SOCIB - DOORS glider mission in Black Sea

The Black Sea is a semi-enclosed basin with limited water exchange with the open basins and significant river discharges. These inflows are critical to the Black Sea's hydrology, nutrient
availability, and ecosystem biogeochemistry. In the Black Sea, the interaction of atmospheric
forcing, river discharges, and mesoscale dynamics contributes to the formation of distinct water
masses. The northern part of the Black Sea has a shelf exposed to seasonal hypoxia and
eutrophication. In contrast, the southern half is deep and stratified, with anoxic waters below
100 meters. These characteristics made the Black Sea an enormous meromictic sea. In the
DOORS project (Developing Optimal and Open Research Support), a glider mission was
conducted during the DOORS field campaign from May 6 to June 17, 2023, in the Romanian
Exclusive Economic Zone. The mission covered 288 nautical miles and collected 863 physical
and biogeochemical profiles down to a depth of 1000 meters. During the glider mission, we
performed ten transects to the shelf and close to the Danube Cone. Each transect lasted around
four days to complete, allowing us to better understand the temporal and spatial variability.