Research Information System
PROGRESS IN OCEANOGRAPHY, vol.31, no.3, pp.275-320, 1993 (SCI-Expanded)
After its entry into the Black Sea from the Bosphorus Strait, Mediterranean Water first evolves by mixing with the Cold Intermediate Water on the shelf region, and later sinks along the continental slope, reaching the halocline in the form of cold anomalies. The intrusion of the modified waters drives a series of intermediate depth nepheloid layers spreading from the southwestern margin into the interior of the Black Sea basin. In many cases, the temperature, salinity, suspended matter and other properties of the intruding layers in the interior can be traced back to the southwest shelf region. The opposing effects of the existing temperature and salinity gradients on the stability of the interior density stratification, and the anomalous temperature and salinity of the intrusions themselves, result in a unique mechanism of double diffusive convection at intermediate depth.