Vertical Fluxes of Sedimentary Matter and Modern Sedimentation Rates in the White Sea

Marine sedimentation was studied using dispersed sedimentary material of the water column in sediment traps in comparison with the surface layer of bottom sediments. Based on the generalization of long-term studies of a small inland sea of the Arctic Ocean, it was possible to establish new regularities of the sedimentary process in the conditions of the Subarctic and Arctic zones. The quantitative transition of dispersed forms of sedimentary matter into concentrated forms (bottom sediments) in the White Sea fluxes a linear relationship, with a local maximum in the deep nepheloid layer. Areas of ultrafast sedimentation are distinguished— marginal filters (Northern Dvina River). Direct quantitative data on the fluxes of sedimentary matter in the water column of the White Sea, obtained using sediment traps at the ADOS observatories over 15 years of research, gave the following values: under the active layer in the range of 48–214 with an average of 74 g/m²/year; in the intermediate layer 54–298 with an average of 132 g/m²/year; in the near-bottom horizon 149–1814 with an average of 335 g/m²/year. The sedimentation rates (for ²¹⁰Pb, ¹³⁷Cs) of the surface layer of bottom sediments in terms of the mass accumulation rate (MAR) of dry sediment correspond to the interval 93–1260 with an average of 310 g/m²/year. Long-term data on the concentration of suspended matter and the flux of dispersed sedimentary matter clearly record stable year-round nepheloid layers, i.e. the distribution of scattered forms of sedimentary matter (suspension) in the water column occurs according to new patterns, which can be more clearly identified.

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