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Based on average monthly data of the ORAS4 ocean reanalysis, the spatial distribution and values of anomalies of the ocean surface temperature and the velocity of surface currents occurring in the North Atlantic at the meridional displacements of the north wall of the Gulf Stream in January–February are determined. Gulf Stream North Wall Index data are used as data on Gulf Stream movements. The spatial distributions of anomalies corresponding to the northern and southern positions of the North Wall are based on averaging the fields of ocean surface temperature and the velocity of currents corresponding to each phase of the Gulf Stream North Wall index. It has been revealed that for meridional displacements of the North Wall of the Gulf Stream, statistically significant anomalies of the modulus of current velocity (0.03 m/s) and ocean surface temperature (1°C) are not only in the area of the Wall, but also along the entire northern boundary of the Gulf Stream. Here the value of the correlation coefficient of velocity time series with the Gulf Stream North Wall index is 0.56. As for temperature, the same coefficient is 0.50. Significant temperature anomalies (0.3°C) are found off the coast of the Iberian Peninsula and in the central part of the subtropical gyre. The values of the correlation coefficients of time series of the surface temperature and the index of the Gulf Stream in these areas are 0.48 and 0.53 respectively.

Purpose. The paper is aimed at studying the relationship between the wind regime and the wind stress curl in the Black Sea and the long-term changes in the large-scale sea level pressure field in winter months. Methods and Results. The data on wind speed and sea level pressure in January – February from the NCEP/NСAR reanalysis for 1948–2018 are used. Based on the 6-hour data, the synoptic conditions accompanied by high and low values of the wind stress curl in the sea were determined. The synoptic situations in which a vast anticyclone is located north and northeast of the sea, and the area of low pressure – to the southwest of the sea in the Mediterranean region, are accompanied by the northeast and east winds, and by the cyclonic curl predominance. On the contrary, passing of the cyclones to the north of the sea and increase of pressure to the southwest are followed by the westerly and southwesterly winds, and by the anticyclonic curl predominance. Extremely high monthly mean values of the cyclonic curl were observed in those years, when the area occupied by the Siberian anticyclone increased and expanded westward, so that the Black Sea was on the southwestern periphery of its spur. Extremely low values of the anticyclonic curl were noted when the Azores anticyclone area expanded to the Mediterranean region. The wind stress curl changes on the multidecadal scales have shown its relation to the global changes in the field of the sea level pressure and the sign of the pressure anomalies at the low latitudes. Conclusions. The opposite sign of the surface pressure anomalies to the northeast and southwest of the sea is accompanied by the highest values of the wind stress curl.

The purpose of this study is to identify trends in the long-term variability of the wind stress curl in the Black Sea and to analyze its response to changes in the direction of the prevailing wind flow over the sea. NCEP/NCAR reanalysis (1948–2016) and ERA Interim reanalysis (1979–2016) wind data at 10-m height are used. The temporal and spatial characteristics of the wind stress curl are compared by using these reanalyses with various spatial resolutions. Interannual changes in the wind stress curl are examined with long-term time series data of NCEP/NCAR reanalysis. The wind stress curl seasonal cycle, the dependence of its magnitude on wind direction, and the frequency of wind direction are in good agreement for the two reanalyses. There are multi-year periods of predominant positive and negative anomalies of the curl according to annual mean and winter data. The cyclonic wind stress curl increases in the late 1960s and early 1970s and weakens at the end of the 1990s. There is a weak positive trend in the curl time series in summer. The long-term variations of the wind stress curl are related to changes in the wind frequency of certain directions. High values of positive correlation coefficients have been obtained between the time series of the basin-averaged wind stress curl and the frequency of northeastern, eastern winds, and negative coefficients for the frequency of southwestern, western winds.

On the basis of the results of processing of the archival hydrological data, we analyze the seasonal behavior of geostrophic circulation in the Black Sea and its long-term variations. It is shown that the variations of currents on the decadal time scales with different manifestations in different seasons lead to changes in the characteristics of the seasonal course of geostrophic circulation in the second half of the last century. The intensification of winter circulation and weakening of summer circulation observed since the mid-1970s result in the increase in the amplitude of the annual course of current velocity on the sea surface. We also discuss possible causes of variations in the intensities of geostrophic currents in the Black Sea.

The Black Sea density fields and geostrophic circulation in the 0–300-dbar layer are reconstructed from the February archive hydrological data for several decades from 1951 to 1995 and then their interdecadal variability is studied. A gradual rise of the pycnocline is noted in the dome region of large-scale cyclonic gyrals from 5 m at the top of the pycnocline to 10–15 m at 100–300-m levels. Differently directed tendencies of long-term variability of the winter circulation are revealed: circulation intensification in the upper 0–50-m layer (except for the southwestern sea) and weakening in the lower pycnocline 200–300-m layer. The connection with the wind vorticity variability, river runoff, precipitation, and air temperature is analyzed. Strengthening of the cyclonic wind vorticity in the 1960s and the early 1970s is in good agreement with the circulation intensification of that time in the eastern sea.

In order to reconstruct the large-scale temperature and salinity fields by the method of optimal interpolation of the archival data, we compute the correlation functions and analyze the space and time variations of the statistical structure of the fields. On the sea surface, the thermohaline fields are spatially inhomogeneous. Thus, the correlation functions are anisotropic in the region of the northwest shelf and close to isotropic in the inner parts of the sea. The values of correlation length vary from season to season. In the layer of pycnocline, the temperature and salinity fields are anisotropic. In the zonal direction, the correlation length is 2–3 times greater than in the meridional direction. The indicated anisotropy becomes stronger in the winter season and weaker in the summer season as a consequence of the seasonal variability of large-scale circulation. We study the dependence of the error of reconstruction of the fields by the method of optimal interpolation on the form of approximation of the correlation functions with regard for anisotropy.

On the basis of the climatic data array on temperature and salinity including the data of observations carried out at 102,000 oceanographic stations in 1910–1998, we estimate the amount of available potential energy of large-scale processes in the 0–300-m layer of the Black Sea and study its annual variability. The annual average amount of available potential energy in the active 0–300-m layer is equal to 13.5×1014 J, its maximum amount attained in March is 25×1014 J, and its minimum amount attained in August is 8×1014 J. In the autumn–winter period, the density of available potential energy in the 0–50-m layer increases and its maximum is attained in December–January (30 J/m3). Beginning with January, the density of available potential energy increases in the layer of the main pycnocline (50–150 m). Its maximum is attained in March (50 J/m3) and then this quantity decreases till August (down to 14 J/m3). In August, we study the interdecadal variability of the available potential energy in the 50–300-m layer by using the data accumulated for decadal periods with five-year shifts in 1956–1995. The maximum variability is observed at a depth of 100 m. The maximum average (over the sea) amounts of available potential energy were observed in 1961–1970 and 1986–1995. The minimum amounts were recorded in 1976–1985.