Hydrocarbons in waters and bottom sediments Of the Barents sea

Abstract

Hydrocarbons in water, suspended matter and bottom sediments of the Barents Sea were studied based on materials from expeditions to the RV Akademik Mstislav Keldysh in 2016–2019. It is shown that at present there is no oil pollution in open areas of the Barents Sea. With the transition from early summer (2019) to autumn (2016), there was a decrease in hydrocarbon concentrations in surface waters, caused by a change in the biochemical composition of organic matter (possibly due to a decrease in the area of ice). With depth, the HC content decreased mainly. An exception was observed in the area of gutters and deposits, where in the bottom nepheloid layers there was an increase in the concentration of hydrocarbons in suspension and in the surface layer of bottom sediments, and in the thickness of the sediments there was no dependence on their distribution and organic carbon.