Major Ion Composition of Waters in the Kerch Strait and the Adjacent Areas

N. Yu. Andrulionis✉, I. B. Zavialov, S. A. Rozhdestvenskiy

Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of RAS, Moscow, Russian Federation

✉ e-mail: natalya@ocean.ru

Abstract

Purpose. The work is purposed at studying the influence of water exchange processes between the Black and Azov seas upon the characteristics of major ion composition (MIC) and other hydrochemical indicators of the Kerch Strait waters, as well as the impact of changes in the relative content of major ions of water salt composition upon the accuracy in determining salinity values. The MIC transformation during mixing of the sea surface waters and the Taman Bay ones in the Kerch Strait is investigated. The errors in calculating salinity by the standard methods are assessed for the Kerch Strait, the northeastern Black Sea and the Taman Bay waters.

Methods and Results. The concentrations of major ions determining MIC in the Kerch Strait, Black Sea and Taman Bay surface waters in 2019–2023 were defined by the potentiometric titration method. The water salinity values were obtained in four different ways.

Conclusions. It was established that the salinity value ~18.66 calculated by a sum of the major ions corresponds to the surface waters in the northeastern part of the Black Sea, that conforms to the practical salinity value ~18.10 calculated using the CTD probe data. On the average, MIC of these waters is characterized by the following relative content of major ions: Clˉ = 54.1%, SO42−= 8.2%, HCO3− = 1%, Na+ = 30.8%, K+ = 1.3%, Ca2+ = 1.3% and Mg2+ = 3.4%. It is shown that the Kerch Strait waters, even in case of their similar salinity, can have different ratios of the major ions characterized by high spatial and temporal variability which, in its turn, is subjected to a significant impact of the waters inflowing from the shallow Taman Bay. The largest differences were between the sum of major ions and the practical salinity. For the Kerch Strait waters, the differences averaged ~2.5%. The ionic variations contributed to underestimating the practical salinity values calculated for all the waters under study. In calculating salinity using the chlorine coefficient, the deviations from the sum of ions constituted ~2%, whereas those obtained using the TEOS-10 equations – ~1%.

Keywords

Kerch Strait, Black Sea, Taman Bay, Sea of Azov, determination of salinity, salinity, major ion composition, major ions, water exchange

Acknowledgements

The research was carried out with the support of Russian Science Foundation, grant No. 21-17-00191. The authors are grateful to all the participants of the expeditions in the Black Sea and the Kerch Strait in 2019–2023. Special thanks to Ph.D. G. A. Kolyuchkina, as well as to the employees of the Laboratory of Ecology of Coastal Bottom Communities (IO, RAS) and the participants of the expeditions in 2021 for delivery of the samples from the Taman Bay.

Original russian text

Original Russian Text © N. Yu. Andrulionis, I. B. Zavialov, S. A. Rozhdestvenskiy, 2024, published in MORSKOY GIDROFIZICHESKIY ZHURNAL, Vol. 40, Iss. 1, pp. 87–107 (2024)

For citation

Andrulionis, N.Yu., Zavialov, I.B. and Rozhdestvenskiy, S.A., 2024. Major Ion Composition of Waters in the Kerch Strait and the Adjacent Areas. Physical Oceanography, 31(1), pp. 79-98.

References

  1. Gershanovich, D.E., Ryabinin, A.I. and Simonov, A.I., eds., 1992. Hydrometeorology and Hydrochemistry of Seas in the USSR. Vol. 4. The Black Sea. Issue 2. Hydrochemical Conditions and Oceanological Basis for the Formation of Biological Productivity. Saint Petersburg: Gidrometeoizdat, 220 p. (in Russian).
  2. Fedorov, Yu.A., Sapozhnikov, V.V., Agatova, A.I., Arzhanova, N.V., Belov, A.A., Kuznetsov, A.N., Lapina, N.M., Loginov, E.B., Predeina, L.M. [et al.], 2007. Multidisciplinary Ecosystem Studies in the Russian Part of the Sea of Azov (July 18˗25, 2006). Oceanology, 47(2), pp. 294-297. doi:10.1134/S0001437007020166
  3. Andrulionis, N.Yu., Zavialov, P.O. and Izhitskiy, A.S., 2022. Effect of Variations in the Ion-Salt Water Composition on the Accuracy of Salinity Measurements. Physical Oceanography, 29(5), pp. 463-479. doi:10.22449/1573-160X-2022-5-463-479
  4. Goptareva, N.P., Simonova A.I., Zatuchnoy, B.M. and Gershanovich, D.E., 1991. Hydrometeorology and Hydrochemistry of Seas in the USSR. Vol. 5: The Azov Sea. Saint Petersburg: Gidrometeoizdat, 235 p. (in Russian).
  5. Dubinin, A.V., Dubinina, E.O., Demidova, T.P. and Chasovnikov, V.K., 2017. Sulfur Isotopes in the Upper Part of the Black Sea Anoxic Zone. Oceanology, 57(6), pp. 797-805. doi:10.1134/S0001437017060030
  6. Kremling, K., 1974. Relation between Chlorinity and Conductometric Salinity in Black Sea Water. In: E. T. Degens and D. A. Ross, 1974. The Black Sea – Geology, Chemistry, and Biology. Tulsa: American Association of Petroleum Geologists, pp. 151-154. doi:10.1306/M20377C44
  7. Konovalov, S.K. and Ryabinin, A.I., 1987. pH of the Black Sea Waters. Meteorology and Hydrology, (10), pp. 75-81 (in Russian).
  8. Makkaveev, P.N. and Bubnov, P.V., 1993. Specific Features of the Vertical Distribution of Components of the Carbonate System in the Aerobic Zone of the Black Sea. Okeanologiya, 33(3), pp. 354-359 (in Russian).
  9. Makkaveev, P.N., Nalbandov, Yu.R. and Vlasova, E.S., 2005. The Distribution of Dissolved Inorganic Carbon in the Zone of Contact of Aerobic and Anaerobic Waters of the Black Sea. Oceanology, 45(1), pp. S85-S92.
  10. Hiscock, W.T. and Millero, F.J., 2006. Alkalinity of the Anoxic Waters in the Western Black Sea. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 53(17-19), pp. 1787-1801. doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2006.05.020
  11. Khoruzhii, D.S., Ovsyanyi, E.I. and Konovalov, S.K., 2011. Comparison of the Results of Determination of the Carbonate System and the Total Alkalinity of Seawater According to the Data Obtained by Using Different Analytic Methods. Physical Oceanography, 21(3), pp. 182-194. doi:10.1007/s11110-011-9114-6
  12. Kosenko, Yu.V., Barabashin, T.O. and Baskakova, T.E., 2017. Dynamics of Hydrochemical Characteristics of the Sea of Azov in Modern Period of Salinization. Izvestiya Vuzov. Severo- Kavkazskii Region. Natural Science, 3(1), pp. 76-82. doi:10.23683/0321-3005-2017-3-1-76-82 (in Russian).
  13. Dashkevich, L.V., Berdnikov, S.V. and Kulygin, V.V., 2017. Many-Year Variations of the Average Salinity of the Sea of Azov. Water Resources, 44(5), pp. 749-757. doi:10.1134/S0097807817040042
  14. Berdnikov, S.V., Kleshchenkov, A.V., Grigorenko, K.S., Oleinikov, E.P., Moskovets, A.Yu., Dashkevich, L.V., Kulygin, V.V., Sorokina, V.V. and Soier, V.G., 2019. Results of Marine Scientific Research of the Southern Scientific Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences (SSC RAS) in the Sea of Azov in 2003–2018. Part 1: Hydrology and Hydrochemistry. Aquatic Bioresources & Environment, 2(3), pp. 7-19. doi:10.47921/2619-1024_2019_2_3_7 (in Russian).
  15. Reshetnyak, O.S. and Komarov, R.S., 2023. Interannual and Seasonal Variability of Chemical Runoff along the Main Delta Branches of the Kuban River. Lomonosov Geography Journal, 78(1), pp. 95-105. doi:10.55959/MSU0579-9414.5.78.1.8 (in Russian).
  16. Sapozhnikov, V.V., Arzhanova, N.V., Lapina, N.M., Agatova, A.I., Torgunova, N.I., Zozulya, N.M., Bondarenko, L.G., Vishnevsky, S.L., Radchenko, S.V. [et al.], 2013. Complex Ecological Studies in Kerch Strait and Taman’ Bight after Oil Spill (2007-2010). Trudy VNIRO, 150, pp. 65- 77 (in Russian).
  17. Ginzburg, A.I., Kostyanoy, A.G., Serykh, I.V. and Lebedev, S.A., 2021. Climate Change in the Hydrometeorological Parameters of the Black and Azov Seas (1980–2020). Oceanology, 61(6), pp. 745-756. doi:10.1134/S0001437021060060
  18. Demchenko, V.A., 2010. Features Impact Climate Change on Fish Community Basin of Azov Sea. Bulletin of Zaporizhzhia National University. Biological Sciences, 1, pp. 22-32 (in Russian).
  19. Zavialov, P.O., Zavialov, I.B., Izhitskiy, A.S., Izhitskaya, E.S., Konovalov, B.V., Krementskiy, V.V., Nemirovskaya, I.A. and Chasovnikov, V.K., 2022. Assessment of Pollution of the Kerch Strait and Adjacent Black Sea Area Based on Field Measurements of 2019-2020. Oceanology, 62(2), pp. 162-170. doi:10.1134/S0001437022020175
  20. Radulescu, V., 2023. Environmental Conditions and the Fish Stocks Situation in the Black Sea, between Climate Change, War, and Pollution. Water, 15(6), 1012. doi:10.3390/w15061012
  21. Ilyin, Yu.P., Fomin, V.V., Dyakov, N.N. and Gorbach, S.B., 2009. [Hydrometeorological Conditions of the Ukrainian Seas. Vol. 1: The Sea of Azov]. Sevastopol: ECOSI-Gidrofizika, 400 p. (in Russian).
  22. Ivanov, V.A. and Belokopytov, V.N., 2013. Oceanography of Black Sea. Sevastopol: ECOSI- Gidrofizika, 210 p.
  23. Zavialov, I.B., Osadchiev, A.A., Zavialov, P.O., Krementskiy, V.V. and Goncharenko, I.V., 2021. Study of Water Exchange in the Kerch Strait Based on Historical Data and Contact Measurements in 2019. Oceanology, 61(3), pp. 329-337. doi:10.1134/S0001437021030176
  24. Matishov, G.G., Dashkevich, L.V. and Kirillova, E.E., 2021. Cyclicity of Climate in the Sea of Azov Region: The Holocene and the Current Period (19th to 21st Centuries). Doklady Earth Sciences, 498(1), pp. 436-440. doi:10.1134/S1028334X21050093
  25. Berdnikov, S.V., Dashkevich, L.V. and Kulygin, V.V., 2022. A New State in the Hydrological Regime of the Sea of Azov in the 21st Century. Doklady Earth Sciences, 503(1), pp. 123-128. doi:10.1134/S1028334X22030059
  26. Konovalov, S.K., Vidnichuk, A.V. and Orekhova, N.A., 2018. Spatio-Temporal Characteristics of the Hydrochemical Structure of Water in the Deep-Sea Part of the Black Sea. In: A. P. Lisitzin, ed., 2018. The Black Sea System. Moscow: Scientific World, pp. 106-118. doi:10.29006/978-5- 91522-473-4.2018 (in Russian).
  27. Kondrat’ev, S.I., Romanov, A.S. and Vnukov, Yu.L., 2007. Peculiarities of Distribution of Hydrochemical Characteristics in the Region of the Continental Slope of the Northwestern Black Sea. Morskoy Gidrofizicheskiy Zhurnal, (5), pp. 69-79 (in Russian).
  28. Millero, F.J., 2010. History of the Equation of State of Seawater. Oceanography, 23(3), pp. 18-33. doi:10.5670/oceanog.2010.21
  29. Pawlowicz, R., 2013. Key Physical Variables in the Ocean: Temperature, Salinity, and Density. Nature Education Knowledge, 4(4), 13.
  30. Andrulionis, N.Yu. and Zavialov, P.O., 2019. Laboratory Studies of the Main Component Composition of Hypergaline Lakes. Physical Oceanography, 26(1), pp. 13-31. doi:10.22449/1573-160X-2019-1-13-31
  31. Millero, F.J., Feistel, R., Wright, D.G. and McDougall, T.J., 2008. The Composition of Standard Seawater and the Definition of the Reference-Composition Salinity Scale. Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, 55(1), pp. 50-72. doi:10.1016/j.dsr.2007.10.001
  32. Zavialov, I., Osadchiev, A., Sedakov, R., Barnier, B., Molines, J.-M. and Belokopytov, V., 2020. Water Exchange between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea through the Kerch Strait. Ocean Science, 16(1), pp. 15-30. doi:10.5194/os-16-15-2020
  33. Zavialov, P., Izhitskiy, A.S. and Sedakov, R.O., 2018. Sea of Azov Waters in the Black Sea: Do They Enhance Wind-Driven Flows on the Shelf? In: M. G. Velarde, R. Yu. Tarakanov and A. V. Marchenko, eds., 2018. The Ocean in Motion: Circulation, Waves, Polar Oceanography. Cham: Springer, pp. 461-474. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-71934-4_28

Download the article (PDF)