Vertical distribution of mucilage typology in the water column after a massive mucilage formation in the surface waters of the Sea of Marmara

İ. Destan Öztürk, Sabri Mutlu, Gökhan Kaman, Fatma Bayram Partal, Ayşen Demirtaş, Senem Çağlar, Ersan Kuzyaka, Hüsne Altıok, Dilek Ediger

ORCID IDs: İ.D.Ö. 0000-0001-8915-6236; S.M. 0000-0001-9222-3102; G.K. 0000-0003-3385-0418; F.B.P. 0000-0002-5661-1439;
A.D. 0000-0001-6801-8483; S.Ç. 0000-0001-5882-9020; E.K. 0000-0002-3356-5679; H.A. 0000-0003-0362-4938; D.E. 0000-0003-4417-8815

Department of Physical Oceanography and Marine Biology, Institute of Marine Sciences and Management, Istanbul University, Istanbul, TURKEY
Turkish Marine Research Foundation (TUDAV), P.O.Box 10, Beykoz, Istanbul, TURKEY
TUBITAK MRC Environment and Cleaner Production Institute, Kocaeli, 41470, TURKEY
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Istanbul University, Vezneciler, Istanbul, 34134 TURKEY

Abstract

The vertical distribution of mucilage aggregates is described for the Sea of Marmara in July 2021. In order to understand the vertical distribution of mucilage aggregates, CTD measurements and underwater video records were obtained from 10 stations in the Sea of Marmara. Nine different types of mucilage aggregates were observed during this study. Flocs were observed in the entire surface waters of the Sea of Marmara. The biggest type of mucilage aggregates in terms of size was clouds. Vertical distribution of mucilage in the water column had a distinct distribution for different types and this distribution was same for all regions. Even though it was not possible to monitor the deep basin, this study confirms that mucilage aggregates passed the halocline and were recorded up to 60 m depth in the water column.

Keywords: Mucilage typology, mucilage aggregates, Sea of Marmara, underwater video

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