SYSTEM OF MESOSCALE EDDIES OVER THE STEEP SLOPE IN THE NORTHWESTERN PART OF THE BLACK-SEA IN SUMMER 1993 (SATELLITE AND SHIP-BORNE DATA)

Analysis of NOAA-11 satellite images (April-August 1993) and CTD-measu rements during the R/V ''Akvanavt'' cruise (16-17 June 1993) has shown that over the continental slope west of Sevastopol two anticyclonic e ddies can exist at the same time without coalescence within the layer 0-300 m: quasi-stationary and of shorter life time (1.5 months) ones w ith diameters of 90 and 55 km, respectively. Collapse of a less intens ive anticyclone occurs when it is pushed on the shelf by the quasi-sta tionary eddy. When the eddies approach each other a cycloni eddy is fo rmed north of them that results in jet-like flows between the eddies o f opposite signs both within the layer 0-150 m and at a greater depth (the core of flow is at a depth of 150 m), which contribute to the she lf-deep basin horizontal exchange.