PROBLEM OF HEAVY METAL SURFACE SEDIMENT CONTAMINATION IN THE EASTERN GULF OF FINLAND

Abstract

This project defines the pre-industrial quantities of heavy metals in sediment sequences of the Late Holocene from the Eastern Gulf of Finland. A comparative analysis reveals differences and similarities in the current concentrations of heavy metals in bottom sediments and pre-industrial levels. It is found that the maximum concentrations of heavy metals in the bottom sediments of the Gulf of Finland and Neva Bay occurred in the period of 1950-1990. Since the 1990s, the trend has been a slow decline in the contamination levels; however, the concentrations of some heavy metals in bottom sediments remain high.