Hydrocarbons of Surface Waters in the Transantarctic Section

Abstract

The data obtained for 2015–2017 on the content and composition of aliphatic hydrocarbons (HCs) in particulate matter at the river–sea geochemical barriers (the Ob, Yenisei, Lena, Khatanga, Indigirka, and Kolyma rivers–the Kara, Laptev, and East Siberian seas) are presented. It was shown that the HC distribution coincided roughly with the content of particulate matter. The losses of the HC concentrations in mixing zones of riverine and marine waters in some cases exceeded 90% of the riverine supply. The HC concentrations in the pelagic zones of the seas were about the background values (2–7 µg/L). The behavior and composition of HCs are determined by the features of riverine drainage areas, sampling seasons, and time (high or low tide). The influence of anthropogenic supply was registered exclusively in the Gulf of Ob where the composition of alkanes was close to that of oil, with a HC concentration of 86 µg per mg of particulate matter. In other samples, natural HCs prevailed.