POLLUTANT CONCENTRATIONS IN BOTTOM WATER OF THE SHTOKMAN CONDENSED GAS DEPOSIT

Abstract

The Shtokman condensed gas deposit (CGD) is one of the largest in the world. The beginning of the development of this deposit makes it an important national economic object, which will substantially increase the techogenic impact on the Barents Sea bottom environments. Taking into consideration the particular vulnerability of the Arctic medium, geoecological study of the Barents Sea shelf becomes an urgent task. In order to analyze the variability of physicochemical properties of water column and lithological-mineralogical characteristics of bottom sediments, detailed studies were performed in a small area at the Shtokman CGD during the cruise of the R/V Geolog Fersman. Multiproxy investigations (hydrophysical sounding, seawater sampling at different depth levels, and sampling of bottom sediments and benthic organisms) were performed at 36 stations (spacing, about 4 km) in an area 15 × 15 km in size. The investigations were aimed at the complex assessment of technogenic impact on the main environment components (bottom sediments, bottom waters, and biota).