Bottom Sediments of the Caspian Sea as an Indicator of Changes in Its Water Regime

Qualitative changes in the Caspian Sea water regime for the last 20–25 kyr are analyzed based on studying the particle-size distribution, the composition of clay minerals, the mineral composition of the coarse clastic fraction, and the magnetic susceptibility of deep-sea bottom sediments.     

Tritium in the Caspian Sea

The tritium content of the surface water on the south shore of the Caspian Sea was determined in samples taken in two- to three-month intervals for the period of time from 1960 to 1970. Tritium concentrations following the massive H-bomb testing in 1962 and 1963 were particularly high in this water, much higher than in the surface waters of the open oceans. The data are interesting in connection with the tritium inventories on the continents and with the persistence of inert chemical pollutants in the surface layers of water masses.     

Long-Term Variations in the Vertical Thermohaline Structure in Deep-Water Zones of the Caspian Sea

Long-term variability in water temperature and salinity in August has been determined for deep-water segments of standard profiles in the Central and Southern Caspian Sea based on data of on-board observations carried out in 1956–2000. Estimates of parameters of the vertical thermohaline structure of waters were obtained for four time intervals. These estimates have been compared to the variability in the main external factors governing the formation of thermohaline regime. Appreciable long-term variations in the vertical thermohaline structure of waters, caused by a nonperiodic alternation of two main types of hydrological processes in the Caspian Sea are revealed. Qualitative characteristics of these two types are presented.     

Variations in the Caspian Sea Level in the Historic Epoch

Reconstruction of variations in the Caspian Sea level is proposed based on the results of investigations of deposits in the Agrakhan sand bar and bays (or former bays) of the eastern sea coast. The history of sedimentation in particular regions is reconstructed by the radiocarbon dating. Generalized data on the age of deposits are used to construct the most likely temporal course of variations in the sea level within the historic epoch.     

A Nonlinear Model of Level Variations in the Caspian Sea

A new thermophysical mechanism of the Caspian Sea level variations is proposed. The mechanism incorporates the effect exerted on the dynamics of the water budget of the Caspian Sea by the nonlinear dependence of the evaporation rate on the moistening of the basin.     

Space and Time Variations of Organic Matter in Caspian Sea Water

Water Resources - The analysis of data on the space and time variations of the concentrations and element composition of organic matter dissolved in Caspian Sea water over 2010–2015 showed...     

Recent Changes in Land Water Storage and its Contribution to Sea Level Variations

Sea level rise is generally attributed to increased ocean heat content and increased rates glacier and ice melt. However, human transformations of Earth’s surface have impacted water exchange between land, atmosphere, and ocean, ultimately affecting global sea level variations. Impoundment of water in reservoirs and artificial lakes has reduced the outflow of water to the sea, while river runoff has increased due to groundwater mining, wetland and endorheic lake storage losses, and deforestation. In addition, climate-driven changes in land water stores can have a large impact on global sea level variations over decadal timescales. Here, we review each component of negative and positive land water contribution separately in order to highlight and understand recent changes in land water contribution to sea level variations.     

Probabilistic Regularities in Setup Variations in the Level of a Large Inland Water Body: Case Study of the Caspian Sea

The results of probabilistic analysis of data on setup level variations collected during long-term observations at all gages along the Caspian Sea coast are discussed. A procedure for evaluating low-probability sea level extremes is proposed. Estimates are given for the probabilities of outstanding setups in the Caspian Sea and the Sea of Azov.     

Vertical Water Exchange in the Caspian Sea Assessed by the Distribution of Transient Tracers

Water Resources - The reliability of various scenarios of vertical structure formation in Caspian Sea water was analyzed based on the distribution of transient tracers (CFC-11, CFC-12, 3H, and 3He)...     

Level Variations in the Caspian Sea under Different Climate Conditions by the Data of Simulation under CMIP6 Project

Water Resources - Water balance components for the territory of the Volga basin and Caspian Sea water area have been analyzed using the results of climatic simulation under CMIP6 Project for...     

Studying Long-term Variations in the Caspian Sea with the Use of the Theory of Stochastic Differential Equations

Nonlinear mechanisms of long-term variations in the Caspian Sea level are described. It is shown that with account taken of the dependence of the evaporation depth from the Volga basin surface on soil moisture content and the dependence of the evaporation depth from the sea surface on its level, we obtain a fundamentally new (chaotic) oscillation mechanism with several attraction levels. The stochastic differential equations describing the water budget of the sea basin and the sea proper and the respective solutions of the Fokker–Planck–Kolmogorov equation are shown to have stationary bimodal density of the level probability. The random process, characterizing the sea level variations at a nonlinear dependence between the evaporation rate and the level is found to be non-Gaussian. Noise-induced transitions, caused by nonlinear evaporation processes are described. A new nonlinear stochastic theory describing the Caspian Sea level variations and based on predicted physical effects is suggested.     

Variations in wind direction and speed from arctic to the Caspian Sea as a manifestation of modern climate changes

The regularities in present-day variations in the wind speed vector are examined at 18 stations along the section from Kola Peninsula to the Caspian Sea. Data on long-term variations in the major climate-forming factors and climatic parameters are generalized. The statistically significant tendency toward a considerable decline in the wind speed with a maximum module and the most frequent wind speeds of zonal, mostly western, directions (this tendency has been revealed earlier for the eastern coast of the middle and southern Caspian Sea) was found to hold for the greater part of the European Russia. Possible causes of present-day climate changes and their manifestations at the regional level are analyzed. A possible mechanism of present-day climate changes is proposed     

A Procedure for Calculating Extreme Characteristics of the Northern Caspian Sea Level

A procedure is proposed for calculating extreme characteristics of the level of a sea with allowance for positive and negative setups. Analysis is made of past storm events in the Northern Caspian Sea that have caused strong setups. Sixty-three storm weather patterns are chosen from a period of 45 years. Time ring synoptic maps are used to digitize the atmospheric pressure fields and calculate the field of its gradient and the wind near water surface. Based on these data, the sea level values and currents are calculated through two- and three-dimensional hydrodynamic models. A probabilistic model along with computer-aided data treatment procedures are used to calculate the fields of extreme characteristics of the sea level at the Lagan gage with the occurrence of once per N years at the average Caspian Sea level of 27 m below SL.     

Long-Term Water Level Variations in the Eastern Sea of Azov and in the Mouth Reach of the Don River

Studies of long-term water level variations at marine hydrometeorological stations in the eastern Sea of Azov established a rise in the sea level which accelerated in the past 40 years. Allowance for the tectonic component permitted assessing the average rate of eustatic rise in the level. Oppositely directed long-term level variations were established in the mouth area of the Don River. Water level was found to rise at the downstream gages because of the backwater effect caused by the Sea of Azov level rise and delta deposits subsidence and to drop at the upstream gages mainly because of bed erosion owing to a reduction in sediment runoff after the construction of the Tsimlyanskoe Reservoir.     

Current Variations in the Wind Speed Vector and the Rate of Evaporation from the Caspian Sea Surface

Regularities in the rearrangement of the surface atmospheric circulation in the Caspian Sea region are studied. It is found that during the current rise in the Caspian Sea level, a statistically significant decrease in the wind speed modulus occurred (mainly in autumn and winter winds of zonal directions). This caused a decrease in the rate of evaporation in the region. The results of this study testify to a need for developing a deterministic model of current variations in the Caspian Sea water regime at varying global and regional climate.     

The Structure of Currents in the Western Middle Caspian Sea: Present-Day Studies

Data on the dynamics of bottom currents along the western coast of the Middle Caspian are given. The contributions of the mean kinetic energy of currents and the energy of perturbation to the total energy of currents are shown at different space and time scales of variations and for different seasons of the year. The results of studies are based on experimental data collected by CTD sounding of water mass, measuring currents with the use of Potok-M instruments, ADCP Doppler acoustic current meters in the regime of sounding and towing, as well as stationary measurements at submerged buoy stations.     

Macrozoobenthos as an Indicator of the Level of the Trophy and Saprobity of Lake Jarun

During complex ecological investigations on Lake Jarun (and neighbouring interstitial underground waters) which took place in 1984 and 1985, macrozoobenthos was also studied. Its qualitative and quantitative composition in a large part depends on the degree of trophy and saprobity of the water. Specially examined were the oligochaetes and chironomids larvae, which besides having a large numerical percentage also occurred with a large number of species. In addition, the representatives of other groups of macroscopic invertebrates were also mentioned, especially those which have a special significance as indicators of a certain degree of trophy and saprobity, and which are important because of their oasis preservation in this ecosystem.     

Water Budget of the Caspian Sea in the Last Glacial Maximum by Data of Experiments with Mathematical Models

Water Resources - Variations of Caspian Sea water budget in the epoch of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, ~21 thousand years ago) relative to the preindustrial conditions (~1850 CE) are considered...