Sedimentary Pigments as Production Characteristics of the Shallow Kostromskoe Widening of the Gorky Reservoir

• Published in: Water resources 2022-06, Vol.49 (3), p.475-482
• Main Authors: Timofeeva, N. A., Sigareva, L. E., Zakonnov, V. V.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aquatic plants; Aquatic Pollution; Benthos; Biotopes; Bottom sediments; Chlorophyll; Chlorophyll a; Degradation; Degradation products; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Hydrobiology: Environmental Aspects; Hydrochemistry; Hydrogeology; Hydrology/Water Resources; Lakes; Macrophytes; Organic matter; Pigments; Reservoirs; Sediment; Sediments; Spatial distribution; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; Widening
• ISSN: 0097-8078; 1608-344X
• DOI: 10.1134/S0097807822030186

First data on the concentrations of plant pigments in the top layer of bottom sediments are given for a large, shallow, moderately overgrown by macrophytes (21.5%) the Kostromskoe widening of the Gorky Reservoir. The data were collected from 2009 to 2020. The concentration of chlorophyll a degradation products, i.e., pheopigments, was found to be high (91 ± 3%). The spatial distribution of pigments shows moderate variability ( C v < 70%), and it is determined by the structure of the bottom sediment complex. At the concentration of organic matter of 0.9–65.1%, typical of bottom sediments of the Upper Volga reservoirs, dominating are low specific concentrations of chlorophyll a with pheopigments (0.1–0.3 mg/g organic matter). In the benthic biotopes of the Kostromskoe widening, the trophic conditions in terms of the concentration of sedimentary pigments (0.7–51.9 µg dry sediments) vary from oligotrophic to mesotrophic. The weighted mean concentration of sedimentary chlorophyll a plus pheopigments, calculated taking into account the areas of bottom deposits of different types, in the Kostromskoe widening was 10.2 ± 3.9 µg/g dry sediments. The Kostromskoe widening shows the least concentration of sedimentary pigments in organic matter (0.19 ± 0.05 mg/g) and high values of chlorophyll a degradation characteristics compared to shallow parts of water bodies in the Upper Volga basin (the Ivankovo and Rybinsk reservoirs, the lakes of Pleshcheevo an Nero.