Specific features of the interannual and seasonal variations of hydrometeorological conditions in the region of Kerch Strait for the last two decades

Abstract

551.465On the basis of the analysis of the archival data, we reveal some regularities of the interannual and seasonal variations of the parameters of atmospheric transport, winds, air temperature, the amount of atmospheric precipitation in the Kerch region, the temperature of water in the Kerch Strait, and the water discharge through the strait observed for about the last two decades. It is shown that the intensities of the southeast atmospheric transport and wind activity predominant for the previous 30-yr period decreased for the analyzed time period as compared with the previous period, whereas the amount of atmospheric precipitation and the annual average temperatures of water in the strait and air in the Kerch region increased. We also reveal the presence of direct qualitative relationship between the intensity of atmospheric transport over the Kerch Strait and the water discharge in its water area.The water area of the Kerch Strait and the parts of the seas neighboring with this area are regarded as especially ecologically unfavorable regions of the Azov-Black-Sea basin. The powerful anthropogenic influence permanently increasing in this region strongly affects numerous important components of the ecosystem of the strait, such as the system of currents, water exchange, vertical stratification of waters, ice conditions, hypoxia, migration of commercial fishes, and their mass death. The above-mentioned problems and various aspects of these problems are now discussed in numerous works (see, e.g., [1][2][3][4][5][6]).The problems analyzed in the present work deal with poorly studied components of the ecological complex of the Kerch region. Thus, we consider the current state and time dependences of the principal meteorological elements of the region, as well as the temperature of water and its discharge through the Kerch Strait.Note that regular instrumental measurements of currents in the Kerch Strait aimed at the evaluation of the water discharge through its northern narrow neck are not performed for the last two decades. The absence of any data about the discharge and the impossibility of its direct evaluation at present make the solution of various practical and scientific problems quite complicated. In this connection, we make attempt to reveal the relationship between the water discharge through the Kerch Strait and the atmospheric transport over its water area. Material and MethodAt the beginning of the 1990s, the following significant changes were recorded in the interannual course and seasonal variations of the hydrometeorological characteristics of the analyzed region (note that these changes were not recorded earlier): the intensity of the predominant southeast atmospheric transport and wind activity decreased, the amount of precipitation increased, the annual average temperatures of water in the strait

Structure of the Field of the Colored Dissolved Organic Matter Concentration in the Kerch Strait

“…The most intense surge upwelling in the Kerch Strait is caused by the northwestern wind (https://meteopost.com/info/Upwelling/), and, according to [16], the frequency of wind in this direction during the year is 17%, this is the second significance of recurrence for the Kerch region. Therefore, it can be assumed that local wind upwelling is a significant factor contributing to the water column saturation with dissolved organic matter in the southern part of the strait, which in the ascending circulation system comes from the subsurface structural zone of the Black Sea.…”

Upwelling in the Kerch Strait and the Adjacent Waters of the Black Sea Based on the Contact and Satellite Data

“…According to this work, in the Kerch Strait and the adjacent Black Sea waters this type of upwelling is due to the northwestern wind. Its annual repeatability is 18% (according to results in [14]). That is, the situations considered in the present study correspond to the specific wind conditions that cause the surge phenomena in the considered water area.…”

Water exchange between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea through the Kerch Strait

“…Inflow of brackish waters from the Sea of Azov into the Black Sea forms a surface-advected AP, which spreads over wide areas (up to 2000 km 3 ) in the north-eastern part of the Black Sea (Aleskerovà et al, 2017;Kubryakov et al, 2019). Due to elevated concentrations of terrigenous sediments, nutrients, and anthropogenic pollutants in the waters of the Sea of Azov, the AP strongly influences physical, biological, and geochemical processes in the areas adjacent to the Kerch Strait in the north-eastern part of the Black Sea (Lomakin et al, 2010;Kolyuchkina et al, 2012;Aleskerovà et al, 2017;Izhitsky and Zavialov, 2017;and Zavialov et al, 2018). The AP is regularly entrained by mesoscale eddies formed in the Black Sea near the Kerch Strait that can significantly intensify cross-shelf transport of low-salinity water in the Black Sea (Kubryakov et al, 2019).…”

“…Many previous studies were focused on physical, biological, and geochemical processes related to water exchange between two large bodies of water through a narrow strait in different world regions; in particular this includes the Baltic and North seas through the Danish Straits (Matthäus and Lass, 1995;Sayin and Kraus, 1996;Jacobsen and Trebuchet, 2000;Sellschoppa et al, 2006;and She et al, 2007), the Black and Mediterranean seas through the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits (Yuce, 1996;Andersen et al, 1997;Gregg et al, 1999;Falina et al, 2017;Sozer and Ozsoy, 2017;and Stanev et al, 2017), the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean through the Strait of Gibraltar (Garret, 1996;Sannino et al, 2002;Beranger et al, 2005;and Soto-Navarro et al, 2015), the Bering and Chukchi seas through the Bering Strait (Woodgate et al, 2006(Woodgate et al, , 2010(Woodgate et al, , 2012Danielson et al, 2014), and the Patos Lagoon and the Atlantic Ocean (Castelao and Moller, 2006;Marques et al, 2009). A number of papers addressed the structure of and variability in circulation in the Kerch Strait (Simonov and Altman, 1991;Lomakin et al, 2010Lomakin et al, , 2016Lomakin et al, , 2017Sapozhnikov et al, 2011;Chepyzhenko et al, 2015;and Kubryakov et al, 2019) and the influence of water inflow from the Sea of Azov on the coastal ecosystem in the north-eastern part of the Black Sea (Lomakin et al, 2010;Kolyuchkina et al, 2012;Aleskerovà et al, 2017;Izhitsky and Zavialov, 2017;and Zavialov et al,...…”