Diversity in Coastal Marine Sciences

Across human history, countless scientific works about the sea have been written, and some of them have an eternal nature. The sea, blessed by God since the Genesis (The Bible. “The Old Testament. The Genesis”) (“And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth”.” (The Bible. “The Old Testament. The Genesis”, Ch. 1, verse 20–22, p. 2)), has generously offered the most diverse and necessary resources for the existence of humanity. In this respect, since the oldest times, the sea has generated a favorable climate for the development of trade, communication, civilization and great geographical discoveries.The sea has the great merit of approaching the created man to his Creator. It was one of the main instruments whereby God revealed Himself, showing the power, greatness and beauty of His creation. “The Word of God” was spread by the waters of seas and oceans, to the most remote places of the world. The Savior’s “Gospels” and Teachings were spread by the sea and by the roads crossing the Roman Empire. The first Christian communities and churches were established and fortified in seashore cities, and Christianity was spread by the sacrifice of Christ’s disciples and apostles. The sea also consolidated the spirit of sacrifice and human solidarity. The law of retaliation (eye for eye, tooth for tooth) was replaced by the law professing the Love of God and of our fellow men. Moreover, the endless sea brings us closer to heaven, as it intermingles with the infinite horizon; the sea is a symbol of the union between the terrestrial level and the celestial one, as the sky mirrors itself into the sea.In one of his works, the writer Giovanni Papini (Papini, G, Viata lui Iisus. Editura Orizonturi, Bucuresti, p 470, 2012) stated that, no matter what, Christ remains the beginning and the end, a beam of divine mysteries at the crossroads of two glimpses of human history. In our paper, we will attempt at presenting several excerpts from the Bible and from other works that describe the role played by the sea in the dissemination of Scriptures and in the evolution of Christianity. Moreover, with God’s help, we also aim at revealing the sea as a “cradle” of miracles, whereby God’s great plans were achieved and He revealed Himself as a “Loving Father” and Creator of the universe. The sea “provided fishers of men” and some of them became Christ’s disciples. At His call, they left their ships and fishing tools and followed Him. This paper will reveal that the sea confirmed the Godhead of the Beloved Son, Jesus Christ. The sea, by its whims, often helped the Apostles, who spread the word of the “Gospel” and worshiped Jesus, who rose from the dead.We will conclude our paper by an appeal addressed to our readers: the sea is a blessing from God and we will be held responsible to Him with regard to the way in which we respect, use and protect it and its beings. Those who love the sea are not only thinkers whose dreams float on its blue and soothing waters. They are managers and fully responsible to God for the achievement of His creation, including the sea. Watch the stormy sea, float on its furious waves and when restlessness starts to creep into your hearts, you will fully and profoundly understand the words of the wise Solomon, son of David: “The fear of the Lord leads to life, So that one may sleep satisfied, untouched by evil… The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe” (The Bible, “The Old Testament. Proverbs of Solomon”).

Seen as a prolongation of the Scythian lands north of Black Sea, and consequently called Mikrá Skythia by Strabo, this region that belonged to the Getae, the south-Danubian branch of the Dacians, was early colonized by the Greeks, who founded a number of cities of great importance there, among them, Tomis, Constanta today, the place of exile of the poet Ovidius, who wrote his Tristia here, conquered and colonized by the Romans later on, Dobrudja, through which the Slavs poured into the Byzantine Empire and constituted themselves as peoples, has a rich, fascinating and tumultuous history, like the waves of the Akšeina Sea, “the black and dark sea” in the ancient scholar’s Geography, which the Greeks somehow attempted to “tame” by means of an antonym: eúxeinos (Pontos Eúxeinos, “welcoming, hospitable sea”). Like the history of these lands, the name of Dobrudja has aroused strong passions and sparked off heated debate among historians and linguists, who have not yet reached a satisfactory conclusion as regards the origin of the toponym in discussion. Romanian scholars, among them, researchers of great authority, such as Nicolae Iorga, Vasile Pârvan, Radu Vulpe, C. Brătescu, proposed Dobrotič as etymon, the name of the strategos of Slav origin, to whom, at the end of the fourteenth century and the beginning of the fifteenth century, the Byzantine emperor entrusted the governorship of the thema lying between the Danube and the Black Sea (it was from him that Mircea the Elderly, Voyvod of Wallachia, took possession of the land by force). In a study published in Limba română, 1965, no. 1, issued by the Romanian Academy, we rejected this etymon, on the grounds that the same name is mentioned, much earlier, in the travel account of Idrissi, the Arabic traveler, who, somewhere between 1110 and 1146, crossed the south-Danubian Berğan on his way to Kiev. The discovery of a tenth century taktikon, a list of Byzantine offices, dignities, and titles, in the royal medieval library of El Escorial, including the strategoi and the catepani of the Mesopotamia of the West, has re-opened the discussion on the origin and, especially on the evolution of the name of Dobrudja province, which is, in fact, the result of a long chain of linguistic calques, closely connected to the location of the territory near the great river that almost surrounds it.

Dobruja is a unique intercultural, spiritual and geographical landscape, an inspirational land, blessed over the ages by the dark depths of the Black Sea. Although here was sentenced to exile the great poet Ovidius and the cold winds by the Black Sea drove him to write the elegy entitled Triste, the uniqueness of Romanian Dobruja unfold in a variety of unparalleled characteristics: one can think of the Monument Trophaeum Traiani from Adamclisi and the ancient cities Capidava, Tomis, Callatis, Enisala, Vicina, Troesmis, Ibida or Sacidava; we can mention the numerous monasteries (15 only in Tulcea county), the buried Church from Istria, the tiny straw Churches from Ostrov; one should talk about the variety of cultures and religious denominations – 18 of the 20th Romanian minorities live here and, also, in Dobrudja, one can find the only Muslim village of Romania (the former Başpînar or Başpunar, now called Fântâna Mare found on the UNESCO world patrimony waiting list); one should recall the great landform variety and another could talk about “Movile” Cave, unique in the world, which presents an ecosystem which is independent of the Sun. This land also contributed with numerous scientific, cultural and religious personalities to universal and national knowledge. Among these, it is our honour to include a brief scientific portrait of Professor Alexandru Bologa celebrated at the same time with the 150 year anniversary of the Romanian Academy.

At Tomis, the capital of “Scythia Minor” (Roman province) – where Ovid was exiled by Emperor Augustus in 8 p. Chr. – the roman poet wrote also “getic verses”, i.e. in the language of the Getae, one of the northern tribes of Thraciens, the forefathers of Romanians.Among others, in his poems written in the “Getae” language, Ovid confesses that he had adopted himself to the Tomitan environment, recte to the getic culture and civilization, due also to the fact that the language of the proto-romanians (the tracian-geto-dacians) was not so different from Latin, his native language. The linguists’ latest research otherwise confirms that the “Getic” language had a lexical fund very similar to that of the language spoken by the Etruscans from Latium, which allowed Ovid to learn the “Getic” language so fast. Nowadays, such a similarity is revealed by the two neo-Latin languages, Romanian and Italian.

This paper presents some of the climate changes that are occurring at Earth level. It highlights particularly the main temperature increases caused by the greenhouse effect. One of the consequences of the temperature increases is the melting of polar ice caps, polar glaciers and mountain glaciers that feed many streams and rivers. The result may be the rising of the sea and ocean level with catastrophic flooding and loss of an important land reservoir of drinking water, without which life is not possible.

Any petroleum exploration or regional model construction need a detailed understanding of the geologic evolution of the basin under consideration. This is possible only through a careful regional scale interpretation of the data available. The prolongation of any geological model from a relatively well to a less constrained area is always challenging. This is the case of the Western Black Sea Basin where the stratigraphic correlation from the shelf to deep water is not straightforward. So far this was in part due to the fact that the backbone of any regional interpretation in the Black Sea have been the OGS and DSS lines acquired in 70s that were available as paper sections only. The acquisition and publication of the new regional industry lines, driven by the new deep water hydrocarbon exploration, eased and improved the geological interpretation of this area.In the light of the results emerging from the availability of the new data, a revision of the vintage data was considered advisable. It is known, in fact, that the reprocessing of vintage seismic data that takes advantage of new and modern processing techniques can be a useful tool to unlock the potential of such data. This is the case of the OGS seismic lines acquired in the Black Sea Basin during the 1975 campaign. The reprocessed lines have been integrated with published regional seismic and well data resulting in a coherent geological model correlating the Western Black Sea margins crossing the deep water part of the basin.

The history of human civilization is directly linked to the social and technological state of the access to the sea, which ensured two very important aspects of the activity: trade and access to resources. On the other hand, the economic development of the shoreline depends on the protection from adverse natural processes such as storm waves or sediment motions. The development of coastal infrastructure is related not only to the current state of economy but also to its future state. The integration of accumulated knowledge led us to the creation of the lithodynamics science, which comprehensively studies the dynamics of the coastal zone. Despite the obvious successes, some problems of the coastal zone dynamics remain that require a deeper physical understanding. This Chapter describes the main problems remaining in the investigation of coastal zones and gives an analysis of poorly studied physical processes and mechanisms.

The longshore drift of Mamaia Bay is strongly affected as a result of anthropogenic constructions such as Midia Harbor, Pescarie marina and coastal protection structures, especially detached breakwaters type “breaking wave”. Based on 56 samples collected in 2012 the grain size parameters (mean, sorting, skewness and kurtosis) were analyzed in order to determine the sedimentation process of coastal environments. On the backshore area fine and very fine sand classes are prevalent with an average of 68%. The swash area sediments are constituted from accumulations of coarse, medium fine fractions of shell and very fine sand. In the surf zone (1.0–6.0 m deep) fine and very fine sandy sediments are deposited in a proportion of more than 90%. On the nearshore zone the very fine sand class, which varies between 70% to 85%, contributes the most and the very coarse silt reaches generally values from 10% to 20%.

The western Black Sea shelf has the largest width of the continental platform of entire Black Sea basin, except for the north-western corner. The Black Sea dynamics is driven by two synergic mechanisms: the considerable river input in the north-western corner, deflected southward by the Coriolis force and the surface wind stress that has an average anticlockwise curl. Their combined action controls the global mass transport in the upper (active) layer. In this paper, in-situ measurements of the currents data and diagnostic calculations for the inertial currents are analysed and discussed. The purpose of the present work is to furnish relevant arguments using the Progressive Vector Diagram as well as the Discrete Fourier Transform on the sea currents data and to report the results on inertial motion in the western Black Sea shelf. The selected time series were recorded in the middle of the Romanian shelf, at 44°10′N, 29°22′E (52 m of water depth), with the one or two instruments suspended from a ship anchored for several days, only one series at the southern end of the Mamaia bight at 44°12′N–28°20′E (12 m water depth). The depth-averaged current amplitudes varied by time from 7.6 to 21.3 cm/s. Calculated inertial currents periods in the north-western Black Sea range between 16.5 and 17.5 h.

Study of the Black Sea neritic ecosystem is of great theoretical and practical significance owing to the anthropogenic load on its coastal areas. Variability of the ecological condition of these areas can be defined by the results of studying spatial-temporal variability of the nutrients and the suspended organic matter (SOM) content distributions. Such studies permit to assess the marine ecosystem productivity, intensity of biochemical processes, and flexibility of this ecosystem to the impact of various natural and anthropogenic factors. In recent decades, along with the expeditionary studies, satellite observations of the marine environment bio-optical parameters obtained by color scanners became widely used. Such kind of observations allows obtaining qualitatively new (as for its spatial-temporal characteristics) information. Based on the multi-year (1979–1995) expeditionary observations of distribution of the SOM components’ concentration and the bio-optical parameters (chlorophyll a concentration, light absorption and scattering indices) resulted from the satellite data (SeaWiFS, MODIS, 1997–2015), considered are the peculiarities of spatial-temporal variability of their distribution in the shelf areas of the western Black Sea. The degree of the effect of the riverine discharge and the open sea water masses upon the distribution of the parameters under study in the northwestern part of the sea makes it possible to define four areas (western, northern, central and eastern), and in the coastal zone of the western part – the Romanian and the Bulgarian ones. The statistical assessments of seasonal variations of the considered indices are obtained for these areas. Increase of the SOM components’ concentrations in the summer-autumn period in late 1980s and early 1990s with their anomalously high values in 1992 is noted. It is shown that the seasonal interannual variability in the concentrations of the SOM components and the values of the bio-optical parameters is conditioned by the variations in the riverine discharge volume, its run to the sea, and climatic shifts.

We performed a comparative test study applying conventional Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) casts and a self designed mini lander system, which was deployed on the Pagès Escarpment on the Cantabrian Margin at 762 mbsl water depth for continuous bottom water measurements. Our lander data demonstrate that the mechanical movement of CTD gear disturbs the internal structure of the bottom water mass and extreme values are most likely to be missed. This questions the reliability of repeated CTD casts at the same site (yoyo-CTD) with respect to the detailed bottom water mass characteristics bathing the benthic communities. Although, repeated CTD casts may provide information about the amplitude in temperature and salinity variability, our data clearly exhibit that temperature and salinity maxima and minima respectively do not coincide only with the most obvious semi diurnal tidal dynamics but exhibit other tidal frequencies, mainly M4, which are not captured by yoyo-CTD analysis. High resolution CTD measurements in combination with ADCP data reveal a comprehensive picture of bottom water mass dynamics.

The influence of the Chernobyl accident on environmental radioactivity in Romania (period 1986–1994) was analysed mainly on the basis of gamma spectrometric measurements of environmental samples (atmospheric aerosol and deposition, soil, surface water, Danube and Black Sea water, sediment and biota).As part of the Romanian environmental radioactivity monitoring programme, environmental samples were systematically collected at the sampling stations of the National Environmental Radioactivity Surveillance Network (NERSN) and analysed for gamma emitting radionuclides at the Environmental Radioactivity Laboratory, Bucharest-Afumati, for gamma spectrometric analyses.All stations followed a unitary programme and methodology to collect and prepare samples, performing prompt gross beta measurements.Chernobyl fallout space-time patterns, radionuclide concentration ratios and deposition velocities were determined. The resuspension process was studied and a time dependence model of resuspension factors for 137Cs was proposed. Hot particles were identified in some of the deposition samples. The dynamics of 137Cs in Romanian rivers, Danube and the Black Sea is presented.

Radionuclides within the environment are not always a point of concern, in some cases they can be used to trace and identify incidents even long after they occurred. This reports performs a high resolution spectrometry analyses for several samples taken from the Black Sea containing seawater and sediments. The results give us the opportunity to use traceable radionuclides like 137Cs or 40K as tracers for the human activities within the western Black Sea area. Although the presence of such radioisotopes can be related to the Chernobyl event, results can be differentiated using other radioisotopes associated to the same event but having a specific timespan since them as the case for 241Am. Using such tracers one can isolate events from 30 years ago from the more recent ones.

Tourist activities on the seaside, but not exclusively, are dependent of the quality of the environmental components from the coastal zone. The water and the substrate are some of the main components. Their importance is supported, on the other hand, by their background role in the marine ecosystem. The surveillance of the radioactive indicator for sediments helps at knowing its distribution in the marine ecosystem and at assessing the risk of exposure to ionizing radiation for people. Setting-up and maintaining a database is necessary both for the present state, as well as to assess trends. A further study may reveal important knowledge in combination with other environmental factors, such as hydrodynamics, chemicals, for example, and their impact on biota. The Navodari – Mamaia area, which is now contained in a plan to rehabilitate the shoreline, was taken as a case study. The samples were collected on seven profiles distributed in that area, all from the sands at terrestrial vegetation limit and up to sediments submerged up to 12 m. The 56 samples were analyzed in IFIN-HH underground laboratory with ultra-low radiation background. The results indicated the presence of artificial radionuclide Cs-137, with values between 0.5 and 10.5 Bq/kg. The natural radionuclide K-40 is also present in the range of 55–494 Bq/kg sediment.

Marine living resources are a recognized food basis. The exploitation of species with economic value has increased in intensity, along with the sharp global food demand. The Black Sea, as a semi-enclosed sea, has a limited potential in this respect. The stocks have decreased recently and, consequently, restricted limits of fishing are needed in all riparian countries. The catches in the Romanian sector ranged from 568 to 2231 tons during 2011–2014. The dominant species were rapa whelk, sprat, anchovy and turbot. As the amount of fish catches is limited, most of the fish is intended for local consumption. Food quality and safety focus attention on the conditions of consumer acceptance. Among targeted indicators, the level of radioactivity has a special importance. This is particularly substantiated for the Black Sea, as a receiving area of all normal and nuclear activities impact from the continent, besides the scientific interest related to the migration of radionuclides in the aquatic environment. This paper presents the natural and artificial significant radionuclide levels measured in fish and an extrapolation to population exposure through food consumption. Thus, it was found that Cs-137 is present between 0.42 and 0.94 Bq/kg fw and K-40 between 36 and 184 Bq/kg fw. The maximum values were considered in calculating exposure for target groups and the entire resource caught. The results obtained do not show an exceeding of the legal limits and do not constitute a risk by food consumption.

The Black Sea received abundant amount of plutonium alpha–emitting radionuclides 238,239,240Pu with global fallout after nuclear weapon testing in atmosphere and after accident on the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (ChNPP) in 1986. Distribution of plutonium radionuclides in abiotic (water and bottom sediment) and biotic (algae, mollusks, fish) components of the Black Sea ecosystems was studied during the post–Chernobyl period at different areas as a rule at western and central parts of the sea. This study is devoted to the analysis of a radioecological situation in the Black Sea and concerns the levels of contamination and redistribution of the 239,240Pu in the abiotic and biotic components of the sea ecosystem. The long–term accumulation and migration trends of these radionuclides were analyzed concerning abiotic components of the Black Sea after the ChNPP accident. Zones were revealed that have an increased ability to accumulate these radioactive pollutants. The estimations of the fluxes of elimination of the after-accidental plutonium alpha–radionuclides into bottom sediments in open and coastal areas of the sea were obtained. Evaluation of irradiation dose rates formed with alpha–radiation of 239,240Pu in Black Sea hydrobionts was carried out. Important quantitative characteristics of plutonium migration in the Black Sea ecosystems were obtained and application of the comparative analysis together with equidosimetric approach to the ecological effects assessment from the 239,240Pu doses on hydrobionts in contemporary radiological situation in the Black Sea as well as in different potential radioecological situations in wide range of alpha-emitting plutonium radionuclides concentration activity in seawater was fulfilled.

Over the period from 1986 to 2016 the data for the 90Sr and 137Cs horizontal and vertical distribution in the surface water and in the water column of the Black Sea, accordingly, were analyzed. The results of full-profile measurements of 137Cs in the deep water column were obtained in 2015 for the first time for the whole post-Chernobyl period. The time constants of exponential functions were determined and the forecast of 90Sr and 137Cs concentrations reduction to the pre-accident levels in the components of the ecosystem of the Sevastopol bay was made. The estimations of the balance components of these radionuclides in the Black Sea were obtained. It is shown that to the present time the steady-state equilibrium between entry and elimination of 90Sr and 137Cs in the oxygen zone of the Black Sea was formed, at the same time their accumulation in the hydrogen-sulphidous zone has been increasing. By 2013 the 90Sr and 137Cs content in the Black Sea was evaluated as 1670 and 2843 TBq, respectively, that was in 3.6–6.4 and in 1.2–1.6 times higher, than the content of these radionuclides at the sea in 2000. At the same time 66% of 137Cs and 67% of 90Sr of the total content of radionuclides in the whole water column was in the hydrogen-sulphidous zone of the Black Sea. The period of circulation of 137Cs and 90Sr in the oxygen and hydrogen-sulphidous zones of the Black Sea is about 14 and 94 years, respectively.

Radioecology is a modern science dealing with the behavior of radionuclides in the environment. The studies of marine ecosystems, biodiversity and biota interactions, including reliable evaluation of radionuclide and heavy metal impact on soils, sediments and algae is a major task in studying the risk of environmental pollution and effects on humans. The data of the marine ecosystem studies for sediment, algae, fish, moluscs from the Romanian, Bulgarian Ukrainian and Turkish Black Sea coasts are presented and compared. Radionuclide and heavy metal content was measured for three algae filum along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast in the period 1996–2004. The status of the marine ecosystems was evaluated by cluster analysisfor all data form sediments and algae along the Bulgarian coast.

On the basis of these long-term observations of hydrophysical, hydrochemical and biological structure of water the seasonal variability of the upward, regeneration, sedimentation and fluxes of phosphorus from external sources in the photosynthetic zone in the deepwater area of the Black Sea was established. The estimates of the contribution of upward and regeneration fluxes of phosphorus in its total flux into the photosynthetic zone and sedimentation removal in some months urea are obtained. The relationship between the monthly averages of the rising contribution of phosphorus flux and its concentration chlorophyll “a” and biomass of phytoplankton in photosynthesis zone was established. Potentially possible values of the “new”, regeneration and total phytoplankton production in the deepwater area of the Black Sea are calculated. The correspondence between the annual estimates of primary production, calculated on the flux of phosphorus and averaged data of direct measurements of phytoplankton production in the deepwater area of the Black Sea is shown. It was found that the average annual value of the upward flux of phosphorus in the photosynthesis zone is equivalent to the average value of its sediment flux, indicating that the balance of the phosphorus cycle and absence of human influence on the level of primary production in the deepwater area of the Black Sea. The results are discussed in terms of the general laws of formation of the “new” and the regeneration of the primary production.

Long-term observations for oil pollution of bottom sediments of Sevastopol Bay allowed to create the unique anthropogenic history of the region. Large volume of accumulated data allows to characterize dynamics of changes in the pollution status of the Bay at various temporal and spatial scales and to reveal the most vulnerable areas as a consequence of ever-growing economic development. The present study offers the results of comparative analysis of physical-chemical characteristics and distribution patterns of oil hydrocarbons in bottom sediments upper layer (0–5 sm) of the Sevastopol Bay on the data of environmental surveys of 2000 and 2009.

The unique nature of the Black Sea, (stated as “unicum hydrobiologicum” by N.M. Knipovich) refers not only to its physico-chemical conditions, but also to its biodiversity. Several decades ago, under the influence of different events that occurred, the Black Sea ecosystem, and the Romanian coastal area, were affected. Under the influence of pollution and eutrophication, the state of all living communities from both qualitative and quantitative point of view, has changed. A number of observations that took place in the last years, confirmed the qualitative decline (fewer species), and the near disappearance of perennial species (brown and red algae) and as a consequence, the disappearance of associated or epiphytic species, and the uniformity of algal belts occur.The research provides data obtained from the study of the macrophytobenthos from the Romanian littoral, both in northern and southern sector, where the macroalgae were collected from various types of hard substratum, several times a year, in both cold and warm seasons. In each sample, species were identified, and representative individuals were kept for the herbarium collection. The ecological factors influence the development of macrophytes along the Romanian shore, so they must be mentioned in all these studies.The research shows that because of the newly created ecological conditions, the actual algal communities consist of a smaller number of species than previously reported, and most of them are opportunistic species with a short life cycle and rapid growth, like species from green algae Enteromorpha, Ulva and Cladophora genera, and Ceramiun from red algae, that persisted and proliferated under these environmental conditions displaying considerable biomass.

Cenchrus longispinus (Hack) Fernald is one of the alien plants with a quick spreading on the Romanian Black Sea coast. Big populations of longspine sandbur have been recorded in Mamaia, the biggest resort on the Romanian Black Sea coast, situated near Constanța city, one of the most important harbors of the Black Sea. In some areas of Mamaia, longspine sandbur is already occupying large surfaces of the beaches and is causing discomfort to the tourists who walk barefoot on the sand. Smaller local populations and isolated specimens were recorded on the beach between Mamaia and Năvodari, in Constanta harbor, in Constanta city (in Tăbăcărie park) and on the beach of Vama Veche, a small resort close to the border with Bulgaria. In the coastal area of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, longspine sandbur has not been noticed yet.The spreading of this alien plant in the coastal area depends on humans and animals. Its spiny burs are dispersed in many ways such as clinging to the fur of animals, shoes, clothing, or car tyres. Cenchrus longispinus was accidentally introduced in Mamaia resort most likely by the tourists, or through the goods trade in the resort. Constanta harbor could also be a gate for the entering of this species on the Romanian seacoast. The quick increase of the sandy surfaces infested by Cenchrus longispinus over the past 5 years in Mamaia resort and north of Mamaia, indicates the high ability of the species to occupy new territories and the risk of its spreading along the coastal area of Romania in the neighboring countries.Mowing the colonies with longspine sandbur and the meadows infested with this noxious weed, before the maturing of the burs is a non-polluting method for the control of this alien species.

An invasive species, the rapa whelk (Rapana venosa Valenciennes, 1846) was reported for the first time in the Black Sea in 1946 in the area of the Novorossysky Port, and, at the Romanian coast, back in 1963. Due to its excellent gourmet properties, rapa whelk has become the target of exploitation at an industrial scale for operators carrying out fishing activities at the Romanian coast. Initially, the R. venosa population was exploited only with the help of divers, by manual harvesting, but currently, starting with the second half of the year 2013, as a result of the authorisition in the fishing sector of the beam trawl, rapa whelck harvesting is being accomplished by both techniques: manual, by divers, and mechanised, by beam trawl. The legalization of beam trawl fisheries resulted in the implementation of changes in the structure of the fishing fleet (increasing the number of vessels with lengths greater than 12 m) and equipping these vessels with facilities/equipment adequate for a combined fishing: stationary (gillnets, goby pots, longlines etc.) and active (pelagic trawl, beam trawl etc.).

In the Black Sea, 3 Genus of Dorvilleidae were reported: Dorvillea Parfitt, 1866; Schistomerngos Jumars, 1974; Protodorvillea Rettibone, 1961. In the Black Sea, Protodorvillea kefersteini (Uljanin, 1877) occurs near the shores of Bulgaria and along the Crimean coastline (Kiseleva, Polychaete worms (Polychaeta) of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, Kola Research Centre Press RAS, Apatity, 409 p, 2004; Marinov, Bull Zool Inst Bulg. Bulgarian Academy of Sciences 21:69–75, 1966).The aims of the present paper are to learn more about the biology of P. kefersteini and to increase our knowledge about the present state of its population structures along the coast of Crimea.Samples of macrobenthos were collected from different areas of the Crimean coastal zone (the Black Sea), during 2006–2011. More than 800 benthos samples were collected from the pseudolitoral zone by using a hand bottom-sampler with the 0.04 m2 capture area. Pseuvdolitoral is a narrow strip of beach. It is between the top edge of the splash and riprap beach.Polychaetes P. kefersteini usually inhabits coastal coarse sandy with a mixture of gravel, shell, sandy soil or sand with a mixture of mud.The annual density fluctuations of the polychaeta P. kefersteini was investigated in the coastal zone of the Crimea. The number was significantly different in different regions of the Crimea coast. In different seasons of the year spatial distribution of P. kefersteini by depths was different. Over the entire observation time abundance of the polychaetes was greatest in the belt below the water edge. In summer and autumn polychaetes P. kefersteini were absent above the water edge, and in winter and spring – along the water edge.Though population of P. kefersteini includes polychaetes of different body sizes. For the first time growth and development of juvenile (0.3–1.45-mm large) P. kefersteini were studied and the time at which chaetae first arose on the body.Conclusions. Carrying out this work, we for the first time explored distribution of the polychaeta P. kefersteini along the Crimean shoreline and by pseudolitoral depths. In the size structure of P. kefersteini population inhabiting the pseudolitoral zone 20–35-mm long worms dominate (75%); with increasing depth they occur more and more rarely, decreasing to 21% at 1 m and to 1% at 1.5 m depths. For the first time growth and development of juvenile (0.3–1.45-mm large) P. kefersteini were studied and the time at which chaetae first arose on the body determined; in particular, forked chaeta appeared in the individuals with 2–3-segment bodies.

Characteristic of the Black Sea basin is that most of the fish occupy extensive areas, located in the exclusive zone of several riparian countries. Current Bulgarian marine fleet capacity comprises 2030 active fishing vessels. There are 1934 fishing boats less than 12 m representing 95.27% of all vessels. The majority of the fleet (84%) are below 7.9 m in length. The main fishing grounds are coastal (to 30–40 m depth) and offshore (to 100 m depths). In Bulgaria, it is more properly to put the accent on the separate regulations of the fishery, instead of its integral management. These regulations concerns in very small extension the shared fish stocks, which are exploited without control, because of the restriction measures absence. Much more different is the attitude concerning the so called “domestic fish stocks” with some elements of management applied. But even such a scheme in force remains imperfect, because of the insufficient control. Present policy regarding Bulgarian marine fishery is orientated to the production mainly, as far as the fish protein in the country is not corresponding to the demands. Indicated production orientated marine fishery, is stimulated by the lack of adequate management rules of the fishing activities. Taking into consideration the entire existent EU regulations and national legislation in force regarding the small scale fisheries, wider environmental, economic and social aspects in a balanced manner should be regarded.

Establishing the necessary measures for the conservation of habitats and species of the Marine Zone of the Danube Delta (ROSCI 0066) is based on the assessment of their current conservation status. Conservation measures instituted aimed at maintaining or restoring the species and habitats for which the site was designated, at an appropriate stage of conservation. The marine protected area ROSCI 0066 (overlapping the Danube Delta – marine zone) is a national protected area within the Natura 2000 European ecological network (Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC, Romanian Government Emergency Ordinance 57/2007, Minister’s of Environment, Water and Forests Order no. 46/2016), and also has the status of Ramsar and UNESCO site. The overall assessment of the conservation status of marine species and habitats derived from Annex E (V) matrix of the EC official reporting format. It was performed for marine fish species of Community interest, whose presence is certain and confirmed by research in the marine protected area’s perimeter. According to the results, Alosa immaculata Bennet, 1835 (Pontic shad) and Alosa tanaica Grimm, 1901 (Black Sea shad) have a favorable conservation status; Huso huso Linnaeus, 1758 (Beluga) and Acipenser stellatus Pallas, 1771 (Starry sturgeon) have an unfavorable conservation status – inadequate U1, while Acipenser gueldenstaedtii Brandt and Ratzeburg 1833 (Danube sturgeon) – unfavorable conservation status – bad U2. Assessing the conservation status of marine fish species contributes to the development of good management measures for biodiversity conservation in the marine protected area (MPA).

The aim of this study was to describe the marine mammal sighting and abundance related to the distribution in front of the Romanian Black Sea coast, for the year 2013. The assessment of cetacean populations, according to the working methodology used regionally and internationally, imposed the necessity of observations both on shore (seashore, port protection dikes etc.) and at sea, on board vessels and boats. In order to obtain data and information on the population status of marine mammals from the Romanian Black Sea coast, a monitoring plan was drawn-up, aiming at increasing the knowledge of the abundance of cetaceans in the Black Sea, towards the sustainable protection and conservation of the sensitive habitats and species.

George Emil Palade was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine, with Albert Claude and Christian de Duve for cell fractions and the most important discovery: the ribosome, (corpuscula of Palade responsible for cellular proteins synthesis), mitochondria and reticulum endoplasmic. In 1975 Palade was elected Honorary member of the Romanian Academy.The scientific biography of Palade started in 1940 in Carol Davila Medical University with research of morphology and physiology of Dolphin Kidney.As a student G. E. Palade was fascinated by Professor Francisc Iosif Rainer (Anatomy and Anthropology), Andre Boivin (Biochemistry) and Gr. T. Popa.The doctoral thesis of G.E. Palade under the coordination of Fr. Rainer was about anatomical structure and physiology adaptation of dolphin kidney, the adaptation from terrestrial to sea life. The doctoral thesis of G. E. Palade remains unknown and outclassed by his research, considering “mile-stones” in cell biology. The dolphin kidney, dissected in 1939 by G. E. Palade, exists in the Anatomy Laboratory of Medical Faculty (Carol Davila University Bucharest).We present here his medical history which started with a research of macroscopic and microscopic structures of dolphin kidney, adaptation like member and affections of nephrons. Palade thesis confirmed his hypothesis and Rainer’s that dolphins descend from terrestrial mammal, although further adapted to the see life having short urinary tubs.

It has been shown for the first time in experiment, that placing of marine species myxosporean Kudoa nova spores into fresh water influences negatively their construction and preservation in the case, when spores are in cysts, isolated from muscles and put to refrigerator. The percent of anomalous spores in these cysts at the 34-th day of experiment reached 87%, deformation or destruction of 48% of spores was observed already at third day. By 20-th day of experiment majority of spores and polar capsules darkened, polar filaments in such spores did not shoot being placed to 8% solution of KOH. If cysts of K. nova were placed into sea water and kept in the refrigerator percentage of anomalous spores made only 2–6%. But if the spores of the given myxosporean species were contained in muscle tissue and kept in waters of different salinity under natural weather conditions, then in the fresh water abnormal spores maximal share was of 17% and in the sea water – 20%.

Every species exists in nature only as one or more populations. They may be investigated in different ways by biologists and by ecologists (in ecology a special branch deals with population ecology – autecology).To study the ecology of an individual species does not mean to study autecological peculiarities of a single population, but of a multitude of populations within the areal of respective species, searching intrapopulational and interpopulational relationships, their relations to the abiotic environment and the manner of their participation to processes of production, transfer, consumption and decomposition of biomass and necromass, as well as the specificity of energy transfer.The aim and the role of autecological investigations are highlighted, and the place of this branch among the other fields of ecology. It may be best realized using intensely the mathematical processing of the data.

As a result of matter and energy accumulation in the marine contour (marginal) biotopes, communities of plants and animals (contourobionts) adapted to specific conditions of these edges of the sea are developed. Because of numerical superiority of early ontogenetic stages of aquatic organisms, contour biotopes and communities are responsible for the reproduction of many organisms, including commercially important species. Due to natural physical and chemical processes, in the same biotopes accumulate different substances, harmful for living organisms. In consequence of this, the main critical zones of the sea are forming just here and first victims are among contourobionts, figuratively named “Environmental sentinels”. They need to be monitored in the first place.

The ocean acts as the great integrator of the Planet through transport, redistribution and even recycling of heat, freshwater, chemicals, organisms and other organic material, and much if not most material and waste resulting from human activities. The role of the ocean is acknowledged in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, UNCLOS. This constitutes “a comprehensive regime dealing with all matters relating to the law of the sea…bearing in mind that the problems of ocean space are closely related and need be considered as a whole”. Marine research is addressed in a separate part of the Law of the Sea, part xiii. This includes stipulations on international cooperation, which should stimulate the ocean science community, just as the fact of a separate chapter in a major international law ought to raise the status of oceanography in Governments.However, UNCLOS entered into force at the end of 1994 and international cooperation in ocean research and observations has been in progressive development for about 150 years. Its success is well demonstrated through global programmes addressing many issues of great importance for environment, development, economy, services and security. The results together with related technological developments concern transport and maritime safety, fisheries, mariculture and food security, climate and global change, infrastructure and coastal protection, warning systems for tsunamis and other hazards from the ocean, forecasting of climate-related phenomena like El Nino and the Indian Ocean Monsoon, marine pollution and related effects, availability and economy of non-living marine resources. Some highlights of this international cooperation and the associated institutional developments are presented.The main aim of the paper is to elucidate incentives and their implications for the development of the cooperation. These are related to scientific necessity in view of the ocean dynamics as well as to the dependence of human development and society on the ocean, coastal areas, the marine environment as a whole and its resources. Apart from the scientific need these incentives concern the issues referred to, together with sustainable development, including of the ocean economy. By addressing these and other problems in a fairly comprehensive way oceanography and ocean observations are providing many services and opportunities to society. However, oceanography is still fragmented and not acknowledged in society or Governments in the same way as hydrology and meteorology, and achieving sustained ocean observations are facing problems. Some ideas on reasons for this situation and the relatively weak visibility and status of oceanography in Governments and social perception in general are discussed.

The evolution of the Romanian hydrography, with an over 100 years of history, closely followed the Romanian Navy history. Since the Union of the Romanian Principalities until now, Romanian Navy has developed from a small river flotilla to the today Romanian Naval Forces, which includes the Romanian Maritime Hydrographic Directorate (M.H.D.). Today M.H.D. is the Romanian national authority in the field of maritime hydrography, with its operating own national law. This paper presents the centenary history of Romanian hydrography in parallel with the Romanian national history, as well as the Romanian Navy history.

The article presents the beginning of navigation in the Black Sea in the early Antiquity, especially on the west coast. We will highlight the role of Thracian-Getae, the ancient Greeks, Romans, Byzantium and Italians. Since the fourteenth century, Romanians asserted their interests in the Black Sea through the institution of the rulers of the principalities. The leaders in Moldavia and Wallachia included among their titles the control of the maritime coast and of the ports, had ships built and extended navigation and trading in the region. The establishment of the Ottoman Empire diminished the Romanian navigation in the Black Sea after 1848 with the transformation of the Black Sea into “a Turkish lake”, but there is proof that it continued on a smaller scale. The change of the navigation regime in the Black Sea after 1829 gave the Romanian principalities new opportunities for sailing and after 1859, Romania created its own naval juridical system. The union of Dobrogea with Romania in 1878 brings an important section of the coast and Constanța port. In this context, the Romanian Maritime Service is created as a state institution with the role to develop Romanian opportunities on seas and oceans.

The author presents original documents useful to understand the connections between the members of the staff and the projects of the Belgica Expedition in the Antarctic Region (1897–1899).

Venice Italy is famed for its rich history built on trade and centuries of accumulated wealth. But when a major storm in 1134 opened an inlet in the North Sea coast, near what is today Bruges Belgium, it created natural access to a new port. The “waterway” brought such an economic bloom to the Flandrian city that it became known as the Venice-of-the-North eventually competing, and perhaps surpassing, its namesake as the richest city in Europe. What Mother Nature giveth, she can take away, and indeed shifting sands, silting, combined with ships’ larger sizes, wars and political conflicts brought Bruges to ruin. From enjoying centuries as one of the largest and wealthiest harbor cities in the Western world, it became an impoverished settlement, until it rose from its ashes through the construction of a strategically connected manmade port, away from the inlet. The new port fell victim to World Wars I and II, but is now a ranking and continuously expanding North Sea harbor. The paper traces the vicissitudes of Bruges.

The introduction of laser scanning has triggered off a revolution in topographic terrain capturing, especially in the generation of digital terrain models (DTM) and it is beginning to find success in archaeological survey. To explore its potential for archaeology, a LiDAR survey covering the Cornești landscape, in the west part of Romania, was carried out. This paper presents a GIS approach to discover new characteristics of the archaeological site. First, the DTM of the surface has been generated in order to produce the local relief model (LRM). A data processing approach is presented to enhance the visibility of the new site and to allow their relative elevations as well as their volumes to be measured directly. In the second part of the paper, a GIS workflow is presented which provides a well-structured descriptive and analytical tool for identifying spatial patterns. Finally, the potential of LiDAR to transform our future management of the historic environment will mark the archaeological activities.

The maritime transportation problem was first formulated by T.C. Koopmans (1957) as a transportation problem related to specific maritime activities. Across time, several classes of Simplex-type algorithms have been developed to find the numerical solution when the problem has a non-empty set of feasible solutions. Often, the mathematical model of a real world context will provide an unbalanced and inconsistent maritime transportation problem, i.e. when the set of classical feasible solutions is empty and the least squares one must be considered. In such cases, the linear programming solutions techniques cannot be applied, and one way to find an optimal solution is to reformulate the problem as an inconsistent (incompatible) system of linear inequalities, for which several Han-type iterative algorithms have been proposed. In this paper, we attempt to solve an unbalanced and inconsistent maritime transportation problem by two approaches. One of them refers to the application of the MH algorithm, a modified version of Han’s original algorithm, previously proposed by the authors. The other one involves a soft computing technique that produces an original formulation of a genetic algorithm (GA) over a maritime transportation problem. The results are discussed and a comparative study is given, aiming to provide a cost optimized solution to some real world maritime transportation problems.

For the last two decades oil and gas shale exploitation is going through a real revolution as on one hand the technology to extract those energy resources is improving at an impressive pace and on the other hand high gas price since 2003 made the winning of shale gas economically attractive. When some years later gas price started to show some signs of stagnation or even decline and that on the opposite oil price continued to rise, drilling companies improved their boring technology by means of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracking. Although views differ as to the exact environmental impacts, it is indisputable that besides technical challenges and world market prices the ecological balance also has be taken into account while exploiting new or existing hydrocarbon reserves.When analyzing the total quantity of available mineral resources versus the potentially exploitable mineral resources, the two traditionally used factors are technique and economics. This classic two-dimensional vision is displayed among others in an original diagram developed by McKelvey in 1976. In this chapter a three-dimensional approach of McKelvey’s box is proposed. The third diagram dimension includes parameters - like the environmental approach - which cannot be neglected any longer today. This new angle will be applied to the exploitation of oil and gas shale.

Constanta today is known everywhere as Romania’s Black Sea gate. Constanta is one of the oldest certified cities in Romania. The first documentary proof dates from 657 B.C., when, on the territory of the current peninsula, a greek colony called Tomis was formed.

This article aims at presenting the American public with an overview of Romania’s agriculture – a medium-sized European country with an area of 238.391 km2 and a population of 19.3 million. It is worth noting that 45% of Romania’s population live in rural areas while 30% of the country’s active population is involved in the agricultural sector.Thus, Romania’s 14.685 thousands hectares (ha) of agricultural land and 9.455 thousands ha of arable land is one of the best land per capita hectarage in the world with a 0.68 ha of agricultural land and 0.44 ha of arable land per capita compared to an average of 0.27 ha per capita in Europe and, indeed, the World.Due to the fact that large parts of these agricultural lands are being plagued by drought rather frequently, more than three million ha of land in areas most affected by this phenomenon, such as in the Romanian Plain – which is abutting the Danube River – as well as the country’s South-Eastern reaches – made up of the historical provinces of Dobrogea and Moldavia – were prepared for irrigation, during the period 1965–1989.The aquatic resources’ management is hardly better. Fish stock yields of just a few tens of kilos per ha at angling and a few hundred kilos per ha in fish farms and the poor management resources led to the extinction of valuable species of their becoming now endangered species, such as the sturgeon while even the rather common turbot is now an expensive delicatessen. There aren’t any local fish farms of marine species as over 80% of fish products are being imported.Due to the poor management of fish stocks and the critical lack of investment in fishing boats, tackle and the entire infrastructure supporting the fishing industry that would make trout farms affordable in mountainous regions, Romania is about to become a 100% importer of fishery products.