Concentration and composition of the suspended particulate matter of the Barents sea

Abstract

The results of the study of the distribution and composition of the dispersed sedimentary matter (suspended matter) in the water column of the Barents Sea were presented in the article. The distribution of suspended matter in the sea obeys the laws of circumcontinental (for surface distribution) and vertical zonality. At the same time, the absolute values of the weight and volume concentrations of the suspended matter themselves are low (on average less than 0.5 mg/l and less than 1.0 mm3/l, respectively). The highest values of all parameters of the suspended matter were found in the Pechora Sea, the most southeastern part of the Barents Sea, where the abrasion of the shores and bottom erosion, and the Pechora River runoff. Surface and bottom peaks are characteristic of the vertical distribution of the suspended matter. An intrusion of the nepheloid layer enriched in the suspended matter into the deep layers can be observed on the continental slope when the depth makes a sharp fall.