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Combination of altimetry-based method of eddy identification and historical hydrological measurements for 1992–2015 is used to analyze the thermohaline and dynamic structure of the Black Sea eddies and its relation with eddy intensity, eddy age and season of a year. Anticyclonic eddies (AEs) are characterized by negative salinity anomalies, which can reach −1.7 psu at the depth of the main halocline. The temperature anomalies are positive in their upper layers, and negative in the deeper layers, because of the vertical displacement of the waters of the Cold Intermediate Layer (CIL). Cyclonic eddies (CEs) have the opposite structure with increased salinity, colder upper layers and warmer deeper layers. Thermohaline anomalies in the eddies of both signs are maximal in summer, while in winter they are shallowest and minimal. The displacement of pycnocline in eddies causes the decrease/increase of stratification in the upper layer of AEs/CEs and opposite increase/decrease in their deeper layers. It also causes the deepening/uplift of the layer of maximum geostrophic vertical shear in AEs/CEs. The latter is the probable reason of the observed higher intensity and deeper penetration of orbital velocities in AEs than in CEs. The changes of isopycnals positions during the eddies’ lifetime are used to quantify the evolution of vertical velocity in AEs and CEs. In the beginning of AEs life during intensification phase, vertical velocity is directed downward, while during the decaying phase it change its sign and is directed upward. The opposite is observed in CEs. Vertical velocity is maximal at the pycnocline depth of 100–110 m with values changing from (−8 to 8) ∗ 10−6 m/s in AEs, and from (+5 to −25) ∗ 10−6 m/s in CEs. Eddies thermohaline structure and altimetry-derived orbital velocity is tightly related. This relation obtained in the study and altimetry-derived data on the distribution of eddy frequency, translational speed and orbital velocity is used to quantify eddies salt, heat content and transport in the basin. The transport velocity of water in the eddies core (2–4 cm/s) is significantly smaller than the average velocity of the large-scale currents (∼10–40 cm/s). Such slowing causes the “relative” transport of eddies against the mean flow direction. This effect leads to the accumulation of brackish and cold water in the deep layers of east Black Sea and maintain the observed east-west asymmetry of the basin thermohaline fields.

Microlitter (0.5-5mm) concentrations in water column (depth range from 0 to 217.5m) of the main Baltic Proper basins are reported. In total, 95 water samples collected in 6 research cruises in 2015-2016 in the Bornholm, Gdansk, and Gotland basins were analysed. Water from 10- and 30-litre Niskin bathometers was filtered through the 174μm filters, and the filtrate was examined under optical microscope (40×). The bulk mean concentration was 0.40±0.58 items per litre, with fibres making 77% of them. Other types of particles are the paint flakes (19%) and fragments (4%); no microbeads or pellets. The highest concentrations are found in the near-bottom samples from the coastal zone (2.2-2.7 items per litre max) and from near-surface waters (0.5m) in the Bornholm basin (5 samples, 1.6-2.5 items per litre). Distribution of particles over depths, types, and geographical regions is presented.

The Black Sea shelf is a region of intense manifestation of various dynamical processes. Under the influence of different natural forces, eddy-wave phenomena develop here, which influence the general circulation of sea waters, biological productivity, and the condition of the engineering structures. Modern numerical models allow us to simulate and analyze the processes of the joint dynamics of marine circulation and large-scale waves. In this work, we study the spatiotemporal spectral characteristics of the sea level and velocity fluctuations formed due to atmospheric forcing and tidal potential. The hydrophysical fields are calculated using the Institute of Numerical Mathematics, Russian Academy of Sciences (INM RAS), σ model based on primitive equations. We use the CORE data as atmospheric forcing at the sea surface; the tidal potential is described by the semidiurnal lunar constituent M2. Analyzing the simulation results makes it possible to emphasize that accounting for the semidiurnal tidal potential not only improves the accuracy of the sea-level calculation at coastal stations, but also generates subinertial baroclinic oscillations previously found in the Black Sea from the data of in situ observations.

The transition from winter vertical mixing to the formation of the spring thermocline in the southeastern Baltic Sea is studied based on data from the hydrophysical measurements program (11 expeditions) in the Russian part of Gdansk Bay in March–June 2010, 2011, and 2013. CTD measurements were taken along the standard 18-km transect across the isobaths with a 500-m step abeam the city of Baltiysk. A set of frequently measured data was collected in a 1–2 week interval from the end of March to the beginning of May, which made it possible to analyze the transformation of the vertical thermal structure of water from inverse winter type to the summer stratification with the transition of temperature over the temperature of the density maximum. Series of repeated measurements at the deep and coastal stations as well as surface and subsurface towed measurements were carried out. The fact that lenses of freshened warmer water appear at the surface almost simultaneously with intensification of cold intrusions in intermediate (10–40 m) layers makes it possible not only to confirm the advective nature of the formation of the spring thermocline in the Baltic Sea, but also to hypothesize about the intensification of intrabasin exchange when winter-time vertical mixing ceases: the potential energy excess supported by vertical mixing in the 60-m upper quasi-homogeneous layer (UQL) of the Baltic Proper, in which the horizontal estuarine salinity gradient is significant, is converted to kinetic energy of exchange currents as the mixing process terminates. Such water dynamics makes it possible to explain the intensification of intrusions in the Baltic in spring and the formation of the cold intermediate layer due to the fast propagation of late-winter UQL water from the Bornholm Basin to the Baltic Proper. The results agree well with earlier published studies of other authors.

Purpose. The purpose consists in a combined analysis of satellite observations of surface manifestations of internal waves near the Crimean coast and the results of numerical simulation of influence of seasonal thermohaline conditions and the relief on their structure, dynamics and intensification. Methods and Results. Based on the analysis of remote sensing data using high-resolution sensors of the Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 satellites and the theoretical estimates, the main spatial and temporal characteristics of the internal waves on the Black Sea shelf near the Heracles Peninsula were determined. According to the temperature and salinity data obtained from the satellite measurements and the research vessels measurements in 1951–2008 from the Oceanographic Data Bank of Marine Hydrophysical Institute, the structure of density stratification was investigated, and buoyancy frequency profiles in the shelf and slope area from Yevpatoria to Yalta were obtained. Vertical velocity profiles of internal waves of the first three modes on the shelf were constructed. It was revealed that phase velocity of the internal waves of the first mode in the deep-sea part varied within the range of 2.6–5 m/s, the waves of the second mode – within 1.1–2.3 m/s, and the waves of the third mode – within 0.7–1.4 m/s. The average length of the waves detected from the satellite data was 0.4 km; the longest waves, about 1.1 km, were observed most often between Yevpatoria and Sevastopol, propagating predominantly to the northeast. Within the same train, wave dispersion occurred resulting in the wavelength diminution to 0.1–0.3 km. Conclusions. The stated assumption on the cause of generation of intense internal waves conditioned by the interaction of the Rim Current jet with the shelf edge was confirmed by the results of numerical calculations. Spatial and temporal characteristics of the internal waves, the integrated data of remote sensing and the modeling results make it possible to estimate vertical exchange at the shelf and to determine the depth of the maximum Brunt–Väisälä frequency.

Thermohaline intrusions are a typical feature of the Baltic Sea water body. We report observations of vivid colder/saltier intrusion activity in intermediate layers and upper pycnocline of the Gdansk Bay (the south-eastern part of the Baltic Sea) in early spring (March–April, 2013). Extremely low water temperature (down to 1.4–2 °C) and specific water salinity (SA7.5–7.8) of the intrusions point at a possible area of the intrusion waters formation: within the upper mixed layer in the Arkona/Bornholm basins at the end of March. Data on water temperature and salinity available from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) data repository, data of the Arkona Becken automated station, meteorological information, and remote sensing data for March–April 2013 are used to confirm the conclusions. It is confirmed once again that the transfer from the two-layered winter water stratification to the three-layered summer one in the Baltic Sea is a consequence of the sea-scale exchange process. The latter is manifested as simultaneous advection in upper and intermediate layers of waters with lower and higher salinity, correspondingly. The reported extremely cold intrusions indicate the beginning of the formation of the Cold Intermediate Layer (CIL), which thus contains waters of the Arkona/Bornholm basins. The main environmental factors driving the observed vivid intrusions in April 2013 are easterly winds and negative buoyancy fluxes due to seasonal solar heating of waters with the temperature below that of the density maximum. Substantial prolongation of the period of seasonal vertical mixing might be the most important process related to the transition of water temperature over the temperature of the density maximum (Tmd) in the Baltic Sea. With the climate warming, the cooling of surface waters below the Tmd becomes rare, limiting deep ventilation of Baltic waters in spring.

Simplified physical models and geometrical considerations reveal general physical and dynamical properties of microplastic particles (0.5–5 mm) of different density, shape and size in marine environment. Windage of extremely light foamed particles, surface area and fouling rate of slightly positively buoyant microplastic spheres, films and fibres and settling velocities of negatively buoyant particles are analysed. For the Baltic Sea dimensions and under the considered idealised external conditions, (i) only one day is required for a foamed polystyrene particle to cross the sea (ca. 250 km); (ii) polyethylene fibres should spend about 6–8 months in the euphotic zone before sinking due to bio-fouling, whilst spherical particles can be retained on the surface up to 10–15 years; (iii) for heavy microplastic particles, the time of settling through the water column in the central Gotland basin (ca. 250 m) is less than 18 h. Proper physical setting of the problem of microplastics transport and developing of physically-based parameterisations are seen as applications.

Mechanical fragmentation of four commonly used plastics, from 2-cm squares or cubes to microplastics (MPs

External oceanographic conditions rather than anthropogenic influence are shown to cause the 3-dimensional distribution of anthropogenic microparticles (MP, 0.5–5 mm) within the body of sandy beaches of a non-tidal sea with strong wind/wave climate and seasonal sea level variations (the Baltic Sea). A patchy structure is confirmed in all three dimensions, with background concentrations of several tens of MP items per kg of dry sample weight versus peaking spots with several hundreds of items per kg dry weight. The background MP concentrations are of the same order of magnitude for the beach surface, beach body, and sands of underwater coastal slopes, highlighting that the contaminated by MPs sand cover of the entire sea coastal zone is one single entity, repeatedly re-distributed between its underwater and beach parts by every next storm. Peaking concentrations are related to stormy events and places with stronger water dynamics, and are associated with locations of coarser sands within the beach body and wracklines at the beach surface. This suggests that marine waters are the source of anthropogenic microparticles for the beach, and not vice versa. The prevalence of wave-driven over wind-driven beaching mechanism for MPs extracted from the beach samples is confirmed by the flotation tests. Size distribution of the extracted MPs is found to be similar to that obtained for plastics floating at the ocean surface. Such a coherency for different oceanic environments speaks in favor of independence of general fragmentation processes on the particular external conditions, shifting the attention to the fragmentation process and material properties of synthetic particles in marine environment. Capsule Stormy winds, surface waves, and sea level variations rather than anthropogenic load define 3-d variability of pollution by synthetic microparticles within the sand body of beaches.