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The connection between the economic and cultural state of the society and the educational system is analyzed in the article. The actions for satisfying the social demand in well - trained and qualified specialists are suggested.

The connection between the economic and cultural state of the society and the educational system is analyzed in the article. The question of professionally competent engineering staff in the context of the requirements of the modern society are discussed and suggests the ways to resolve it.

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.

Particular features of the distribution of the transparency and particulate matter content, their variability, and their interdependence in the surface water layer (0–5 m) over the northwestern shelf and in the adjacent abyssal part of the Black Sea in the summer were considered on the basis of long-term simultaneous optical, biological, and hydrological observations (1979–1993). In the shelf regions with different river discharges and in the waters of the open part of the sea, the distributions of the transparency, the total particulate matter, and its organic components (organic carbon, nitrogen, and chlorophyll a), as well as the relative content of particulate organic carbon in the total amount of the particulate matter and the content of chlorophyll a in the particulate organic carbon, were considered. The distributions of the transparency and particulate matter and their dependence on the water dynamics are in good agreement. It was demonstrated that extreme anthropogenic eutrophication influences the western and northern coastal shelf areas. The water transparency and particulate organic matter distributions in the central shelf area subjected to the influence of transformed river water and the water properties of the southern part of the shelf, which is influenced by the waters of the open sea, were determined according to the particular structure of the phytoplankton, its abundance, and the processes of its production and destruction.

On the basis of the analysis of the many-year data on the vertical distributions of particulate organic carbon and nitrogen, we compute their annual average amounts for three typical layers of water in the deep part of the Black Sea: for a layer located above the oxycline and characterized by the formation of new portions of particulate organic matter in the course of photosynthesis, inside the oxycline, where the major part of oxygen is consumed and the major part of the flux of particulate organic matter is oxidized, and for the upper part of the anoxic zone characterized by the most active microbiological processes of oxidation of the organic substances and production of sulfides. The available literature data on sedimentation traps are used to study the downward annual average fluxes of particulate organic matter from the euphotic zone into the oxycline and into the anaerobic zone. The seasonal variability of the amounts and fluxes of particulate carbon and nitrogen is revealed.

On the basis of the generalized data of multiannual observations (1985–1994), we analyze the seasonal variability of the vertical and spatial distributions and composition (Csos, Nsos, Csos/cha, and C/N) of suspended organic substances (SOS) in the shelf zone and in the upper active layer of the abyssal part of the Black Sea. The results of our analysis enable us to conclude that only a narrow coastal band of the shelf in the northwest and west parts of the sea suffers to an extremely pronounced anthropogenic impact, which manifests itself in a significant increase in the mass of suspended organic substances. The formation of new organic substances and, hence, the mass of suspended organic substances in these regions attain the level of eutrophic waters in the late-spring and summer periods. In the open-sea region, the anthropogenic impact is less pronounced and the spatial distribution of suspended organic substances is determined by the general dynamics of waters and the intensity of phytoplankton production.

We analyse the distribution of the dissolved forms of cadmium, lead, cobalt, copper, and manganese in the near-Danube part of the Black Sea and in a section made at 45° 10′N in the autumn of 1997. It is shown that the discharge of rivers results in the appearance of significant amounts of cadmium, lead, cobalt, copper, and manganese in the near-Danube region. Copper is the most labile element in this collection of metals. Its behaviour is correlated with the vital activity of diatomic algae. The distribution of dissolved manganese in the near-bottom region is correlated with the distribution of O2. Indeed, the elevated concentrations of manganese are observed in the regions with low concentrations of oxygen.

The paper discusses the data on distribution and composition of suspended matter in Guinea’s coastal zone (Tonkima and Tabunsu river estuaries) during November–December 1990. Tidal events, bottom topography and coast-line configuration are shown to influence sediments’ biochemical composition and distribution. The content of the organic carbon, nitrogen, total phosphate and chlorophyll in the particulate organic matter has been determined.

The method of bio-optical modelling of seawater is discussed in application to the passive remote sensing of an ocean within the optical wavelength range. The model implies the presence of two hydrobiological characteristics in the algorithm for the spectral composition of upward radiation, namely the phytoplankton pigment concentration and the total particulate organic matter. The method has been thoroughly tested. The data provided byin situ measurements in the areas accommodating waters of different types (from Case 1 and Case 2) and the modelling results, with the errors being considered, are in good agreement.

Relationships between the surface concentrations of phytoplankton pigments (Cph), total suspended matter (Csm), particulate organic carbon (Cpoc), and total suspended phosphorus (Csp), on the one hand, and the relative water transparency determined through the Secchi disc depth (zd), on the other, are analysed using the data compiled in the Guinean coastal waters (Tabunsu and Tonkima river estuaries) during November–December 1990. The functions ofCph,Csm=f(zd) are matched up with the experimentally derived data, as well as with the model bio-optical state of seawater. The general regression equation has been calculated using the data characteristic of various types of water.

Basin-wide principal hydrochemical data for the upper 500 m of the Black Sea were obtained at a total of 197 stations during a multi-ship, multi-institutional, Hydroblack -91 cruise in September 1991. Only offshore stations, 38 from the 1991 joint cruise, 5 from R/V Knorr (1988), 16 from R/V Atlantis-II (1969), and 9 from R/V Bilim (1990) cruises, are considered in conjunction with the present and past data as a function of potential density rather than depth. The oxycline, coinciding with the upper boundary of the permanent pycnocline (σΘ = 14.2–14.3), extended down to the σΘ = 15.3–15.4 surfaces during warm periods (June–September) and to the σΘ = 15.75 surface during spring periods. The lower boundary of the oxycline (O2 ⩽ 20 μM) has remained constant within the last two decades when past and present spring data are considered, but has risen by 0.30 density units when late summer-autumn data are considered. Independent of the geographical location, the base of the transition layer was established at the σΘ = 16.15–16.20 surfaces where H2S ⩾ 5 μM. Nitrate and phosphate reached their maxima at σΘ = 15.3–15.4 surfaces and then decreased steadily with different slopes until the σΘ = 15.85 –15.95 surfaces. At the anoxic interface, phosphate concentration increases about 10 fold from ∼ 0.02 –0.5 μM at the σΘ = 15.85 –15.90 surface to 4 –6 μM at the σΘ = 16.15 –16.20 surface. Comparison with the data from the 1970's suggests that both the maximum values and the depth integrated mass of nitrate (g NO3—N/m2) between the σΘ = 14.2 and 16.0 surfaces have increased 2–3 fold, and the density surface where the NO3 maximum is established has shifted by 0.30 units in the late 1980's.

This paper considers the possibility of aldehyde reduction by Black Sea hydrogen sulphide accompanied by the formation of nitrogen-containing organic substances The fine structure of nitrates and ammonium profiles close to the boundary of the O2/H2S zone is studied. Using data collected during Cruise 18 of the R/VProfessor Kolesnikov, it is shown that the largest ammonium concentration gradient is centred 20 m below the maximum of nitrate concentration. It has been deduced that an appreciable part of the so-called chemosynthesis production may be a result of the non-biotic synthesis with involvement of hydrogen sulphide.

Historical oceanographic databases are statistically treated to obtain the mean multi-annual oxygen deficit distributions in the 70–90 m layer for the four seasons of the year. Generalization of the results from 1596 measurements has shown that the oxygen deficit is maintained only at one 1°×1° square at a level of 70–90%. This fact is accounted for by the rise of waters in the cyclonic gyre area. Conversely, small oxygen deficit values in the coastal areas are related to the sinking of water, this being consistent with the pattern of vertical circulation in the sea.

In this paper some results obtained in the course of investigations of the hydrological and hydrochemical peculiarities of the tidal frontal zone and of the upwelling's frontal zone in the Guinean shelf area are reported. We have confirmed a direct influence of these zones on the bioproductive properties of the sea-water, suspension distribution, and the types and composition of bottom sediments.

In this paper the peculiarities of compiled oceanographic data sets, which consist primarily in the presence of some characteristic information as well as in the ‘planned incomplete filling’ of the files with observations, are discussed. A number of special ways are suggested which essentially improve the packing density of computerized data without applying special archiving algorithms. The effectiveness of these methods has been tested by treating thein situ hydrological/chemical data file compiled in the Black Sea in 1988.

The expression for the bottom convection intensity is derived from the equality of the advective vertical flux of H2S within 1000–2000 m to the diffusion turbulent flow close to the H2S zone upper boundary. The upwelling rate, which is expressed via the H2S concentration in deep waters and the gradient of the H2S concentration near the upper boundary, is 10−4 cm/s. It is shown that the H2S diffusion flux in deep waters is an order less than the advective one. The conclusion that below 1000 m the age of H2S does not exceed 30 years and H2S reaches the upper boundary in approximately 150 years is derived.

The results of measurements of the ozone concentration obtained during the first cruise of the R/VVladimir Parshin close to the European Atlantic coast and in the adjacent seas are analysed. A sharp (four-fold) decrease in the ozone concentration off the coast along 50° N was found. This effect is associated with ozone absorption by the ocean, which is conditioned by the interaction of ozone with surface-active substances in the surface microlayer of seawater. This assumption is supported by the local decrease of the ozone concentration when approaching the coast, observed in the Black Sea several times. It is shown that the correlation between the ozone concentration and carbon monoxide above the ocean agrees with the regularity observed.

Field observations have been used to analyze changes in chemical properties (distribution of nutrients and sulfide) of the Black Sea anoxic layer from 1960 to 1995. The results reveal notable changes (increase in the inventories of nutrient and sulfide) in the chemical structure of the anoxic zone, which has been considered for a long time as a conservative layer of the Black Sea. It is inferred that intensive eutrophication is the main reason of the change. The results of the analysis of long-term variations in chemical structure demonstrate not only intensive degradation of the ecosystem of the Black Sea in 70’s and 80’s, but also relative improvement of the situation in 90’s.

Results from 10 years of observation on particulate organic matter (POM) distribution and composition in the euphotic zone of the Black Sea, and information on chlorophyll-a and phaeophytin have been prepared as joint data set to analyse the long-term and seasonal variations of POM distribution. Seasonal variations of POM distribution and composition (C/N and C/Chl) are revealed for the 1985–1994 period, while long-term changes, if any, remain within the bounds of uncertainty of the methods (20%). Peculiarities of POM distribution and composition have been discussed for different seasons and for the month of March, which is a unique period in the Black Sea environment. Explanations are suggested for the observed peculiarities.