Abstract—
The water exchange between the Black Sea and the Azov Sea is investigated on the base of the marine observations aboard the R/V Deneb in 2018 and 2019. The surveys were conducted under different weather conditions, which led to large variability of the results. The northern wind contributes to the formation of water transfer to the south, which exceeds by five to six times the water transfer to the north; the southern wind leads to filling of the entire cross-section, 17 km wide, with waters flowing northward and a volume up to 30 times higher than the average flow rate of the Don River for the modern low-water period. In this study, the water circulation patterns of the Azov Sea on the surface and in the bottom layers were constructed, confirming the drift scheme of water movement. Inflows of Black Sea water to Temryuk Bay are described in detail. The classification of types of water stratification in Temryuk Bay was based on data from the Southern Scientific Center, Russian Academy of Sciences; four types have been distinguished, and restructuring of the types of stratification in relation to the sea salinization is observed.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The study was supported by the Russian Geographic Society (agreement Azov Complex Expedition no. 08/2019-I) and the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project no. 18-29-05078 mk “Study of the Effect of Destructor Organisms on Metals in the River–Seawater Mixing Zone in a Wide Range of Hydroclimatic Conditions”). The study was carried within a state task (topic no. 0256-2019-0028, no. АААА-А18-118122790121-5 “Marine Biogeosystems of Southern Russia and Their Watersheds in Arid Climate Conditions, Economic Development, and Modern Geopolitical Challenges.”
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Translated by N. Ruban
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Matishov, G.G., Grigorenko, K.S. Currents of the Azov Sea during the Don River Low-Water Period. Oceanology 61, 173–182 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0001437021020132
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0001437021020132