Abstract
AbstractHere, we revisit the existing concepts of the vertical structure of deep layers in the Black Sea using data from sensors deployed on profiling floats. The deep transition layer (DTL) between 700 and 1,700 m acts as an interface between the baroclinic layer and the largest bottom convective layer (BCL) of the world oceans. On top of DTL are the warm intermediate layer and deep cold intermediate layer. They both showed strong trends in the last 15 years due to warmer climate and intensification of warmer intrusions from Bosporus. A “salinity wave” was detected in 2005–2009 below ∼1,700 m, which evidenced for the first time the penetration of gravity flow from Bosporus down to the bottom. The layering of water masses was explained as resulting from the different distribution of sources of heat and salt, double diffusion, and balances between the geothermal and salinity flows in the BCL.
Highlights
It is a common knowledge that air-sea exchange, river runoff, and astronomical forces provide the major driving forces for the world ocean
The layering of water masses was explained as resulting from the different distribution of sources of heat and salt, double diffusion, and balances between the geothermal and salinity flows in the bottom convective layer (BCL)
The role of geothermal flows, which are much smaller than heat flows at the ocean surface, remains largely unknown
Summary
It is a common knowledge that air-sea exchange, river runoff, and astronomical forces provide the major driving forces for the world ocean. The Black Sea provides one such natural laboratory. It is one of the best places to observe the large-scale effects of bottom convection and double diffusion, as well as to develop concepts and methods, which can be transferred to other similar ocean areas. With a thickness of ∼400 m in the deepest parts of the sea, it is the largest known convective layer in the world's ocean spreading across the entire basin (Kelley et al, 2003; Radko, 2013). The temporal and spatial dynamics in deep layers of the Black Sea are not fully understood, nor is the overall significance of double diffusion for the thermohaline state of this basin
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