On the Physical Oceanography of the Turkish Straits

The Bosphorus and the Dardanelles Straits and the Sea of Marmara constitute a system through which exchange of Mediterranean and the Black Sea waters takes place. The two layer flow regime displays temporal and spatial variability on a wealth of scales. An assessment of the volume fluxes for the various elements of the system, based on recent hydrographic investigations, shows that a major portion of the Mediterranean flow entering through the Dardanelles is transported back to the Aegean Sea due to upward mixing induced by internal hydraulic adjustments of the exchange flow in the straits and by wind in the Sea of Marmara proper. The jet-like Bosphorus outflow in the exit region of the Marmara Sea also has a substantial contribution to the overall upward mixing. A mesoscale anticyclonic eddy to the right of the outflow off the Thracian coast is a quasi-permanent feature of the system. Hydraulic controls in the Bosphorus strait result in a maximal exchange, while a submaximal exchange exists in the Dardanelles. The Mediterranean inflow enters the Black Sea on an essentially continuous basis, with only few, short interruptions.

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