Chemical and isotopic composition of the organic matter sources in the Gulf of Gdansk (Southern Baltic Sea)

Particulate organic matter (POM) in coastal areas and in estuaries, origina tes from heterogeneous allochthonous and autochthonous sources. Each POM so urce may contribute substantially to the total input, although the relative importance of these sources may vary spatially and temporally within an in dividual estuary. In this work we used combined indicators of origin of org anic matter in order to characterize its sources: atomic C/N ratio (C-at/N- at), organic carbon to chlorophyll a ratio (C/Chla), as well as carbon (del ta C-13) and nitrogen (delta N-15) isotopic composition of organic matter. We show that in the Gulf of Gdansk, two major organic matter sources, respo nsible for around 95% of total POM inflow (autochthonous primary production and riverine discharges), can be easily distinguishable based on their car bon isotopic composition (mean delta C-13 equal, respectively, to -22.3 par ts per thousand and -28.5 parts per thousand). We hypothesize that isotopic ally depleted nutrients from atmospheric deposition often support phytoplan ktonic primary production in the Southern Baltic leading to low delta N-15 values of POM. We show that isotopic composition of riverine POM is highly seasonally variable due to the fact that riverine suspension is composed of a mixture of organic matter originated from riverine primary production, t errigenous vegetation and POM from industrial and domestic waste waters. Ho wever, elemental composition of the Vistula's POM (both low C-at/N-at and C /Chla) suggests that during most of the year it is composed of freshwater p hytoplanktonic material. Based on the magnitude of organic matter inputs an d associated delta C-13 value we estimate a weighted mean carbon isotopic c omposition of surface water POM in the Gulf of Gdansk, which gives - 24.9 p arts per thousand, and approximates well the real measured value in the ope n waters of the Gulf in 1996. We conclude that a combined approach using al l studied parameters and including analysis of isotopic composition of diss olved constituents, which are utilized during primary production (nutrients and dissolved inorganic carbon-DIC), is necessary to obtain true character ization of organic matter origin in the Gulf of Gdansk. It results from the fact that the most important source of POM in the Gulf-autochthonous phyto planktonic primary production-is highly dependent on the discharges of nutr ients and DIC from allochthonous sources: riverine discharges and atmospher ic deposition. (C) 2000 Academic Press.