Subsatellite polygon for studying hydrophysical processes in the Black Sea shelf-slope zone

The first data on the creation of the subsatellite polygon on the Black Sea shelf and continental slope in the Gelendzhik area (designed in order to permanently monitor the state of the aquatic environment and biota) and the plans for maintaining and developing this polygon are presented. The autonomous measuring systems of the polygon in the composition of bottom stations with acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCP), Aqualog robotic profilers, and thermo-chains on moored buoy stations should make it possible to regularly obtain hydrophysical, hydrochemical, and bio-optical data with a high spatial-time resolution and transmit these data to the coastal center on a real-time basis. These field data should be used to study the characteristics and formation mechanisms of the marine environment and biota variability, as well as the water-exchange processes in the shelf-deep basin system, ocean-atmosphere coupling, and many other processes. These data are used to calibrate the satellite measurements and verify the water circulation numerical simulation. It is assumed to use these data in order to warn about the hazardous natural phenomena and control the marine environment state and its variation under the action of anthropogenic and natural factors, including climatic trends. It is planned to use the polygon subsatellite monitoring methods and equipment in other coastal areas, including other Black Sea sectors, in order to create a unified system for monitoring the Black Sea shelf-slope zone.     

Experience of Simultaneous Measurements of Parameters of Currents and Hydrological Structure of Water from a Moving Vessel

Oceanology - At the Black Sea research site Gelendzhik of the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology (IO RAS), a technique has been established for joint current velocity profile measurements using towed...     

Variability of currents in the coastal zone of the Black Sea from long-term measurements with a bottom mounted ADCP

The results of long-term measurements (16 months) of the current??s velocity in the Black Sea coastal zone near Golubaya Bukhta (Blue Bay) by a bottom mounted acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) are presented and discussed. It was found that the alongshore component of the current dominates and its absolute value is an order of magnitude larger than the absolute value of the normal to the shore component. The annual average value of the alongshore current??s velocity is close to zero. A well pronounced oscillatory mode of the alongshore current??s velocity is revealed. This mode is characterized by quasi-periodic changes in the direction of the alongshore current. The maximal amplitudes of the unidirectional alongshore current??s velocity are observed with a time scale from several hours to several days.     

Physical mechanisms of submesoscale eddies generation: evidences from laboratory modeling and satellite data in the Black Sea

Ocean Dynamics - The observed evidence of the implementation of three different mechanisms of the submesoscale eddies generation in the Black Sea previously studied by the field research and...     

Main regularities of the Late Pleistocene-Holocene transgression of the Black Sea

A mathematical model describing the Black Sea level change in the Late Pleistocene-Holocene is offered. A theoretical curve for temporal change in the sea level is obtained. It is established that, in the range from 20 to 12 ky BP, the sea level rose to ∼20 m and fluctuated with various amplitudes and periods. In the range from 12 to 11 ky BP during the Bosphorus Strait formation, there was a sea regression by 30–50 meters, and level of the Black Sea dropped to the World Ocean level. Further, it mirrored variation of the ocean level.