Chloropigments a in the Gulf of XXXX  sk (Baltic Sea) as markers of the state of this environment.

@entity505 @entity21364 @entity26 @entity235
The Gulf of @entity235  sk receives the waters of the Wis  a (Vistula), the largest Polish river and the second largest river flowing into the Baltic Sea. Chloropigments a ( @entity21364 and its derivatives) were determined in water and sediments from the Gulf. Samples were collected during cruises of R.V. 'Oceania' at 19 stations located at different water depths and distances from the shore, in May (2003) and October (2004), i.e., at the beginning and at the end of the growing season, respectively. Seawater was also sampled on the beach at Sopot in June, July and August 2004, i.e., during the height of the growing season. All water samples were collected with a bathometer and passed through Whatman GF/F filters. Recent sediments (0-10 cm) were collected with a core sampler and divided into sub-samples (0-1, 1-5 and 5-10 cm). The pigments were determined using HPLC-DAD. The results were first correlated with a set of parameters measured in situ during sample collection (salinity, temperature, @entity26 content of seawater) and determined in the same material (organic @entity505 content, granulometry), then worked up statistically. Although this investigation shows that particular chloropigments a in recent sediments are indicative of the prevailing environmental conditions in the study area and the trends in their variations, they should be treated as a relative and not an absolute measure, since this is the first such study based on a large and coherent set containing both chloropigment a and environmental data. In addition, a @entity21364 budget is estimated for the Gulf of @entity235  sk on the basis of the literature and the authors' own data. Only c. 10% of the @entity21364 produced annually in the Gulf of @entity235  sk is transferred to sediments in the form of chloropigments a; 2.8% is in the form of undecomposed @entity21364 and 7.2% in the form of @entity21364 derivatives. About 90% of @entity21364 is decomposed to colourless products.
