Macrophyta are the initial link introducing toxic mercury to the trophic chain. Research was carried out at 24 stations located within the Polish coastal zone of the Southern Baltic, in the years 2006-2012. Fifteen taxa were collected, belonging to four phyla: green algae (Chlorophyta), brown algae (Phaeophyta), red algae (Rhodophyta) and flowering vascular plants (Angiospermophyta), and total ...

Owing to the potentially harmful character of nitrogen-fixing filamentous cyanobacterial blooms in the Baltic Sea, a capacity to predict their occurrence is of interest. We quantified the surface accumulations of cyanobacteria, mainly Nodularia spumigena, using ocean colour satellite data. The spatial and temporal frequency of the accumulations was mapped with an automated detection algorithm, ...

This paper presents an overview of the sub-mesoscale eddies observed in the coastal zone of the south-eastern Baltic near the shores of the Sambian Peninsula and the Curonian Spit based on CODAR (high-frequency coast-based radar) measurements and analysis of MODIS and ASAR satellite images for the period 30 March 2000– 31 December 2011. It was found that when winds are predominantly SW, S or W,...

[1] Stable nitrogen isotope ratios (N/N; dN) were determined in sediments, suspended matter, and water at selected sites in the Baltic Sea area in order to set up a source budget and trace the fate of anthropogenic N sources. Sediments of the shallow near-coastal area of the southern and eastern Baltic Sea have an average dN of 7.3 ± 2.1%, interpreted as a characteristic trace of residual anthr...

Coarse sea salt particles are emitted ubiquitously from the ocean surface by wave-breaking and bubblebursting processes. These particles impact the atmospheric chemistry by affecting the condensation of gas-phase species and, thus, indirectly the nucleation of new fine particles, particularly in regions with significant air pollution. In this study, atmospheric particle concentrations are model...

Different levels of eutrophication and pollution in the Baltic coastal waters in general, and in estuaries particularly define variations in the buffering capacity of ecosystems of these important filter zones between rivers and the adjacent Baltic Proper. Phyto- and zooplankton in the estuaries form important components of the pelagic food webs that participate in producing and structuring the...

An investigation of atmospheric mercury was conducted in the urban coastal zone of the Gulf of Gdansk (Baltic Sea, Poland) in 2008. Rainwater samples were collected in bulk samplers and Hg concentration was determined using AAS method. Total mercury concentration ranged from 1.9 to 14.8 ng l(-1) (the mean was 8.3 ng l(-1) with standard deviation ±3.7), out of which about 34 % were water-soluble...