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Abstract
Danish Journal of Geography 95, 19–27, 1995.
Organic matter and nutrient concentrations in sediments are studied in three areas representing a depth profile from shallow to deep water in the transition zone between the Kattegat and the Baltic proper. Considerable differences between the three areas exist in surface water concentrations of nutrients reflecting increasing distance from terrestrial sources of nutrients, hi spite of this, there are great interareal similarities in the average concentrations of organic matter (1. 8–1, .9%) as well as nutrients (0.04–0.06% total-N and 0.02–0.03% total-P) in the sediments which are subjected to frequent wave induced resuspension. Concentrations in deep water sediments (8–15% organic matter, 0.19–0.62% total-N, and 0.05–0.14% total-P) with no or infrequent resuspension are up to 10 times higher and lowest in Kattegat, where the fetch allows resuspension in the deepest parts. The data suggests that the sediments have a preferential loss of their N content compared to the C content during resuspension and transport from erosional bottoms to accumulation bottoms. This indicates that the C/N ratio may be used as an indicator of bottom type, provided that the sediments are sampled in the same season.