Marine turbulence in the coastal zone

Microstructure measurements at the Black Sea coastal zone have been carried out by free-fall profiler from the sea surface down to the bottom. Background meteorological conditions were favorable to induce upwelling circulation near the western coast. At the shallow shelf energy dissipation rate decreases from the boundary layers to the mead point of the internal weak stratified layer across the sharp upper and lower pycnoclines. According to the probability distribution function of the turbulent Reynolds number and based on the hydrodynamic phase diagram the authors conclude that active turbulence is bounded by near-surface and near-bottom boundary layers, whereas microstructure fluctuations in the intermediate layers with low shear and/or strong density stratification are mainly governed by fossil turbulence