Nutrient distribution in the Bosphorus and surrounding areas

2002 ◽  
Vol 46 (8) ◽  
pp. 59-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Okuş ◽  
A. Aslan-Yilmaz ◽  
A. Yüksek ◽  
S. Taş ◽  
V. Tüfekçi

As part of a five years monitoring project “Water Quality Monitoring of the Strait of Istanbul”, February-December 1999 nutrient dynamics of the Black Sea-the Sea of Marmara transect are studied to evaluate the effect of discharges given by deep disposals. Through a one-year study, upper layer nutrient concentrations were generally under the effect of northwestern-shelf Black Sea originated waters. This effect was strictly observed in July, when the upper layer flow was the thickest. On the other hand, partly in November but especially in December the northwestern-shelf Black Sea originated water flow was a minimum resulting in similar concentrations in both layers. Nutrient fluctuations also affected the chlorophyll a and POC concentrations as parameters of productivity. The nutrient concentrations decreased with the effect of spring bloom and highest chlorophyll a values were detected in November at Strait stations that did not match to the Sea of Marmara values. This fact represents the time-scale difference between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara. On the contrary, high nutrient concentrations in the lower layer (especially inorganic phosphate), and therefore low N:P ratios reflect the effect of deep discharge. Vertical mixing caused by meteorological conditions of the shallow station (M3) under the effect of surface discharges resulted in homogenous distribution of nutrients. Nutrient concentrations of the stations affected by deep discharge showed that the two-layer stratification of the system did not permit the discharge mix to the upper layer.

Author(s):  
Mehmet Özturk ◽  
Cihan Sahin ◽  
Yalcin Yuksel

Ocean currents represent a potentially notable, currently untapped, reservoir of energy. The regions with strong current velocities such as narrow straits connecting two water bodies exhibit high current energy (power) potential especially where the water depths are relatively shallow (EECA, 2009). The Bosphorus, connecting the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara, is a typical narrow sea strait that generally exhibits a two-layered flow pattern: the upper layer current flows south towards the Sea of Marmara while the underlying current flows in opposite direction towards the Black Sea (Yüksel et al., 2008). The predominant mechanisms for the upper and lower layer flows are the higher water level of the Black Sea and the denser water of the Sea of Marmara, respectively.


2002 ◽  
Vol 46 (8) ◽  
pp. 37-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Uysal ◽  
A. Yüksek ◽  
E. Okuş ◽  
N. Yilmaz

Spatial and temporal distribution of benthic communities around the Strait of Istanbul (Bosphorus) and the effect of lower layer discharge on these communities have been evaluated during studies between FebruaryÐDecember 1999. Mytilus galloprovincialis was the dominant species with fasies at the Black Sea station that is not affected by the strait lower layer current system. On the other hand, another Black Sea station, influenced by the strait lower layer currents, has a similar biota to the strait stations. Species richness and diversity is highest in the strait than other areas. The dominant species is Maera grossimana. However, the station located at the Black Sea exit of the strait has a different biota, and various groups/species appeared to be dominant. Melinna palmata is the dominant species at the Sea of Marmara during the study period. Low dissolved oxygen values of lower layer and soft substratum of sediment resulted in wide distribution of Melinna palmata, adapted to these conditions. The closer stations to the strait in the Sea of Marmara have higher diversity as a result of hydrodynamic processes. On the other hand, coastal stations with low currents and inputs have lower index values, showing the negative effect of discharges and pollution.


1995 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suleyman Tugrul ◽  
Colpan Polat

The Sea of Marmara, an intercontinental basin with two narrow and shallow straits permitting the exchange of the Mediterranean and Black Sea waters, receives 2.8×104 tons TP (total phosphorus), 2.7×105 tons TN (total nitrogen) and 1.9×106 tons TOC (total organic carbon) per year from the Black Sea inflow, from the lower layer by vertical mixing and from anthropogenic inputs of various origins including riverine discharges. The Black Sea input through the Bosphorus constitutes about 35, 64 and 77 %, respectively, of the total annual loads of TP, TN and TOC entering the Marmara surface waters. Pollution loadings from Istanbul make up a major fraction (40-65%) of the total anthropogenic discharges. The biochemical properties of the productive Marmara upper layer appear to be dominated by the inputs both from its lower layer by vertical mixing and from the Black Sea throughout the year. Pollution discharges from Istanbul have secondary importance for the nutrient and organic carbon pools of the Marmara Sea; however, the land-based chemical pollution has drastically modified the ecosystem of coastal margins and semi-enclosed bays (e.g. Golden Horn, Izmit and Gemlik) where water exchanges with the open sea are limited. Biologically labile nutrients increasingly exported from the Black Sea in the spring-early summer, are compensated by importation from the Marmara Sea through the Bosphorus underflow. The less labile dissolved organic nitrogen and carbon input from the Black Sea appears to reach as far as the Aegean basin of the Northeastern Mediterranean in 4-5 months without contributing to the net production in the Marmara Sea.


2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 3943-3962 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Capet ◽  
J.-M. Beckers ◽  
M. Grégoire

Abstract. The Black Sea northwestern shelf (NWS) is a shallow eutrophic area in which the seasonal stratification of the water column isolates the bottom waters from the atmosphere. This prevents ventilation from counterbalancing the large consumption of oxygen due to respiration in the bottom waters and in the sediments, and sets the stage for the development of seasonal hypoxia. A three-dimensional (3-D) coupled physical–biogeochemical model is used to investigate the dynamics of bottom hypoxia in the Black Sea NWS, first at seasonal and then at interannual scales (1981–2009), and to differentiate its driving factors (climatic versus eutrophication). Model skills are evaluated by a quantitative comparison of the model results to 14 123 in situ oxygen measurements available in the NOAA World Ocean and the Black Sea Commission databases, using different error metrics. This validation exercise shows that the model is able to represent the seasonal and interannual variability of the oxygen concentration and of the occurrence of hypoxia, as well as the spatial distribution of oxygen-depleted waters. During the period 1981–2009, each year exhibits seasonal bottom hypoxia at the end of summer. This phenomenon essentially covers the northern part of the NWS – which receives large inputs of nutrients from the Danube, Dniester and Dnieper rivers – and extends, during the years of severe hypoxia, towards the Romanian bay of Constanta. An index H which merges the aspects of the spatial and temporal extension of the hypoxic event is proposed to quantify, for each year, the intensity of hypoxia as an environmental stressor. In order to explain the interannual variability of H and to disentangle its drivers, we analyze the long time series of model results by means of a stepwise multiple linear regression. This statistical model gives a general relationship that links the intensity of hypoxia to eutrophication and climate-related variables. A total of 82% of the interannual variability of H is explained by the combination of four predictors: the annual riverine nitrate load (N), the sea surface temperature in the month preceding stratification (Ts), the amount of semi-labile organic matter accumulated in the sediments (C) and the sea surface temperature during late summer (Tf). Partial regression indicates that the climatic impact on hypoxia is almost as important as that of eutrophication. Accumulation of organic matter in the sediments introduces an important inertia in the recovery process after eutrophication, with a typical timescale of 9.3 yr. Seasonal fluctuations and the heterogeneous spatial distribution complicate the monitoring of bottom hypoxia, leading to contradictory conclusions when the interpretation is done from different sets of data. In particular, it appears that the recovery reported in the literature after 1995 was overestimated due to the use of observations concentrated in areas and months not typically affected by hypoxia. This stresses the urgent need for a dedicated monitoring effort in the Black Sea NWS focused on the areas and months concerned by recurrent hypoxic events.


Check List ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 1646 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Tiralongo ◽  
R. Baldacconi

Microlipophrys adriaticus (Steindachner & Kolombatovic, 1883) is an endemic blenny of the Mediterranean Sea. It is also known from the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. However, unlike other species of combtooth blennies, M. adriaticus is a fish with a limited distribution in Adriatic Sea, especially in the north, where it can be common. We report here the first record of this species from the waters of the Ionian Sea.


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