USE OF THE THERMOHALINE METHOD FOR DETERMINING THE QUASI-HETEROGENEITY OF THE WATER MASSES IN THE AZOV SEA

Abstract

. This paper considers the possibility of applying the thermohaline method (using the construction of T,S-diagrams) to determine the quasi-heterogeneity of water layers in the Azov Sea drawing on the expedition data obtained in 2016–2020. The diagrams allowing to identify a two-layer water structure in the aquatic environment of the Azov Sea (excluding the area of Taganrog Bay) have been constructed. The analysis of water stratification in the conditions close to the natural regime of the sea (thus, including salinity), as well as in the present conditions of its salinization, has been carried out. The data obtained through the analysis of sample observations have been verified with mathematical methods; the explanations from the standpoint of T,S-analysis of the aquatic environment have been presented. The hydrological features of the salt regime of the Azov Sea are given with the specification of the situations during the advection of the Black Sea waters, which precondition a stable separation of the waters in the southern part of the sea into surface and bottom “water masses”. These possibilities are justified mathematically, and for the modern period of considerable salinization of the sea, in accordance with the theory of T,S-analysis of water masses, a classification assessment of the aquatic environment is proposed.