scholarly journals On the possible presence of oxygen in the upper sediment layer of the hydrogen sulfide zone in the Black Sea

2019 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 166-169
Author(s):  
P. A. Stunzhas ◽  
M. B. Gulin ◽  
A. G. Zatsepin ◽  
E. A. Ivanova

In the northeastern Black Sea the search was performed for living eukaryotic organisms (micro- and meiobenthos) in hypoxic and anoxic conditions as well as measurement of O2 in the bottom water layer and in the upper layer of sediments. The results have shown the presence of a deep maximum abundance of zoobenthos in a depth range of 215–244 m. This aggregation of benthic fauna occupies a layer of 30 m along the vertical. In general, the proportion of active meiobenthos was no greater than 1.5% of the total number of organisms recorded from the sample.The presence of aerobic benthos near the upper boundary of the H2S zone can be explained by: sliding down of sediments from a higher depth; quasi-periodic O2 supply due to fluctuations in the position of the isopycna and/or sinking of waters downslope in the bottom Ekman layer. Also, in the case of physical entry of oxygen into the bottom layer, it can remain for a relatively long time in the upper part of the H2S zone due to the lack of deep Mn+2 flux and reaction with it.

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 60-73
Author(s):  
Nelli G. Sergeeva ◽  
Derya Ürkmez

Deep-water meiobenthos of Turkish shelf has been evaluated at the Black Sea exit of İstanbul Strait (Bosphorus) and off Sinop peninsula as a result of three scientific cruises. Taxonomic diversity of meiobenthos communities was studied at the Black Sea exit of Bosphorus on a transect with a depth range of 75-300 m. The bottom sediments were collected at the area during two cruises, on board RV "Arar'' (of Turkey) and ''Maria S. Merian" (of Germany) in November 2009 and April 2010, respectively. Data on meiobenthos inhabiting both normoxic and extreme conditions was collected in the studied area and meiobenthos composition included 26 high level taxa. In addition, 2-3 morphotypes of benthic fauna were recorded as incertae sedis, which require further study. The number of higher taxa decreased from 22 to 14-8 when switching from oxygenic conditions (50-125 m) to the anoxic hydrogen sulphide environment (226-300 m). The constant components of meiobenthos included protists (Ciliophora, Gromiidea and soft-shelled Foraminifera), and metazoans were constantly represented by Nematoda and Harpacticoida. In 2011, a quantitative study on meiobenthic composition of the oxic/anoxic interface at the western part off Sinop Peninsula (Southern Black Sea) has also been investigated. The material was collected by ROVs during the expedition (Black Sea Leg) of the exploration vessel (E/V) Nautilus. Results showed that the taxa composition of meiobenthos ranged from 4 to 10 major groups. Free-living marine nematodes were numerically the dominant taxon at each station. Total abundances decreased in parallel to increasing water depth, hence decreasing oxygen levels.


Author(s):  
E. I. Nemchenko ◽  
O. A. Lipatnikova ◽  
L. L. Demina ◽  
M. D. Kravchishina ◽  
T. N. Lubkova

The trace element composition of the vertical section of the Black Sea bottom sediments was studied. Based on the calculated enrichment factors relative to the average composition of the earth’s crust, it was shown that a lithogenic source is predominant for most trace elements. Significant enrichment was obtained for Ca and Sr (due to bioaccumulation) and for S, As and Mo (as a result of hydrogen sulfide contamination processes and the influence of mud volcanoes). A specific conditions of sedimentation were estimated based on the elements’ ratios which indicate: a presence of exhalation components in the deposits (Fe+Mn/Ti), a range of transport of terrigenous material (Ti/Zr) were estimated; paleoreconstruction of salinity (Corg/S), as well as redox conditions in the bottom water layer (Mn/Fe, Mo/Mn, V/(V+Ni), V/Mn).


2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 20-38
Author(s):  
A. G. Zatsepin ◽  
V. V. Kremenetsky ◽  
O. I. Podymov ◽  
A. G. Ostrovsky

The preliminary results of an experimental study of a mechanism of the Black Sea anoxic layer ventilation related with the descent of oxygen-containing water down the bottom slope in Ekman boundary layer are presented. To study this mechanism, several automatic measuring stations were installed at the bottom of the shelf-continental slope zone in the depth range from 80 to 243 m, on the cross-section abeam of the Gelendzhik Bay. The observations that lasted for 1.5–2 months were fulfilled during two periods in the beginning and the end of 2018. The stations were registering hydrophysical (temperature, salinity, pressure and current velocity) and hydrochemical (dissolved oxygen concentration) parameters at a 0.5–2.5 m distance from the bottom. The acquired data are suitable for estimation of spatio-temporal parameters of water transfer in the bottom layer up and down the slope, depending on direction and intensity of alongshore current. Preliminary analysis of the first installation data confirmed the presence of bottom water transfer along the slope perpendicular to the shore. Also, in case of intense alongshore north-western current, a descent of the bottom layer water was observed. Such manner of water transfer conforms to both geostrophic adjustment and dynamics of the bottom Ekman boundary layer. However, variability of water density in the bottom layer, caused by vertical water transport, had about the same range as density fluctuations in the water column on the same depths. This fact disputes the effectiveness of Ekman transfer in the bottom layer as a water ventilation mechanism for the upper part of continental slope of the Black Sea (Zatsepin et al., 2007; Elkin, Zatsepin, 2017).


Author(s):  
George Gotsiridze

The work, on the one hand, highlights the mission of Europe, as an importer of knowledge, which has for centuries been the center of gravity for the whole world, and, on the other hand, the role of the Black Sea Region, as an important part of the Great Silk Road, which had also for a long time been promoting the process of rap-prochement and exchange of cultural values between East and West peoples, until it became the ‘inner lake’ of the Ottoman Empire, and today it reverts the function of rapproching and connecting civilizations. The article shows the importance of the Black Sea countries in maintaining overall European stability and in this context the role of historical science. On the backdrop of the ideological confrontation between Georgian historians being inside and outside the Iron Curtain, which began with the foundation of the Soviet Union, the research sheds light on the merit of the Georgian scholars-in-exile for both popularization of the Georgian culture and science in Eu-rope and for importing advanced (European) scientific knowledge to Georgia. Ex-change of knowledge in science and culture between the Black Sea region and Europe will enrich and complete each other through impact and each of them will have unique, inimitative features.


Author(s):  
Valenina Mordvinceva ◽  
Sabine Reinhold

This chapter surveys the Iron Age in the region extending from the western Black Sea to the North Caucasus. As in many parts of Europe, this was the first period in which written sources named peoples, places, and historical events. The Black Sea saw Greek colonization from the seventh century BC and its northern shore later became the homeland of the important Bosporan kingdom. For a long time, researchers sought to identify tribes named by authors such as Herodotus by archaeological means, but this ethno-deterministic perspective has come under critique. Publication of important new data from across the region now permits us to draw a more coherent picture of successive cultures and of interactions between different parts of this vast area, shedding new light both on local histories and on the role ‘The East’ played in the history of Iron Age Europe.


Brodogradnja ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 79-101
Author(s):  
Petar Georgiev ◽  
◽  
Yordan Garbatov ◽  

A study about the requirements and cargo transportation demand in the Black Sea as part of a multimodal transportation frame is performed, estimating the potential need of a ship fleet of multipurpose ships. The study performs conceptual multipurpose vessel design and fleet sizing using the long-time experience and statistics in defining main dimensions of the ship and her hull form, resistance and propulsion, weights, stability, free-board, seakeeping and manoeuvrability, capital, operational and decommissioning expenditure, where the optimal design solution is obtained based on the energy efficiency, shipbuilding, operation, and resale costs at the end of the service life. A discussion about possible applications of a different fleet of ship sizes in improving the cargo transportation efficiency considers the vessel's typical operational profile in such a way to maximise the economic impact conditional of the unsteady cargo flow and environmental impact.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 20-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. P. Bondarev ◽  
N. K. Revkov

Gastropod mollusk-invader Rapana venosa (Valenciennes, 1846) in the 1940s took a free ecological niche terminal predator in benthic communities of the Black Sea shelf and has become an important element of the ecosystem. The ability of rapa whelk to have a devastating impact on the biocenosis filter feeders determines the necessity of constant monitoring of this species populations’ state. The study of rapa whelk showed that the ecological role of this species is not limited to predation. Fairly large shell R. venosa is a solid substrate for alga, attached and restrictedly movable (sedentary) benthic animal organisms, among which mobile free-living forms sometimes find shelter. The aim of the work is to describe specific complex of epibiotic organisms formed on rapa-whelk shells, which is regarded as a consortium, where of R. venosa is the core. To study the consort community of R. venosa a sampling was made in 7 regions of the northern part of the Black Sea: 1 – Mamaia beach, Romania, 2 – the north-western part of the Black Sea (NWBS), Crimean sector, 3 – Sevastopol, 4 – Alupka, 5 – Yalta – Alushta, 6 – Karadag, 7 – the Kerch Strait. The sampling in the coastal zone (less then 15 m depth) was carried out by SCUBA and snorkel diving, deeper (up to 40 m) was used “Ocean-50”grab corer was used. Totally of 856 specimens of R. venosa were collected and analyzed. The main bulk of the material in the amount of 750 specimens of R. venosa was sampled in the coastal zone in Sevastopol vicinity (south-western Crimea) at the depth range of 1.5–10.0 m. The collection of the rapa whelk specimens was carried out totally and each specimen was placed in a separate plastic bag indicating the collection area, depth and biotope. Along with the mollusks sampling, visual observations and photographic fixation of hydrobionts in situ were carried out. Based on the research results the taxonomic list of rapa whelk epibiotic organisms was extended and for the first time the taxonomic composition of the mobile forms permanently or temporarily present in the R. venosa consortium was given. The first part of the investigation provides a list of rapa whelk epibionts taxa relating to four (Porifera, Cnidaria, Bryozoa, Chordata) of the seven detected Phyla with indication of sampling depths and bottom type and comments on the frequency of occurrence, the quantity and of their interaction with the consortium core. Phylum Porifera is represented by 1, Bryozoa – 3 Cnidaria – 2 and Chordata – 4 species. The drilling sponge Pione vastifica was found in all the investigated areas, except region 2 (NWBS), with a frequency of 20 to 90 % and the shell surface area damage was up to 100 % (average 30–35 %). Not numerous representatives of Cnidaria were found singly in the region 3 (Actinia equina) and in the region 5 (Diadumene lineata). Bryozoans are the most common group of animal-consorts of rapa whelk present in all the areas of our research. The frequency of their occurrence ranged from 10 to 100 %, the covering area of the shell surface was from 0 to 85 %. More than 90 % of the total surface area of rapana shell cover with bryozoans and their occurrence is in Cryptosula pallasiana. The second bryozoans’ species on development indices is Conopeum seurati, which was found in areas 3, 6 and 7, where the occurrence was up to 30 % and the coverage was up to 25 %. The other 3 species of bryozoans (Schizomavella auriculata, Bowerbankia imbricata, Hippothoa sp.) were found rarely. Representatives of Chordata – 2 species of ascidians (Botryllus schlosseri, Ciona intestinalis) and 3 species of fish (Diplecogaster bimaculata, Parablennius tentacularis, Scorpaena porcus) were recorded singly in regions 2, 3, 5. For the four Phyla of animal organisms considered the consorts list of R. venosa of the sandy bottom biotopes (10 species) is twice more numerous than that of the rocky eco-form (5 species). The organisms studied are of a different degree and nature of relations with the core consortium from commensalism to parasitism. Generalized information on periphyton and total coverage of rapa whelk shells with epibiotic complex is given. The results of the work show that in the Black Sea R. venosa has become an important element of the ecosystem, increasing biological diversity of the bottom fauna due to the formation of its own consortium complexes of epibiontic organisms.


Oceanology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. A. Stunzhas ◽  
M. B. Gulin ◽  
A. G. Zatsepin ◽  
E. A. Ivanova

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