engleski

Climatology of the Northern-Central Adriatic Sea

A climatology of main thermohaline and chemical properties of the northern and central Adriatic Sea based on the MEDAR/MEDATLAS dataset has been drawn and described. A large variability of temperature and salinity is evident at horizontal, vertical and seasonal scales. The same can be said for nitrates and orthosilicates, while smaller variations can be observed for dissolved oxygen, nitrites and orthophosphates. Interesting phenomena can be individuated by analyzing the climatological maps. For example, the dissolved oxygen minima found in summer and autumn at bottom in the central area offshore the Po delta, combined with nutrient salts maxima (particularly nitrates, orthosilicates and nitrites) and low temperatures, indicate that dense waters formed during winter may persist in the area and remineralization processes contribute to the bottom water nutrient enrichment and dissolved oxygen depletion. Similar processes can be evidenced also in the deeper meso-Adriatic depressions. The climatology presented in this Chapter will serve as “benchmark” for carrying out further analysis of the changes in the oceanographic properties that may have occurred during the last years in the northern and central Adriatic Sea.

Climatology, Adriatic Sea

nije evidentirano