The distributions of Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Ni, Co, Cr, Pb, As, Ag, Cd, Se, Sb, and Hg in 128 samples of tissues of the organisms that inhabit hydrothermal vent fields of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (Menez Gwen, Snake Pit, and Rainbow) depending on the abiotic environmental parameters were studied. The majority of the elements studied showed direct correlations between their concentrations in the fluids released and in the tissues of hydrothermal organisms. A higher degree of bioaccumulation of metals was revealed in the Bathymodiolus mussels and Rimicaris shrimps from the Rainbow hydrothermal vent field as compared to their analogues from Menez Gwen and Snake Pit. This corresponds to the maximum concentrations of the majority of the metals studied in the Rainbow high-temperature hydrothermal fluids. The highest degree of bioaccumulation of heavy metals was found in gills of the symbiotrophic mussels Bathymodiolus and in maxillipeds of the ectosymbiotic shrimps Rimicaris, i.e., in the organs that function in dependence on chemosynthetic bacteria. Within the Rainbow vent field, the shrimps, which inhabit in biotopes with more high-temperature conditions and therefore are more strongly subjected to the influence of fluids, were found to contain higher metal contents than mollusks. The Fe-Mn hydroxide films that cover mussel shells might serve as important reservoirs of other metals related to Fe and Mn.

On cruise 82 voyage of the R/V Akademik M.A. Lavrentyev, comprehensive studies of ecosystems associated with hydrothermal vents and cold seeps in the Bering Sea were carried out. New data on...

The biogeochemical behavior of the group of heavy metals and metalloids in the water (including their dissolved and suspended particulate forms), bottom sediments, and zoobenthos was studied in the Ob River estuary-Kara Sea section on the basis of the data obtained during cruise 54 of the R/V Akademik Mstislav Keldysh in September–October 2007. The changes in the ratios of the dissolved and suspended particulate forms of Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Pb, Cd, and As were shown, as well as the growth of the fraction of adsorbed forms in the near-bottom suspended particulate matter under the mixing of the riverine and marine waters. The features of the metals’ accumulation in the typical benthic organisms of the Ob River estuary and the Kara Sea were revealed, and their concentrating factors were calculated based on the specific conditions of the environment. It was shown that the shells of the bivalves possessing a higher biomass compared to the other groups of organisms in the Ob River estuary play an important role in the deposition of heavy metals. The mollusks of the Ob River estuary accumulate Cd and Pb at the background level, whereas the Cu and Zn contents appear to be over the background level.