the cruise is presented in Fig. 1. The expedition was aimed at multidisciplinary stud ies of the natural environment of the White Sea during the period of the summer low water with special refer ence to most of the oceanological fields (the physics, chemistry, biology, and geology of the ocean) and the seasonal and spatial dynamics of numerous environ mental parameters (the 4 D approach). The objectives of the expedition included the fol lowing: (1) studying the geochemical processes at the river–sea boundary (the marginal filters of the Kem’ River and the Zolotitsa River inflowing to Onega Bay of the White Sea); (2) the maximal incorporation of the satellite data into the analysis (when plotting the maps of the sus pended matter, chlorophyll, and temperature distribu tion patterns); (3) onboard sampling simultaneously with the ves sel’s traversing to verify the satellite data (the chloro phyll and temperature); (4) hydrophysical profiling at the stations using a multiparameter 90M CTD (Sea & Sun), including the temperature, the salinity, the water turbidity, and some other measurements; (5) Secchi depth measurements; (6) water sampling at the surface and from standard water layers with the filtration of the water through glass fiber filters and Nucleopore membrane filters for Multidisciplinary Investigations of the White Sea during the Period of the Summer Low Water in 2009 Onboard the R/V Ekolog

Rare-earth element distribution and 87Sr/86Sr systematics in modern bottom sediments of the Caspian Sea

1418 The processes of accumulation of modern sedi ments in the Caspian Sea have been studied by N.I. Andrusov, A.D. Arkhangel’skii, N. M. Strakhov, M.V. Klenova, S.V. Bruevich, V.P. Baturin, E.K. Ko pylova, N.M. Arutyunova, V.F. Solov’ev, A.S. Pakho mova, T.I. Gorshkova, I.A. Aleksina, L.I. Lebedev, L.S. Kulakova, E.G. Maev, P.N. Kuprin, S.A. Brusi lovskii, Yu.N. Gurski, D.S. Turovskii, O.K. Bor dovskii, D.E. Gershanovich, Yu.P. Khrustalev, and many others. Currently interest in study of the Cas pian Sea is growing again due to the beginning of the systematic works aimed at developing a 4D model ini tiated by Academician A.P. Lisitzin.

The inhabitants of the spring ice, under-ice water, and sediments of the white sea in the estuarine zone of the Severnaya Dvina River

The data on the supra-ice snow, ice, under-ice water, and benthic algal flora obtained in 2007–2008 by sampling in the estuary of the Severnaya Dvina River are analyzed. The river ice and under-ice water in the estuarine zone and in the channel part of the Severnaya Dvina differed greatly in the algal flora’s composition. The fresh water species never exceeded 8.6%, while the ice algae composed 90–96% of the total ice inhabitants’ biomass. In the under-ice water, this value did not exceed 58–64%. The bacteria in the ice composed not more than 2.5–10% of the total biomass, while, in the under-ice water, 36–49%. The shares of ciliates (0.04%) and nematodes (0.005–1.6%) in the total biomass were negligible. In the estuarine zone, the ice was inhabited mainly by nematodes (78% of the total biomass), while, in the river, their share decreased to 9%. The contribution of bacteria was 15% in Dvina Bay and increased to 61% in the river. The importance of algae in the snow was minor: 7% of the total biomass in the marine zone and 30% in the river region. High species diversity of the algal flora in the sandy and sandy-silty littoral grounds was revealed. The values of the total biomass of the bottom algal flora (0.38 g C/m2) were only two to three times lower than the values revealed in similar habitats in the summer. The epipelithic forms (0.15 g C/m2) dominated, being represented by 46 species of algae (49%). The shares of epipsammonic (0.12 g C/m2) and planktonic (0.11 g C/m2) species were almost equal to each other: 25 and 22 species, respectively (27 and 24%).

Studies of the White Sea System from onboard the R/V Ekolog in July 2010

1074 A complex expedition onboard the R/V Ekolog was performed in the White Sea on July 18–29, 2010. The expedition was organized by the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences and by the Institute of Water Problems of the North of the Karelian Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The studies were performed in the frame� work of the project System of the White Sea (the project leader was Academician A.P. Lisitzyn) [2], and the project was aimed at studies of the natural pro� cesses’ peculiarities in the tidal shore zones of the White Sea (the project leaders were Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences N.N. Filatov and Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yu.S. Dolotov) [1]. Researchers from the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology (including the Northwestern Branch) and the Institute of Water Prob� lems of the North participated in this expedition. The cruise leg is presented in the figure. The expedition was aimed at multidisciplinary stud� ies of the natural environment of the White Sea during the summer period with special reference to most of the oceanologic fields (the physics, chemistry, biology, and geology of the ocean) and the seasonal and spatial dynamics of numerous environmental parameters (the 4�D approach). The objectives of the expedition included the fol� lowing: