Emerging and Persistent Pollutants in the Aquatic Ecosystems of the Lower Danube Basin and North West Black Sea Region—A Review

The tremendous impact of natural and anthropogenic organic and inorganic substances continuously released into the environment requires a better understanding of the chemical status of aquatic ecosystems. Water contamination monitoring studies were performed for different classes of substances in different regions of the world. Reliable analytical methods and exposure assessment are the basis of a better management of water resources. Our research comprised publications from 2010 regarding the Lower Danube and North West Black Sea region, considering regulated and unregulated persistent and emerging pollutants. The frequently reported ones were: pharmaceuticals (carbamazepine, diclofenac, sulfamethoxazole, and trimethoprim), pesticides (atrazine, carbendazim, and metolachlor), endocrine disruptors—bisphenol A and estrone, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, organochlorinated pesticides, and heavy metals (Cd, Zn, Pb, Hg, Cu, Cr). Seasonal variations were reported for both organic and inorganic contaminants. Microbial pollution was also a subject of the present review.

Scythian barrow 12 of the «Sluiceway» Group in the Lower Dniester

The article publishes and analyzes the materials obtained in the study of the barrow 12 of the «Sluiceway» («Vodovod») group near the Glinoe village, Slobodzeya district, on the left bank of the Lower Dniester. The grave in a catacomb of the type I (undercut) was the main under the mound, and three other in the pits were secondary. A similar situation is extremely rarely recorded in the North-West Black Sea region. The construction of round cult pits accompanying the main burial is also noteworthy. The handmade pot with a beak from the children’s burial indicates the manufacture of special dishes designed for dispensing food during feeding. The finding of the miniature bracelet with a plate receiver in the burial of a child, apparently, indicates the Thracian influence on the material culture of the Scythians of the North-West Black Sea Region, at least from the second half of the 4th century BC. It was at this time that the published mound was built and graves were made under its mound. Materials from the barrow Glinoe / «Sluiceway» 12 and other, later, Scythian burials on the left bank of the Lower Dniester demonstrate that the Scythian culture of the North-West Black Sea region continues to maintain its originality not only in the second half of the 4th century BC, but also in the next two centuries.

Diversity and distribution of the millipedes (Diplopoda) of Georgia, Caucasus

The diplopod fauna of Georgia, Transcaucasia, is very rich given the country’s relatively small territory; it presently comprises 103 species from 44 genera, 12 families, and 7 orders. Most of the Diplopoda known from Georgia (86 species, or 83%) demonstrate Caucasian distribution patterns, 36 and 46 species, as well as 8 and 9 genera being endemic or subendemic to the country, respectively. A single Holarctic family, Anthroleucosomatidae (order Chordeumatida), contains 44 Caucasian species and 20 genera, of which 27 species and 14 genera are endemic or subendemic to Georgia. Likewise, all species from the orders Polyzoniida, Siphonocryptida, Glomerida and Chordeumatida, as well as most species of Julida and Polydesmida are native, also endemic or subendemic to the Caucasus, but the genera and families they represent are widely distributed at least across the Euro-Mediterranean Realm. Most of the presumed troglobionts in the Caucasus appear to be confined to western Georgia’s karst caves (14 species, 5 genera). Within Georgia, the fauna of the western part (= Colchis) is particularly rich and diverse, while that of the central and eastern parts of the country grows increasingly depauperate inland following the gradual climatic aridisation from west (Black Sea coast) to east (Armenia and Azerbaijan). The vertical distribution of the Diplopoda in Georgia, as well as the Caucasus generally, shows the bulk of the fauna restricted to forested lowland to mountain biomes or their remnants. Only very few Chordeumatida and Julus species seem to occur solely in the subalpine to alpine environments and thus may provisionally be considered as high-montane elements. Ongoing and future research on the millipedes of the Caucasus, especially in cave and montane environments, will undoubtedly allow for many more novelties and details of the diversity and distribution of Georgia’s Diplopoda to be revealed or refined.

Contribution to the Knowledge on Distribution of Tardigrada in Turkey

Tardigrades have been occasionally studied in Turkey since 1973. However, species number and distribution remain poorly known. In this study, distribution of Tardigrades in the province of Karabük, which is located in northern coast (West Black Sea Region) of Turkey, was carried out. Two moss samples were collected from the entrance of the Bulak (Mencilis) Cave. A total of 30 specimens and 14 eggs were extracted. Among the specimens; Echiniscus granulatus (Doyère, 1840) and Diaforobiotus islandicus islandicus (Richters, 1904) are new records for Karabük. Furthermore, this study also provides a current checklist of tardigrade species reported from Turkey, indicating their localities, geographic distribution and taxonomical comments.

The structure of the lithosphere, tectonics and evolution of the Scythian Plate and adjacent structures in the section of the Bs05-22 profile (according to 2-d density modeling)

A density model was built along the Bs05-22 profile, which made it possible to identify individual blocks with different crustal parameters. The consolidated crust of the East European Platform (EEP) has a “key” structure. The southern boundary of the EEP is clearly fractured and falls to the south at an angle of about 83° The South Ukrainian monocline (SUM) covers not only the basement of the EEP but also the northern part of the Scythian Plate (SP). The central part of SP block overlapped by the SUM is characterized by the maximum capacity of the folded-metamorphic base. The axial part of the Karkinit Trough (KT) has a structure typical for riftogens. The rift is practically one-sided with a width of 6.5 km. The southern slope of the KT developed as a result of the falling of the surface by the mechanism of the planj-principle. The border between the Karkinit Trough and the Kalamitsky rise (KR) is clearly defined by the Sulinsko-Tarkhankutsk fault. The core of the KR is a sufficiently massive body of lenticular shape with a density corresponding to the Taurian series of the Mountainous Crimea. There is a narrow transition zone between KT and Edge step (ES). The southern edge of the Scythian plate is a 25,0 km wide transition zone to West-Black Sea depression (WBSD). Modeling established the extension of the “granodiorite” layer into the WBSD for 100 km. The crust thickness within the EEP is 44,0 km, on the Scythian plate under SUM is average 43.5 km, 37,0 km within KT and 33,0 km under ES, in the West Black Sea basin 28,7 km under the foot of the Upper Cretaceous continental slope and 21,5 km at the southern edge of the profile. In the model chosen, the density of tectonic faults in the EEP is 0,06 and in the SP — 0,14 per 1,0 km. Vertical shifts of crystalline crust blocks at SP reach 5,5 km, which is almost three times higher than at the southern flank of the EEP. The most of disjunctions are vertical and have transcrust stretch. The structure of the Earth’s crust obtained as a result of modeling allowed us to draw some conclusions about the Meso-Cenozoic evolution of the studied region in the profile section. At the southern edge of the EEP in the Late Cimmerian tectogenesis epoch there has been a revitalization, in the Alpine phase this structure was generally passive. Activity of the Cimmerian epoch was observed throughout the Scythian plate: within the Kalmitsky rise from the early phase, and in the Karkinit Trough and on the Edge step from the late Cimmerian phase. The periods of activation on the KT and KR are traced up to the Sawa phase, and on the ES — to the Walach phase of the Alpine tectogenesis inclusive.