Methane in the water and bottom sediments of the mouth area of the Severnaya Dvina River during the winter time

The spatial distribution of methane in the water and bottom sediments of the mouth area of the Severnaya Dvina River shows quite a similar character during the ice-cover and summer periods. It is characterized by the increase of the gas content from the head of the mouth area towards the delta with maximum values at the sites subjected to permanent anthropogenous impact. The difference consists in the higher level of the methane content in the bottom sediments during the winter period. At the same time, the excess of the winter to summer concentrations in the water was registered only at the stations within the impact area of the sources of anthropogenous contamination. As in the summer, the bottom sediments have a prevailing role in the formation of the level of the methane content in the water of the mouth area. The linear dependence between the concentrations of the total hydrogen sulfide and methane in the surface layer of the riverine sediments is probably caused by the parallel and nonconcurrent proceeding of the generation of these gases, which are controlled by the bacterial communities being not inhibitory to each other.