Abstract
The role of mesoscale structures (eddies, dipoles, jets) in horizontal mixing and coastalJdeep-basin water exchange in the Black Sea was investigated with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Advanced Very-High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) imagery during 1993 and 1996-1998, together with relevant meandaily meteorological data from seaports and available hydrographic data of different years. In summer 1993 two anticyclones with diameters of about 90 and 55 km co-existed without coalescence over the northwestern continental slope. Cyclones at the eddies' peripheries, entrained and ejected jets, filaments, and a pinched-off cyclone near Cape Hersones (44°35'N, 33°22'E) associated with wind-driven coastal upwelling contributed to the water exchange in the region. Four anticyclones about 50 km in diameter and associated cyclones at their peripheries were observed in the southeastern region in November 1996. Surface circulation in the region was considerably changed over several days because of the anticyclones' movements, and formations and disruptions of short-lived dipoles of anticyclones and associated cyclones at their peripheries. Near-shore anticyclonic eddies with diameters of 40-80 km and lifetimes up to one month, which form along the Caucasian coast and propagate with velocities up to 17 cm s-1 in the general direction of the Rim Current, can evolve into deep-sea eddies southwest of Novorossiisk. Offshore jets, up to about 200 km in length and associated with the anticyclones, are an effective mechanism of coastalJdeep-basin water exchange in the northeastern region.
Published Version
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