Inter-Annual Variability of Water Exchange between the Azov Sea and the Sivash Bay through the Tonky Strait

Е. S. Eremina1, ✉, V. P. Evstigneev2, 3

1 Marine Hydrophysical Institute of RAS, Sevastopol, Russian Federation

2 Sevastopol State University, Sevastopol, Russian Federation

3 Sevastopol Center for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring, Sevastopol, Russian Federation

✉ e-mail: shchurova88@gmail.com

Abstract

Purpose. The work is aimed at studying the components’ intra- and inter-annual variability in the water exchange between the Sivash Bay and the Sea of Azov through the Tonky Strait at the current climatic period based on the empirical conversion schemes and using the hydrometeorological observation data obtained at the nearby stations.

Methods and Results. Using the data on the sea level, and the wind direction and speed, the runoffs of the Azov Sea and the Sivash Bay waters in the Tonky Strait during 1966–2013 are calculated by two methods developed by Slatinsky Yu.G. in 1969 and Raskin L.G. in 1992. Predominance of the Azov currents over the Sivash ones is revealed. Seasonal and long-term dynamics of the runoff values in the strait are given based on the monthly average and annual average data. The data on the wind regime variability in the Genichesk region, and the sea level at the Genichesk meteorological station and at the Chongarsky bridge meteorological post are cited.

Conclusions. The calculations show that the average annual inflow of the Azov waters through the Tonky Strait varies within the wide range 0.3 km3 – 1.18 km3, and the outflow of the Sivash waters constitutes on average 0.26 km3 per year. Difference between the water inflow and outflow in the strait is characterized by high inter-annual variability. Over the whole period under study, it amounted on average up to 0.45 km3. In the components’ spectrum of water exchange between the Sivash Bay and the Azov Sea, distinguished are the ~ 4 year fluctuations of the Sivash waters outflow from the bay, and the 3 and 5–6 year fluctuations of the Azov Sea waters inflow to the Sivash Bay. Multi-year variability of the Sivash water outflow with the 4 year periodicity is conditioned by the same precipitation amount periodicity over the Sivash Bay.

Keywords

water balance, water exchange, sea level, Tonky Strait, Sivash, Sea of Azov

Acknowledgements

The work was carried out within the framework of the state task on theme No. 0827-2019-0004 "Complex interdisciplinary studies of oceanological processes that determine functioning and evolution of ecosystems of the coastal zones of the Black and Azov seas". The investigation of V. P. Evstigneev was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research within the framework of project No. 19-05-00803.

Original russian text

Original Russian Text © Е. S. Eremina, V. P. Evstigneev, 2020, published in MORSKOY GIDROFIZICHESKIY ZHURNAL, Vol. 36, Iss. 5, pp. 532–544 (2020)

For citation

Eremina, Е.S. and Evstigneev, V.P., 2020. Inter-Annual Variability of Water Exchange between the Azov Sea and the Sivash Bay through the Tonky Strait. Physical Oceanography, 27(5), pp. 489-500. doi:10.22449/1573-160X-2020-5-489-500

DOI

10.22449/1573-160X-2020-5-489-500

References

  1. Waycott, M., Duarte, C.M., Carruthers, T.J.B., Orth, R.J., Dennison, W.C., Olyarnik, S., Calladine, A., Fourqurean, J.W., Heck Jr., K.L., Hughes, A.R., Kendrick, G.A., Kenworthy, W.J., Short, F.T. and Williams, S.L., 2009. Accelerating Loss of Seagrasses across the Globe Threatens Coastal Ecosystems. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(30), pp. 12377-12381. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0905620106
  2. Carstensen, J., Klais, R. and Cloern, J.E., 2015. Phytoplankton Blooms in Estuarine and Coastal Waters: Seasonal Patterns and Key Species. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 162, pp. 98-109. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2015.05.005
  3. Wooldridge, T.H., Adams, J.B. and Fernandes, M., 2016. Biotic Responses to Extreme Hypersalinity in an Arid Zone Estuary, South Africa. South African Journal of Botany, 107, pp. 160-169. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sajb.2016.05.004
  4. Prazukin, A.V., Anufriieva, E.V. and Shadrin, N.V., 2018. Cladophora Mats in a Crimean Hypersaline Lake: Structure, Dynamics, and Inhabiting Animals. Journal of Oceanology and Limnology, 36(6), pp. 1930-1940. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-018-7313-4
  5. Potter, I.C., Chuwen, B.M., Hoeksema, S.D. and Elliott, M., 2010. The Concept of an Estuary: A Definition That Incorporates Systems Which Can Become Closed to the Ocean and Hypersaline. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 87(3), pp. 497-500. doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2010.01.021
  6. Largier, J.L., Hollibaugh, J.T. and Smith, S.V., 1997. Seasonally Hypersaline Estuaries in Mediterranean-climate Regions. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 45(6), pp. 789-797. https://doi.org/10.1006/ecss.1997.0279
  7. Sovga, E.Е., Eryemina, E.S. and Khmara, T.V., 2018. Water Balance in the Sivash Bay as a Result of Variability of the Natural-Climatic and Anthropogenic Factors. Physical Oceanography, 25(1), pp. 67-76. doi:10.22449/1573-160X-2018-1-67-76
  8. Kostyushina, V.A. and Fesenko, G.V., eds., 2007. Sivash Region: a Brief Socioeconomic Overview. Kiev: Wetlands International Black Sea Progr., 178 p. (in Russian).
  9. Shchurova, E.S., Stanichnaya, R.R. and Stanichnuy, S.V., 2016. Using Satellite Data to Study the Current State of the Sivash Bay. Ecological Safety of Coastal and Shelf Zones of the Sea, (3), pp. 61-64 (in Russian).
  10. Ponizovskiy, A.M., 1965. [Salt Resources of Crimea]. Simferopol: Crimea, 163 p. (in Russian).
  11. Dyakov, N.N. and Belogudov, A.A., 2015. Water Exchange of the Gulf Sivash with the Sea of Azov through the Strait Genichesk (Thin). In: SOI, 2015. Proceedings of N.N. Zubov State Oceanographic Institute. Moscow, 2015. Issue 216, pp. 240-253 (in Russian).
  12. Slatinskiy, Y.G., 1969. [About Waters Exchange between the Sivash and the Sea of Azov through the Tonky Strait]. Collection of Works of the Basin Hydrometeorological Observatory of the Black and Azov Seas, (7), pp. 38-54 (in Russian).
  13. Raskin, L.G, 1992. About Water Exchange through the Thin Strait. In: SOI, 2015. Proceedings of N.N. Zubov State Oceanographic Institute. Moscow, 2015. Issue 205, pp. 21-31 (in Russian).
  14. Polonsky, A., Evstigneev, V., Naumova, V. and Voskresenskaya E., 2014. Low-Frequency Variability of Storms in the Northern Black Sea and Associated Processes in the Ocean–Atmosphere System. Regional Environmental Change, 14(5), pp. 1861-1871. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-013-0546-z
  15. Ilyin, Y.P., Fomin, V.V., Dyakov, N.N. and Horbach, S.B., 2000. Hydrometeorological Conditions of the Ukrainian Seas. Volume 1: Sea of Azov. Sevastopol: ECOSI-Hydrophysics, 402 p.
  16. Evstigneev, V.P. and Eremina, E.S., 2019. Calculation of Precipitation over the Sivash Bay. Ecological Safety of Coastal and Shelf Zones of the Sea, (2), pp. 19-29. doi:10.22449/2413-5577-2019-2-19-29 (in Russian).
  17. Brockwell, P.J. and Davis, R.A., 1991. Time Series: Theory and Methods. Springer, 580 p. doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-0320-4

Download the article (PDF)