Features of the distributions of the transparency and particulate matter content in the surface water layer in the northwestern part of the Black Sea in the autumn period

Using the data of long-term simultaneous optical, biological, and hydrological observations (1980–1993), particular features of the horizontal distribution of the transparency and the total particulate matter content and the contents of its organic components (organic carbon and nitrogen and chlorophyll a) and their variability in the surface water layer (0–5m) over the northwestern shelf and the adjacent abyssal part of the Black Sea in the autumn season are considered. The detritus/phytoplankton ratio in the particulate organic matter and their relative contents in the total particulate matter are calculated. The distributions of the transparency and particulate matter content were found to be in good agreement and both depend on the water dynamics. It was established that, during the period of the abrupt growth in the Black Sea water turbidity (in the early 1990s), a significant decrease in the transparency and an increase in the particulate matter content caused by the production-destruction processes were observed only in the central and southern regions of the sea.