Spring freshet fluxes of terrigenous matter from Amur River to the estuary in surrounding Okhotsk and Japan Seas

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Abstract

The objective of this work is to study the interannual variability of lithodynamic and biogeochemical characteristics of suspended matter (SPM) along the 884 km transect “lower reaches– estuary of the Amur River in the Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan”. Observations were carried out in mid-June 2005 and 2006. The spring flood during the study periods differed dramatically in water content and conditions for mobilization of terrigenous material in the catchment area. Thus, the phases of the culmination of the highest flood level (2005) and the culmination of the lowest low-water level of the Amur were covered. The distribution of SPM, suspended organic carbon (POC), total nitrogen (TN), carbon isotopes (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) were studied. We did not find any sharp fluctuations in the SPM content in the lower reaches of the Amur in 2005 and 2006. However, they manifested themselves in the marine segments of the transect – in the Amur Estuary, in the Sea of Okhotsk and Sea of Japan segments of the estuary. The primary cause of the changes were the physicochemical transformations of SPM against the background of increasing salinity and wave remobilization of bottom sediments. The latter was most clearly manifested in 2006, when the water level in the river segment of the estuary and in the Amur Estuary was low.

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About the authors

Oleg V. Dudarev

V.I. Il’ichev Pacific Oceanological Institute, FEB RAS; International Centre of the Far-Eastern and Arctic seas named by Admiral S.O. Makarov, Sakhalin State University–SakhalinTECH; Tomsk State University

Email: dudarev@poi.dvo.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-9432-8992

Doctor of Sciences in Geology and Mineralogy, Chief Researcher

Russian Federation, Vladivostok; Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk; Tomsk

Alexander N. Charkin

V.I. Il’ichev Pacific Oceanological Institute, FEB RAS

Email: charkin@poi.dvo.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-9273-9950

Candidate of Sciences in Geology and Mineralogy, Head of Laboratory

Russian Federation, Vladivostok

Denis V. Chernykh

V.I. Il’ichev Pacific Oceanological Institute, FEB RAS; International Centre of the Far-Eastern and Arctic seas named by Admiral S.O. Makarov, Sakhalin State University–SakhalinTECH; Tomsk State University

Email: denis.chernykh.vl@gmail.com
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-6814-7100

Candidate of Sciences in Technique, Senior Researcher

Russian Federation, Vladivostok; Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk; Tomsk

Alexey S. Ruban

Tomsk Polytechnic University

Email: ruban@tpu.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-5852-8201

Candidate of Sciences in Geology and Mineralogy, Associate Professor

Russian Federation, Tomsk

Irina I. Pipko

V.I. Il’ichev Pacific Oceanological Institute, FEB RAS; International Centre of the Far-Eastern and Arctic seas named by Admiral S.O. Makarov, Sakhalin State University–SakhalinTECH

Email: irina@poi.dvo.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-2480-9563

Candidate of Sciences in Geography, Leading Researcher

Russian Federation, Vladivostok; Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk

Svetlana P. Pugach

V.I. Il’ichev Pacific Oceanological Institute, FEB RAS; International Centre of the Far-Eastern and Arctic seas named by Admiral S.O. Makarov, Sakhalin State University–SakhalinTECH

Email: pugach@poi.dvo.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-0163-043X

Candidate of Sciences in Geography, Senior Researcher

Russian Federation, Vladivostok; Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk

Vyacheslav A. Dubina

V.I. Il’ichev Pacific Oceanological Institute, FEB RAS

Email: dubina@poi.dvo.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0003-3273-8977

Candidate of Sciences in Geography, Head of Laboratory

Russian Federation, Vladivostok

Igor P. Semiletov

V.I. Il’ichev Pacific Oceanological Institute, FEB RAS; International Centre of the Far-Eastern and Arctic seas named by Admiral S.O. Makarov, Sakhalin State University–SakhalinTECH; Tomsk State University

Author for correspondence.
Email: ipsemiletov@gmail.com
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-3012-4739

Corresponding Member of RAS, Doctor of Sciences in Geography, Head of Laboratory

Russian Federation, Vladivostok; Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk; Tomsk

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Supplementary files

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2. Fig. 1. Research area: 1 – upper boundary of the river part of the estuary, 2 – stations of 2005 and 2006.

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3. Fig. 2. Hydrographs of the Amur River runoff: 1 – low runoff, 2 – high runoff, 3 – average long-term runoff, 4 – 2005, 5 – 2006 (data from the Komsomolsk-on-Amur hydrological post, https://portal.grdc.bafg.de/)

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4. Fig. 3. Changes in the water level of the Amur River in the spring and summer of 2005 (1) and 2006 (2). Segments (3) indicate the periods of work (data from the Komsomolsk-on-Amur hydrological post, https://portal.grdc.bafg.de/). 4 – water level in the Amur corresponding to the beginning of flooding of the floodplain (380 cm)

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5. Fig. 4. Variability of hydrological parameters and biogeochemical characteristics of SPM-POM on the transect lower reaches of the river – mouth of the Amur (segments ALS, ARE). June 2005.

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6. Fig. 5. Variability of hydrological parameters and biogeochemical characteristics of SPM-POM on the transect lower reaches of the river – mouth of the Amur (segments ALS, ARE). June 2006.

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7. Fig. 6. Variability of hydrological parameters and biogeochemical characteristics of SPM-POM across ARL, OSE, JSE segments. June 2005.

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8. Fig. 7. Variability of hydrological parameters and biogeochemical characteristics of SPM-POM across ARL, OSE, JSE segments. June 2006.

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