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Black Sea thermohaline properties: Long-term trends and variations
S Miladinova1,2, A Stips1, E Garcia-Gorriz1
1DG Joint Research Centre, Directorate D - Sustainable Resources, Water and Marine Resources Italy.
Journal of Geophysical Research. Oceans
|October 10, 2017
Summary
The Black Sea shows a warming intermediate layer and complex salinity changes due to circulation shifts. These dynamics reveal distinct periods impacting its thermohaline structure and circulation patterns.
Area of Science:
- Oceanography
- Climate Science
- Geophysics
Background:
- Limited data hinders understanding of the Black Sea's spatial and temporal thermohaline dynamics.
- Existing measurements are sparse in both space and time, creating knowledge gaps.
Purpose of the Study:
- To simulate Black Sea hydrodynamics over 56 years using a 3D model.
- To analyze independent temporal trends and spatial structure of the thermohaline properties.
- To identify distinct dynamic periods and their impact on circulation and salinity.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the 3D General Estuarine Transport Model (GETM) for continuous simulations.
- Ran simulations without relaxation toward climatological or observational data.
- Analyzed 56 years of hydrodynamic data to identify trends and dynamic periods.
Main Results:
- Observed a weak warming trend in the intermediate layer temperature.
- Identified negative surface and upper salinity trends, and a positive main halocline trend.
- Detected three distinct dynamic periods (1960-1970, 1970-1995, 1995-2015) with significant changes in circulation and thermohaline properties.
Conclusions:
- Black Sea circulation strengthened, with intensified mesoscale anticyclonic eddy formation.
- Sea surface salinity is influenced by competing large-scale circulation (increasing salinity) and anticyclonic eddies (decreasing salinity).
- Temporal salinity evolution results from the interplay between these opposing dynamic processes.
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