THE DISTRIBUTION OF DISSOLVED FORMS COPPER IN THE WATER COLUMN OF THE CASPIAN SEA

Abstract

According to the results of chemical analyzes of water samples from the Northern, Middle Caspian and, partially, the Southern Caspian, taken from profiles from different horizons of the water column, the contents of dissolved forms of copper were determined. Maps of the spatial distribution of this element in the surface and supra-aquatic horizons, as well as along vertical sections of the water column, have been constructed, and patterns of their distribution in the volume of sea water have been revealed. The average content of dissolved forms of copper in the surface (8.6 μg/l) and in the above bottom (9.6 μg/l) horizons of the Caspian Sea has been established. Selected areas with abnormally high (more than 20 μg/l) and abnormally low (less than 5 μg/l) concentrations of dissolved forms of copper in them. The specific features of the distribution of dissolved forms of copper along the vertical of the water column are determined by the vital activity of planktonic organisms and their death. In the surface layer, abnormally high concentrations of copper are associated with the lifetime accumulation of metal by plankton. At depths above 100 m, its abnormally high concentrations are associated with the decay of dead organisms and the release of copper and other metals in the form of organic complexes.