Salinity and concentrations of organic carbon in bays of the White Sea

Organic carbon in bays of the White Sea was studied for the first time in 1987. Bays of various types in the Kandalaksha Gulf and the Onega Gulf were investigated. Concentration of C_org ranged from 3.5 to 9 mg/l. The highest weighted-mean concentration of C_org occurred in shallow bays of the Onega Gulf (Suma Bay - 6.17 mg/l, Kolezhma Bay - 5.25 mg/1); slightly lower levels occurred in the Soroka Bay (4.85 mg/l) and Kem' Bay (4.78 mg/l). The lowest concentrations were in deep bays of the Kandalaksha Gulf (Chupa Bay - 4.35 mg/l, Velikaya Salma Bay - 4.10 mg/l). As a rule C_org concentration decreases with depth in deep-water bays (but increases slightly in the thermocline layer). The key factor governing organic matter concentration in the bays of the Onega Gulf with river runoff is allochthonous terrigenous organic matter, as indicated by negative correlation of C_org with salinity (R=-0.83+/-0.07, p=0.96) and nonsignificant correlation with primary production.

Concentration and production of bacteria and bacterial destruction in the photic layer of the Sodruzhestvo Sea area, Southern Ocean

Bacterioplankton in the photic layer of the Sodruzhestvo Sea area and adjoining waters consists in summer primarily of cocci, with fractions smaller than 2 ?m predominating. The average abundance and biomass of microorganisms are 427 thousand cells/ml and 438 mg C/m**2, with ranges of 150-1770 thousand cells/ml and 221-1146 mg C/m**2. The average daily production and bacterial destruction increase from 49 and 104 mg C/m**2 at the beginning of the growth period to 85 and 180 mg C/m**2 in the middle of the period and remain at this level till the end. Despite low rate of increase (daily P/B coefficient averages 0.12), because of its high abundance bacterioplankton in Antarctic waters plays a major role in destruction of organic matter, accounting for 60-85% of energy consumed by heterotrophs.