Concentration and Diffusion of Nutrients in the Interpore–Bottom Water System of the Ob River Estuary

Oceanology - On cruise 76 in 2019, the R/V Akademik Mstislav Keldysh completed the Gulf of Ob–Kara Sea slope transect. Samples of bottom water and two sediment layers 1 cm thick were obtained...     

Salinity Measurements in Hyperhaline Brines: A Case Study of the Present Aral Sea

Studies in waterbodies with peculiar salinity face problems in determining water salinity (mineralization). The conventional methods of determining salinity from conductivity or, in the past, chlorinity can yield significant errors. This article compares two methods for determining water salinity: the solid residue method and the measurement of sound velocity in water. It has been shown that the measurement of sound velocity (and temperature) can be used for reliable in situ determination of water salinity that is almost unfeasible by other methods (applicable only under laboratory conditions or yielding insufficient accuracy). Results of water salinity determination in different regions of the Aral Sea in 2012–2015 are presented.     

Possibilities of the photoluminescence method for determining the oxygen concentration in the redox zone of the Black Sea in comparison with other methods

Different methods of measuring low oxygen concentrations were compared in July 2008 in the Black Sea: the conventional Winkler method, electrochemical sensors (membrane and membrane-free), and two modifications of photoluminescence sensors. The membrane-free sensor used in the Black Sea since 1999 and the domestic photoluminescence sensor showed the best results: agreement of data, possibility of fine oxygen distribution resolution, and absence of the oxygen and hydrogen sulfide coexistence layer. The latter has good technical characteristics: high oxygen sensitivity and complete inertness to hydrogen sulfide, possibility of calibration in a gaseous environment, and a relatively low time constant (5–6 s). An equation was suggested for dynamic correction of data in the testing mode, which eliminates hysteresis of data on probe descent and ascent to a significant degree. It was shown that the oxygen concentration above the hydrogen sulfide layer in the subreductive zone of the Black Sea did not exceed 0.02 μM.     

Calculation of electric conductivity of water of the Aral Sea and correction of the sound salinity of 2002–2009

The Aral Sea is an important water area both for monitoring and oceanological studies, because its salinity and salt composition strongly differ from the oceanic. We offer a semiempiric calculation method of electric conductivity and the coefficient of its temperature dependence k judging from the ionic composition of water. The properties of the solution are considered as the sum of properties of seven binary salts taken based on the ionic composition of the solution. The MgSO₄ concentration is thought to be the highest possible, which makes the salt concentration nearly unambiguous. In a salinity range of 46–120‰ and temperature range of 5–25°C (2002–2009), the standard deviation of the calculated and measured electric conductivity was 2.9%. To refine the calculation of salinity from electric conductivity measurements using the “oceanic” formula, we suggest its preliminary reduction to a constant temperature (20°C) using the measured or calculated coefficient k.     

The first case of anoxia in waters of the Far East Marine Biosphere Reserve

In August 2013, anoxia of the bottom waters was established in the southern region of the Far East Marine Biosphere Reserve, Far East Branch, Russian Academy of Science, in the depression between Furugelm Island and coastal waters. Death of the benthic community was registered using a remotely operated underwater vehicle. The hydrochemical studies revealed that the area of the absence and/or presence of low oxygen contents corresponds to an area of anomalously high contents of ammonium, phosphates, and silicates, a high partial pressure of carbon dioxide and normalized alkalinity, and the presence of hydrogen sulfide. The microbiological decomposition of diatoms precipitated on the seafloor in the absence of oxygen regeneration was the reason for anoxia. Its formation in summer of 2013 was caused by anomalously abundant precipitates in the Far East.     

Algorithm for Calculating the Mineralization of Riverine Waters and Salinity of Estuarine Waters from Conductivity Data

Oceanology - The empirical relationship between the mineralization of riverine waters and specific conductivity normalized to 15°C was obtained in testing Razdolnaya River water from March...     

Fine hydrochemical structure of the redox zone in the black sea according to the results of measurements with an open oxygen sensor and with bottle samplers

This study is based on the data obtained on July 14–17, 2004 over a section across the coastal anticyclonic eddy near the town of Tuapse. The data on the oxygen distribution obtained by the Winkler procedure and with an open (membrane-free) sensor with a 15-cm spatial resolution were compared. The divergence of the results in the lower part of the oxycline was 3 μmol or lower; the sensor error was estimated as 1 μmol. The previous data on the absence of the layer of oxygen and hydrogen sulfide coexistence were confirmed. It was shown that the lower boundary of oxygen permeation (where its concentration appeared to be below 1.0 μmol) closely coincided with the upper boundary of the bivalent manganese occurrence, because their coexistence layer was 1 ± 1 m in thickness. Within the same layer or 1–2 m above it, the upper boundary of the deep-sea ammonium and the phosphate minimum were situated. These data may be treated in the following way: oxygen is completely utilized for the oxidation of ammonia and bivalent manganese, and the oxidized suspended manganese formed sinks and is utilized in the reactions of hydrogen sulfide oxidation. The role of the near-slope downwelling (the supply of oxygen-enriched waters to the layers close to the redox zone), which was also observed in the cross section, is discussed.     

Influence of the dynamics of currents on the hydrophysical structure of the waters and the vertical exchange in the active layer of the Black Sea

An analysis of the data of measurements of the fine structure and microstructure fluctuations of hydrophysical fields in the upper 200-m layer of the Black Sea carried out using CTD profilers and a Baklan free falling microstructure and turbulence profiler revealed the existence of a positive correlation between the intensity of the fine structure and microstructure fluctuations and the dynamics of the currents. On the other hand, the level of the fine structure and microstructure fluctuations reflects the rate of the vertical turbulent exchange. It was shown that, in the case of the absence of the Black Sea Rim Current (BSRC) jet or clearly manifested mesoscale eddy structures, the vertical turbulent exchange in the pycnocline is weak, while, in the opposite case, it is stronger. The results obtained support the supposition that the interbasin dynamics play an important role in the maintenance of the rate of small-scale mixing in the pycnocline and halocline and provide the vertical transport of dissolved oxygen from the cold intermediate layer into the deeper layers of the sea.     

On the transformation of the chemical composition of the Volga River discharge waters at the Caspian shallows

The Volga River discharge consists of the waters transferred by fast currents through channels and the waters which are passing through the shallow areas of the delta overgrown by cane. Using the hydrochemical data, it is possible to track distribution of the waters modified by “biofilters” of macrophytes in the delta shallows starting from the external edge of the delta. The main distinctive features of these waters are the high content of dissolved oxygen, the abnormally high values of the pH, and the low content of dissolved inorganic carbon (both total and as CO₂). These waters extend in the shape of 1 to 3-km-wide strips at a distance of 20–40 km from the outer border of the delta. The analysis of the data obtained during the expeditions run by the Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2003–2009, along with archived and published data, show that such “modified” waters occur almost constantly along the outer edge of the Volga River delta.