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Hydrocarbons in the Water and Bottom Sediments of the Barents Sea during Ice Cover Variability

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Abstract

Aliphatic hydrocarbons (HCs) were studied in water and bottom sediments sampled during cruises 67th and 68th (August–September 2016 and July–August 2017, respectively) of the R/V Akademik Mstislav Keldysh in the Barents Sea to determine the lateral and interannual variability of their concentrations and composition. It has been established that the HC distribution in water was mainly determined by natural factors and depended on the hydrological peculiarites in different areas of the sea. From autumn 2016 to summer 2017, hydrocarbon concentrations slightly increased (on average, from 3 to 5 µg/L), which was related to a change in the biochemical composition of organic matter likely owing to the decrease of ice area. The content of HCs decreased mainly with the depth. An exception was observed in the area of troughs and deposits, where nepheloid bottom layers demonstrated an increase of HC concentration in suspended matter and in the surface layer of bottom sediments, whereas sedimentary sequence showed no correlation between HC distribution and organic carbon.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are grateful to Yu.V. Glyaznetsova and A.M. Titova for sampling. L.V. Demina, G.A. Sychkova, and A.V. Khramtsova are thanked for help with analyses.

Funding

The study results were obtained in the framework of the State Task (no. 0149-2019-0007). Treatment of samples was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project no. 17-05-00356), while interpretation of results and manuscript preparation were supported by the Russian Science Foundation (project no. 19-17-00234).

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  1. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Nakhimovsky pr. 36, 117997, Moscow, Russia

    I. A. Nemirovskaya

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  1. I. A. Nemirovskaya
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Correspondence to I. A. Nemirovskaya.

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Translated by M. Bogina

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Nemirovskaya, I.A. Hydrocarbons in the Water and Bottom Sediments of the Barents Sea during Ice Cover Variability. Geochem. Int. 58, 822–834 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0016702920070071

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