Heavy Metals in Suspended Matter in the Northern Black Sea

D. A. Kremenchutskii✉, E. A. Kotelyanets

Marine Hydrophysical Institute of RAS, Sevastopol, Russian Federation

✉ e-mail: d.kremenchutskii@mhi-ras.ru

Abstract

Purpose. The purpose of the study is to obtain quantitative characteristics of the spatial variability of heavy metal concentrations in suspended matter, as well as to assess the relationship between this variability and the hydrological and hydro chemical characteristics of the northern Black Sea waters.

Methods and Results. Data on the volume and mass concentrations of heavy metals (Pb, Zn, Ni, Fe, Cr, V, Co) in the Black Sea suspended matter obtained during the 133rd cruise of R/V Professor Vodyanitsky were used. A total of 44 water samples were collected at 33 stations and processed. The data on metal content were obtained using X-ray fluorescence analysis.

Conclusions. The volume and mass concentrations of the analyzed metals in suspended matter varied spatially within two orders of magnitude. Elevated volume concentrations of heavy metals were observed in the northeastern part of the study area, whereas lower values were typical in its southwestern part. The spatial variability in mass concentrations of heavy metals exhibited a more complex pattern. Elevated values of Pb, Zn, and Ni were noted in the deep part of the sea, while lower values were observed in the coastal area. Elevated values of Fe and V were typical of the shelf section from Cape Meganom to Cape Chauda, and lower values were typical of the deep-sea part. Higher and lower concentrations of Cr and Co were observed both on the shelf and in the deep-sea part of the study area. In the deep part of the sea, the mass and volume concentrations of metals both increased and declined with depth. In the upper part of the thermocline, the volume (Pb, Ni, Fe, Cr, V, Co) and mass (Fe, Cr, V, Co) concentrations of most heavy metals rose by a factor of 1.1–47.1. On the shelf in the near-bottom layer, the volume (Zn, Fe, Cr, V, Co) and mass (Zn, Fe, V, Co) concentrations of most heavy metals also grew by a factor of 1.1–137. Principal component analysis showed that the spatial variability of volume and mass concentrations of Fe, V, Co, and Cr is related to the impact of the lithogenic factor (coastal abrasion, inflow of the Sea of Azov waters, and atmospheric transport), the variability of Zn and Ni is driven by the influence of the biogenic factor (phytoplankton production, adsorption on organic matter), and the Pb variability is related to the hydrodynamic factor (mixing depth variability).

Keywords

heavy metals, Black Sea, suspended matter, spatial variability

Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to the captain and crew of R/V Professor Vodyanitsky for their assistance in onboard operations, as well as to the members of the hydrology and currents group for providing temperature and salinity data. Water samples were taken at the Collective Use Center R/V Professor Vodyanitsky of FSBSI FRC A.O. Kovalevsky Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas. The study was carried out within the framework of the state-assigned research themes of FSBSI FRC MHI FNNN-2024-0001 and FNNN-2024-0016.

About the authors

Dmitrii A. Kremenchutskii, Senior Researcher, Marine Hydrophysical Institute of RAS (2 Каpitanskaya Str., Sevastopol, 299011, Russian Federation), CSc. (Geogr.), ORCID ID: 0000-0002-8747-6612, ResearcherID: AAC-1673-2020, SPIN-code: 1695-9378, d.kremenchutsky@gmail.com

Ekaterina A. Kotelyanets, Junior Researcher, Marine Hydrophysical Institute of RAS (2 Каpitanskaya Str., Sevastopol, 299011, Russian Federation), ORCID ID: 0009-0007-1921-3566, Scopus Author ID: 36059344400, ResearcherID: ААА-8699-2019, SPIN-code: 4390-5829, plistus@mail.ru

Original russian text

Original Russian Text © D. A. Kremenchutskii, E. A. Kotelyanets, 2026, published in MORSKOY GIDROFIZICHESKIY ZHURNAL, Vol. 42, Iss. 2, pp. 275–293 (2026)

For citation

Kremenchutskii, D.A and Kotelyanets, E.A., 2026. Heavy Metals in Suspended Matter in the Northern Black Sea. Physical Oceanography, 33(2), pp. 319-338.

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