Sediment geochemistry studies in the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea : a retrospective view

Abstract

Our recent knowledge of the chemistry of the seafloor of the Baltic Sea has been gained during the last century only and most of it during the last three to four decades. When thinking about the start of the industrialization it seems unfortunately late. However, fortunately the seafloor archives all environmental changes in the sedimentary column like pages in a book and they can be later observed and interpreted. The Geological Survey of Finland has performed seabed geochemistry studies for decades. The first studies were performed onboard cruises of the old research vessel Aranda and later on the new Aranda as well as on the surveys on our own vessels Geola, Kaita, and Geomari. A great part of the work has been done as collaboration in international research programmes, but especially the Marine Ecogeological Patrol by the A. P. Karpinsky Russian Geological Research Institute has been of great importance for Gulf of Finland studies and as a trigger for later studies in the Gulf of Finland as well as the Baltic Sea.

Holocene relative shore‐level changes and development of the Ģipka lagoon in the western Gulf of Riga

“…The predominance of small fragilarioid taxa is related to environmental instability (Denys 1990) and in isolation basin studies has been observed just prior to, during or after the actual isolation event (Stabell 1985; Heinsalu et al . 2000; Risberg et al . 2005; Miettinen et al .…”

“…This is a common practice in diatom studies from isolation basins, since this group is considered to represent pioneer taxa, which are able to adapt to rapid shifts in environmental conditions faster and more effectively than other diatoms (Lotter & Bigler 2000;Yu et al 2004). The predominance of small fragilarioid taxa is related to environmental instability (Denys 1990) and in isolation basin studies has been observed just prior to, during or after the actual isolation event (Stabell 1985;Heinsalu et al 2000;Risberg et al 2005;Miettinen et al 2007;Saarse et al 2009;Grudzinska et al 2017).…”

Prolific decades of marine geology at the Geological Survey of Finland: a historical review

“…On deck the plastic core liner was extracted, split, described and sub sampled marine environment not only geological parameters were important, but also environmental pollutants became new targets. This issue is addressed by Henry Vallius in this number of Baltica (Vallius 2016).…”

The supply of total nitrogen and total phosphorus from small urban catchments into the Gulf of Gdańsk

“…Research on marine sediments also indicates a strong eutrophication of the Baltic Sea caused by man (Warnock et al 2018). The influence of bottom sediments on the quality of the Baltic Sea was also described by Vallius (2016) or Ryabchuk et al (2017). Climate disturbances are extremely important in the aspect of emerging extreme phenomena.…”