ИСТИНА

White Sea shore rises at about 4 mm per year, resulted in separation of some bays from the sea. The way from the initial marine to the final freshwater condition takes few centuries with the meromictic stage. The bottom layer contains sea salt, and the surface is freshened because of inflow from the catchment area. They do not mix due to the difference in density. These water bodies differ from the sea and freshwater lakes on hydrological features and ecological structure. In contrast to the sea, where the primary production appears by algal photosynthesis in the surface photic layer, in separated lakes in is provided mostly by anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria in deep maximum in the redox zone. Redox zone acts as biotope of specific ecological community consisted of bacteria, mycotrophic algae, protists and metazoans. This community we recognize by pronounced red or green color. As a result of isolation the salt lake becomes a kind bio-geo-chemical anomaly, and an analogue of an ancient ocean, which also consisted of anoxic and oxygenated layers. On the coastline of the White Sea there are many lakes at different stages of separation from the sea at the same time, so we can follow the patterns of change in ecological and hydrological system. Big team of researchers from various institutions, including oceanographers, hydrologists, biologists, microbiologists, sedimentologists, hydrochemists, physicists studying of optical and fluorescence properties of natural water explore the separated White Sea basins, every find some wonderful properties and surprises.