Ecological Systems and Devices Annotation << Back Mercury, Cadmium, Lead and Copper in Surface Waters on the Territory of the Astrakhan State Natural Biosphere Reserve Burtseva L.V., Alexandrova M.S., Pastukhov B.V The variability of mercury, cadmium, copper and lead concentrations in the Volga Delta watercourses on the territory of the Astrakhan Biosphere Reserve is analyzed. The interrelation of the hydrological regime of watercourses and concentrations of trace elements in them, as well as the infl uence of the waters of the Old Volga arm on the level of concentrations in its channels on the territory of the reserve is considered. The interannual variability of the concentrations of trace elements in the watercourses of the Old Volga and Buzan arms over a long period of time is shown, the features of the dynamics of concentrations of various trace elements in watercourses are established. The ranges of concentrations of trace elements in water bodies in the protected area of the Volga Delta are proposed: 0.15–0.50 micrograms/dm3 of mercury, 0.50– 2.6 micrograms/dm3 of cadmium, 1.2–6.0 micrograms/dm3 of copper and 0.2–4.0 micrograms/dm3 of lead as such. Keywords: Volga River delta watercourses, monitoring of surface water pollution, concentrations, mercury, cadmium, copper, lead. DOI: 10.25791/esip.12.2023.1417 Pp. 18-29.