Page 114 - Çevre Şehir İklim İngilizce - Sayı 3

The Study of Deoxygenation and Mucilage Formation in The Marmara Sea
Using Novel Oceanographic Approaches in The Frame of Marmod Project

oceanographic studies. No mucilage was found in the sea during the studies
conducted in September 2021 and March 2022. It is thought that the mucilage
flowed out from the Strait of Çanakkale through the current originating from
Black Sea in the western direction and that the part remaining in the interlayer
was decomposed by the bacteria. During the one-month period in the
presence of mucilage, the ecosystem showed differences, the dominance of
plankton species changed, and significant decreases in oxygen were observed
in the water column. Oxygen is consumed in the deep waters of the Marmara
Sea. As a result of laboratory and field measurements, oxygen consumption
rates were found to be faster in the mucilage period compared to the non
mucilage period, and there is also more consumption in the surface layers
of Marmara Sea compared to the Black Sea and this is due to abundance
of organic substances such as mucilage in the Marmara Sea. This seasonal
dynamic will be revealed more clearly when the MARMOD Phase II Project
studies are completed in 2022.
Short-term dynamics affecting the health of Marmara Sea will be resolved
better with the seasonal expeditions conducted in the scope of MARMOD
Phase 2 Project and Digital Twin and 3-dimensional hydrodynamic-
biogeochemical model to be developed. Only after these studies have
developed will it be possible to find scientifically based answers about the
formation of new mucilage or new risks that may affect the Marmara Sea. The
cause of mucilage formation in the Marmara Sea, its effects and the factors
triggering its formation as well as the proposals for prevention continue to be
studied in detail.
Digital twins incorporate a digital copy of natural systems, even they contain
processes and scenarios including the nature-climate-human interaction,
and offer the concept of experiencing the system dynamics for users at the
first hand rather than offering solely a model (Figure 6). After the mucilage
outbreak in 2021, a 3-dimensional model was developed including the
physical, biogeochemical and ecosystem modules for the Marmara Sea in the
scope of MARMOD-PHASE II. Physical oceanographic model and TURSEM
(ecological model developed for Turkish
Seas) tests have been completed, and the whole modules of Digital Twin is
aimed to be finalized by the end of 2023. With the Digital Twin to be created
with the whole data input regarding the pollution load transported to the
Marmara Sea, it is targeted to prevent the mucilage and other pollution
problems in the Marmara Sea before they occur, to develop a good quality
marine ecosystem again, to increase the biodiversity and to protect the
ecological balance in the Marmara Sea.

Year 2 / Issue 3 / January 2023 99