Spatial Distribution of Heavy Metals in the Bottom Sediments of Bays of the Sevastopol Region

The paper presents the results of studying the spatial distribution of heavy metals (Zn, Cu, Ni, Cr, Sr, Co, Fe, Mn) in the bottom sediments of the bays of the Sevastopol region. The data obtained during the 2003 to 2018 expeditions are analyzed. The spatial distribution and accumulation of heavy metals in the bottom sediments of the Sevastopol, Kazachya and Balaklava bays are studied. Correlations between their content and the physico-chemical characteristics of bottom sediments of the studied water areas (content of Corg, CaCO3, fractional composition) were obtained. The metals with the same correlation coefficients for both the content of Corg and the silt fraction content are identified. These are Fe (r = 0,7) and Ni (r = 0,6) for bottom sediments of the Sevastopol Bay, Fe (r = 0,6) and Cu (r = 0,7) for the Kazachya Bay and only Ni (r = 0,8) for the Balaklava Bay. High correlation between Sr and CaCO3 content (r = 0,8) has been established for bottom sediments of all studied water areas. It is shown that the spatial distribution of heavy metals is determined by physico-chemical characteristics of bottom sediments, which is confirmed by the magnitude of correlations in terms of the content of fine fraction and organic carbon, while the difficult water exchange with the open sea contributes to their accumulation up to maximum values.