Northern Adriatic Sea: oceanography of the basin proper and of the western coastal zone

The oceanographic features of the Northern Adriatic Sea are reviewed with regard to the deeper basin proper and the shallow western coastal zone, and in relation to the interplay between the physical forcing and the distribution of chemical and biological properties in the basin. Some fundamental aspects are shown: (1) The annual variation in the density structure of the water column, from the winter complete mixing to the strong stratification during the other seasons, and the related changes in the circulation pattern and in the dynamics of the horizontal and vertical transport processes. (2) The role of the dynamic separation between the basin proper and the coastal zone due, with variable efficiency during the year, to the coastal frontal systems, and leading to different features in the waters separated by the fronts, in regard both to the physical and the biogeochemical processes. Some effects of the oceanographic structure of the basin on the cycling of nutrients and of the organogenic suspended matter, and on the appearance of dystrophic events are discussed.