ORGANIC COMPOUNDS IN THE SNOW-ICE COVER OF EASTERN ANTARCTICA

Abstract

This paper presents data on the concentration and composition of organic substances, lipids, and hydrocarbons, in the snow-ice cover of fast ices and continental lakes of Antarctica. It was shown that organic compounds were accumulated in the layers with the most intense autochthonous processes (mainly at the snow-ice and ice-water boundaries). These zones remain active at a biogeochemical medium even at low temperatures. The maximum content of organic compounds (10-20 times that of the snow-ice cover of other regions) and a sharp change in the proportions of their migration forms in the ice volume were detected in the regions of penguin colonies (fast ice at Buromsky Island and a lake in Haswell Island). The content and composition of hydrocarbons in Antarctic ices were compared with those of Arctic ices. © Pleiades Publishing, Inc. 2006.