Vertical crustal motion along the Mediterranean and Black Sea coast derived from ocean altimetry and tide gauge data

Tide gauge (TG) data along the northern Mediterranean and Black Sea coasts are compared to the sea-surface height (SSH) anomaly obtained from ocean altimetry (TOPEX/Poseidon and ERS-1/2) for a period of nine years (1993–2001). The TG measures the SSH relative to the ground whereas the altimetry does so with respect to the geocentric reference frame; therefore their difference would be in principle a vertical ground motion of the TG sites, though there are different error sources for this estimate as is discussed in the paper. In this study we estimate such vertical ground motion, for each TG site, from the slope of the SSH time series of the (non-seasonal) difference between the TG record and the altimetry measurement at a point closest to the TG. Where possible, these estimates are further compared with those derived from nearby continuous Global Positioning System (GPS) data series. These results on vertical ground motion along the Mediterranean and Black Sea coasts provide useful source data for studying, contrasting, and constraining tectonic models of the region. For example, in the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea and in the western coast of Greece, a general subsidence is observed which may be related to the Adriatic lithosphere subducting beneath the Eurasian plate along the Dinarides fault.

Pleistocene water intrusions from the Mediterranean and Caspian Seas into the Black Sea

The hydrological balance of the Black Sea is governed by riverine input and by the exchange with the Mediterranean Sea. A speleothem record from a cave in northern Turkey that tracks the isotopic signature of Black Sea surface water suggests an open connection to the Mediterranean Sea in at least twelve periods in the past 670,000 years.

MEDAR/MEDATLAS 2002: A Mediterranean and Black Sea database for operational oceanography Elsevier Oceanography Series

A comprehensive database of temperature, salinity and bio-chemical parameters in the Mediterranean and Black Sea has been constructed through comprehensive co-operation between the bordering countries. Statistical climatologies have been computed with all assembled and quality controlled data. The database, designed to initiate and validate prediction models, also represents a system to quality-check new incoming data produced by ocean observing systems.

Composition of Quaternary and Neogene-Quaternary sedimentary rocks from the Black Sea

Processes of sedimentation in marine basins locating in the area of interaction of the largest continental plates (African and Eurasian) are under consideration in the book. During the giant tectonic reconstruction of the Tethys Ocean semi-enclosed seas - the Mediterranean and Black originated. Their sedimentary sequence contains a recording of complex history of the Alpine-Himalayan belt. The dramatic history of the seas and their feeding catchments during Cenozoic is described in detail on the base of unique material of coring and deep-sea drilling, as well as a variety of geophysical and geochemical studies. Particular attention is paid to the history of volcanism - terrestrial and underwater - with correlation of ash falls accumulated on the land and in marine sediments.

Association Between Atmospheric Circulation Patterns and Firn-Ice Core Records from the Inilchek Glacierized Area, Central Tien Shan, Asia

Glacioclimatological research in the central Tien Shan was performed in the summers of 1998 and 1999 on the South Inilchek Glacier at 5100 - 5460 m. A 14.36 m firn-ice core and snow samples were collected and used for stratigraphic, isotopic, and chemical analyses. The firn-ice core and snow records were related to snow pit measurements at an event scale and to meteorological data and synoptic indices of atmospheric circulation at annual and seasonal scales. Linear relationships between the seasonal air temperature and seasonal isotopic composition in accumulated precipitation were established. Changes in the delta(18)O air temperature relationship, in major ion concentration and in the ratios between chemical species, were used to identify different sources of moisture and investigate changes in atmospheric circulation patterns. Precipitation over the central Tien Shan is characterized by the lowest ionic content among the Tien Shan glaciers and indicates its mainly marine origin. In seasons of minimum precipitation, autumn and winter, water vapor was derived from the arid and semiarid regions in central Eurasia and contributed annual maximal solute content to snow accumulation in Tien Shan. The lowest content of major ions was observed in spring and summer layers, which represent maximum seasonal accumulation when moisture originates over the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean and Black Seas.

Trace metal content in Pliocene to Pleistocene sediments of ODP Leg 127 holes

Quaternary sedimentation within the Japan Sea was controlled by the configuration of peripheral sills, seasonal and long-term climatic variability, and the resultant fluctuations in sea level (Tamaki, 1988). Prior to drilling in the area, piston cores recovered from its basins contained Pleistocene sediments having distinctive color and fabric variation. Sedimentological and geochemical studies conducted on those facies indicated that the variability in fabric was the result of fluctuating marine and/or terrigenous influx to the deep-water basins of the Japan Sea (see, for example, Chough, 1984; Matoba, 1984). The sequences recovered during Leg 127 at Sites 794, 795, and 797 contain long, virtually undisturbed sequences (92.3, 123, and 119.9 mbsf [Hole 797B], respectively) of upper Miocene, upper Pliocene, and Pleistocene/Holocene sediments. The majority of these sequences consists of dark-colored (dark brown, green, and black) silty-clays, many of which are enriched in biogenic components (majority silicious, some carbonate) and/or organic matter, some containing pyrite and/or ash. These facies alternate with light-colored silty-clays, some containing ash and some showing signs of bioturbation (for example, Tamaki, Pisciotto, Allan, et al., 1990, p. 425-433). The dark-to-light sequences are present throughout the section, although they are especially dominant throughout the Pleistocene (for a more detailed lithology of Quaternary sequences recovered at Sites 794, 795, and 797, see Follmi et al. 1992 and Tada et al., 1992). This data report provides trace metal information on Pliocene-Pleistocene-Holocene samples at Sites 794,795, and 797. These data can be used (1) to provide information related to the depositional environments of the Japan Sea during the Quaternary period, (2) to permit comparisons between the dark organic-rich sediments recovered from this semi-enclosed basin and those reported for other silled basins (for example, the Mediterranean and Black seas), and (3) to permit comparisons between these sediments and contemporary equivalents found, for instance, beneath areas of high biogenic productivity. By providing such data, one should be able (1) to determine more precisely the processes governing the deposition of sediments with various levels of organic matter within enclosed basins, (2) to compare individual basin-wide processes, (3) to look for and compare the signatures present as a result of climatic fluctuation, and (4) to attempt to identify the presence and/or absence of cyclicity within such sequences.

Gridded bathymetry from multibeam echosounder EM12S data of the cruise TTR6/2 (1996)

Bathymetry based on data recorded during TTR6 between 05.07.1996 and 20.08.1996 in the Black Sea. In the central Black Sea, the aim of TTR-6 the investigation was a bathymetric map of a field of mud volcanoes known from the previous TTR cruises, during transit. In the Sorokin Trough, where gas hydrates were earlier obtained from sea bottom sediments the primary goals concerned the elucidation of the structure of clay diapiric folds and the searching for mud volcanoes and other evidence for fluid flux through the seafloor. The task of looking for the seafloor manifestation of deep fluid emanation was set in the Pallas Uplift area. The EM12s surveying on the Caucasian margin was aimed at the construction of the first detailed bathymetric map of this area.