Oxygen-18, deuterium and tritium in the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara

The stable isotopes O-18 and H-2, together with the transient tracer H-3 ca n be used to identify origins and characteristics of distinct water masses in the Black Sea, and in its smaller neighbour, the Marmara Sea, connected between them and to the Mediterranean Sea through the Straits of Bosphorus and Dardanelles, respectively. Exchange through the system and the water ma ss formation and evolution are characterised, based on the isotope measurem ents. Spatial coverage including the shelf and deep regions, with improved accuracy and reduced noise provide-definitive assessments of pycnocline and deep mixing in the system. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reser ved.