The coastline of the Black Sea is indented or not, what is it like, what features does it have? This question is often asked by students. Let's try together to figure out the features of this reservoir and, of course, find answers to the questions posed.

Briefly about the sea

It is more than 420 thousand square meters. km. In outline, it looks like an oval with a length of 580 km in width and 1150 km in length. The depth is 2210 m in the deepest part of the occupied territory. Black is one of the inland seas. The connection with the ocean occurs thanks to the Marmara, Mediterranean and Azov seas. The Bosphorus, Dardanelles and Kerch straits are the threads connecting all four water areas.

The indentedness of the Black Sea coastline is poorly expressed. The size of the area occupied by this reservoir is equal to two areas of Great Britain. Seven countries are washed by the waters of the Black Sea: in the north - Ukraine, in the northeast - Russia and Abkhazia, in the southeast - Georgia, in the south - Turkey, in the northwest - Romania and Bulgaria.

Signs of life in it are present only at a distance of 150-200 m from the surface. Further, the water is saturated with hydrogen sulfide, because of this, the development of living organisms is simply impossible. Anaerobic bacteria are an exception.

What is the coastline of the Black Sea?

Most of the coastline is more or less flat. Only on the north side is there a slight irregularity. The length of the Black Sea coastline is 3400 km. Crimea is the largest peninsula. On the opposite side, the coast of Anatolia protrudes strongly.

There are many bays in the north; they are somewhat less common in the south and northwest. Also, the coastline of the Black Sea is represented by estuaries. They are mainly found on the north and northwest coast. From the side Crimean peninsula there is a mountainous relief.

Gulfs

The largest bays are in the north. This territory belongs to the state of Ukraine. This position is quite favorable, and it is determined by the presence of the following bays: Yagorlytsky, Dzharylgachsky, Kalamitsky, etc. But in the south-west there are fewer, the largest: Varna and Burgas (the state of Bulgaria). The coastline of the Black Sea in the south is also not represented by many bays. The main ones, Sinop and Samsun, belong to Turkey.

Crimea can freely be proud of Sevastopol and which are located between the rocks. The Tamansky Peninsula is characterized by many small bays, where reeds and reeds have found a habitat. This resulted in smoother formation.

Coastline relief

From the north and north-west, due to the inflow of rivers, estuaries are formed. In this part, the banks are low-lying. Cliffs can sometimes be seen. But the coastline of the Black Sea near the Crimean peninsula is mountainous. This is especially true of the southern as well as eastern shores. Here you can already see. Also in this part of the coast are the mountains of the Caucasus, which reach the very water.

Anatolia's large ledge is characterized by three small islands. Bafra and Charshamba are low-lying, while Injeburun is mountainous. This also includes the Sinop Bay. It got its name in honor of the memory of the victory of the Russian fleet in 1853 in Crimean war... The commander was then P.S. Nakhimov.
Once upon a time, at the site of the entrance of one of the largest rivers, the Rion, there was a large bay. Over time, the Colchis Lowland appeared instead.

On the Turkish side, the Black Sea coastline receives several rivers. These are the watercourses Yesil-Irmak, Chorokh, Kyzyl-Irmak. On the European side of Turkey is the Thracian Peninsula. It wasn't long before a wide bridge was built to connect it with Anatolia. This allows large ships to easily pass through the Bosphorus. There are several large ports to the west of it. One of them is Burgas, the other is Varna. It is from here that the sea roads of Bulgaria originate.

Islands

The Black Sea is deprived of the opportunity to boast of a large number of islands. The largest of them is Dzharylgach with an area of ​​62 sq. km. The rest are very small - no more than 1 sq. km. This includes the islands of Berezan and Zmeiny. The latter is located farthest from land. The distance from the Danube Delta to the island is 40 km.

Let's summarize

Each section of the coastal zone got its own name. In Crimea, the coast is named South, in Russia in the Caucasus - the Black Sea coast, in Turkey - the Rumeli and Anatolian coast.

The most convenient bay is located in Romania - the port of Constanta. On the north side is the large Danube delta. The Lower Danube Lowland also passes here. It contains a string of salt lakes.

So, we tried to answer whether the Black Sea coastline is indented or not, described the features of its relief.

The area of ​​the Black Sea is 422,000 km² (according to other sources - 436,400 km²). The outlines of the Black Sea resemble an oval with a longest axis of about 1150 km. The greatest length of the sea from north to south is 580 km. Maximum depth - 2210 m, average - 1240 m.

The sea washes the shores of Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey and Georgia. The unrecognized state entity Abkhazia is located on the northeastern coast of the Black Sea.

A characteristic feature of the Black Sea is the complete (with the exception of a number of anaerobic bacteria) absence of life at depths over 150-200 m due to the saturation of deep water layers with hydrogen sulfide. The Black Sea is an important transport area, as well as one of the largest resort regions in Eurasia.

In addition, the Black Sea remains of great strategic and military importance. The main military bases of the Russian Black Sea Fleet are located in Sevastopol and Novorossiysk.

The ancient Greek name of the sea is Pontus Aksinsky (Greek Πόντος Ἄξενος, "Inhospitable sea"). In the "Geography" of Strabo, it is assumed that the sea received such a name because of the difficulties with navigation, as well as the wild hostile tribes inhabiting its shores. Later, after the successful development of the coast by the Greek colonists, the sea began to be called Pontus Euxine (Greek Πόντος Εὔξενος, "Hospitable Sea"). However, Strabo (1.2.10) mentions that in antiquity the Black Sea was also called simply “the sea” (pontos).

V Ancient Rus X-XVI centuries in the annals the name "Russian Sea" was found, in some sources the sea is called "Scythian". The modern name "Black Sea" has found its corresponding reflection in most languages: Greek. Μαύρη θάλασσα, bulg. Black Sea, cargo. შავი ზღვა, room. Marea Neagră, eng. Black Sea tour. Karadeniz, Ukrainian Chorne more and others. The earliest sources mentioning this name date back to the 13th century, but there are certain signs that it was used earlier. There are a number of hypotheses regarding the reasons for the emergence of such a name:

The Turks and other conquerors, who tried to conquer the population of the coast of the sea, met with fierce resistance from the Circassians, Adygs and other tribes, for which they called the Karadengiz sea - Black, inhospitable.

Another reason, according to a number of researchers, may be the fact that during storms the water in the sea gets very dark. However, storms in the Black Sea are not very frequent, and the water darkens during storms in all seas of the earth. Another hypothesis of the origin of the name is based on the fact that metal objects (for example, anchors), lowered into the sea water deeper than 150 m by long time, covered with a black coating due to the action of hydrogen sulfide.

Another hypothesis is associated with the "color" designation of the cardinal points adopted in a number of Asian countries, where "black" denoted the north, respectively, the Black Sea - the northern sea.

One of the most common hypotheses is the assumption that the name is associated with memories of the breakthrough of the Bosphorus 7500-5000 years ago, which resulted in a catastrophic rise in sea level by almost 100 meters, which in turn led to the flooding of the vast shelf zone and the formation of the Sea of ​​Azov ...

There is a Turkish legend according to which a hero's sword rests in the waters of the Black Sea, which was thrown there at the request of the dying wizard Ali. Because of this, the sea is agitated, trying to throw out deadly weapons from its depths, and turns black.

The shores of the Black Sea are scarcely indented and, mainly, in its northern part. The only large peninsula is the Crimean one. The largest bays: Yagorlytsky, Tendrovsky, Dzharylgachsky, Karkinitsky, Kalamitsky and Feodosia in Ukraine, Varna and Burgas in Bulgaria, Sinop and Samsunsky - near the southern coast of the sea, in Turkey. Estuaries overflow in the north and north-west at the confluence of rivers. The total length of the coastline is 3400 km.

A number of sections of the sea coast have their own names: the southern coast of Crimea in Ukraine, the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus in Russia, the Rumeli coast and the Anatolian coast in Turkey. In the west and northwest, the shores are low-lying, steep in places; in Crimea - mostly low, with the exception of the southern mountainous shores. On the eastern and southern shores, the spurs of the Caucasus and Pontic mountains come close to the sea.

There are few islands in the Black Sea. The largest are Berezan and Zmeiny (both with an area of ​​less than 1 km²).

The following largest rivers flow into the Black Sea: Danube, Dnieper, Dniester, as well as smaller Mzymta, Bzyb, Rioni, Kodor (Kodori), Inguri (in the east of the sea), Chorokh, Kyzyl-Irmak, Ashli-Irmak, Sakarya (in the south ), Southern Bug (in the north). The Black Sea fills an isolated depression located between Southeast Europe and the Asia Minor Peninsula. This depression was formed in the Miocene epoch, in the process of active mountain building, which divided the ancient Tethys Ocean into several separate bodies of water (from which subsequently, in addition to the Black Sea, the Azov, Aral and Caspian Seas were formed).

One of the hypotheses of the origin of the Black Sea (in particular, the conclusions of the participants of the international oceanographic expedition on the scientific ship "Aquanaut" in 1993) says that 7500 years ago it was the deepest freshwater lake on earth, the level was more than a hundred meters below the modern ... At the end of the Ice Age, the level of the World Ocean rose and the Bosphorus Isthmus was broken. A total of 100 thousand km² were flooded (the most fertile land already cultivated by people). The flooding of these vast lands may have become the prototype of the myth of the worldwide flood. The emergence of the Black Sea, according to this hypothesis, was presumably accompanied by the mass death of the entire freshwater living world of the lake, the decomposition product of which - hydrogen sulfide - reaches high concentrations at the bottom of the sea.

The Black Sea depression consists of two parts - western and eastern, separated by an uplift, which is a natural continuation of the Crimean peninsula. The northwestern part of the sea is characterized by a relatively wide shelf strip (up to 190 km). The southern coast (belonging to Turkey) and the eastern (Georgia) are steeper, the shelf strip does not exceed 20 km and is indented by a number of canyons and depressions. The depths off the coast of the Crimea and the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus are increasing extremely rapidly, reaching heights of over 500 m already a few kilometers from the coastline. The sea reaches its maximum depth (2210 m) in the central part, south of Yalta.

Coarse-detrital deposits predominate in the composition of the rocks that form the bottom of the sea in the coastal zone: pebbles, gravel, sand. With distance from the coast, they are replaced by fine-grained sands and silts. In the northwestern part of the Black Sea, shell rocks are widespread; for the slope and bed of the sea trough, pelitic silts are common.

Among the main minerals, which are found on the seabed: oil and natural gas on the northwestern shelf; coastal placers of titanomagnetite sands (Taman Peninsula, Caucasus coast). The Black Sea is the world's largest meromictic (unmixed water levels) body of water. The upper layer of water (mixolimnion), lying down to a depth of 150 m, cooler, less dense and less salty, saturated with oxygen, is separated from the lower, warmer, salty and dense layer saturated with hydrogen sulfide (monimolimnion) by chemocline (the boundary layer between aerobic and anaerobic zones). There is still no single generally accepted explanation for the origin of hydrogen sulfide in the Black Sea. It is believed that hydrogen sulfide in the Black Sea is formed mainly as a result of the vital activity of sulfate-reducing bacteria, pronounced water stratification and weak vertical exchange. There is also a theory that hydrogen sulfide was formed as a result of the decomposition of freshwater animals that died when the salty Mediterranean waters penetrated during the formation of the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles.

Some studies in recent years make it possible to speak of the Black Sea as a giant reservoir of not only hydrogen sulfide, but also methane released, most likely, also during the activity of microorganisms, as well as from the bottom of the sea.

The water balance of the Black Sea consists of the following components:

• atmospheric precipitation (230 km³ per year);
• continental runoff (310 km³ per year);
• water inflow from the Sea of ​​Azov (30 km³ per year);
• evaporation of water from the sea surface (-360 km³ per year);
• removal of water through the Bosphorus strait (-210 km³ per year).

The amount of precipitation, inflow from the Sea of ​​Azov and river runoff exceeds the amount of evaporation from the surface, as a result of which the level of the Black Sea exceeds the level of the Marmara Sea. Due to this, the upper current is formed, directed from the Black Sea through the Bosphorus. The lower current, observed in the lower layers of the water, is less pronounced and is directed through the Bosphorus in the opposite direction. The interaction of these currents additionally supports the vertical stratification of the sea, and is also used by fish for migrations between the seas.

It should be noted that due to the difficult exchange of water with the Atlantic Ocean, there are practically no ebbs and flows in the Black Sea. The circulation of water in the sea covers only the surface layer of water. This layer of water has a salinity of about 18 ppm (in the Mediterranean - 37 ppm) and is saturated with oxygen and other elements necessary for the activity of living organisms. These layers in the Black Sea are subject to circular circulation in an anticyclonic direction along the entire perimeter of the reservoir. Simultaneously, in the western and eastern parts sea ​​there are water circulation in a cyclonic direction. The temperature of the surface layers of water, depending on the season, ranges from 8 to 30 ° C.

The lower layer, due to the saturation with hydrogen sulfide, does not contain living organisms, with the exception of a number of anaerobic sulfur bacteria (the waste product of which is hydrogen sulfide). Salinity here increases to 22-22.5 ppm, the average temperature is ~ 8.5 ° C.

The climate of the Black Sea, due to its mid-continental position, is mainly continental. Only the southern coast of Crimea and the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus are protected by mountains from cold northern winds and, as a result, have a mild Mediterranean climate.

The Atlantic Ocean has a significant influence on the weather over the Black Sea, over which most of the cyclones originate, bringing bad weather and storms to the sea. On the northeastern coast of the sea, especially in the Novorossiysk region, low mountains are not an obstacle for the cold northern air masses, which, rolling over them, cause a strong cold wind (bora), the locals call it Nord-Ost. The south-westerly winds usually bring warm and rather humid Mediterranean air masses to the Black Sea region. As a result, most of the sea area is characterized by warm, humid winters and hot dry summers.

The average January temperature in the northern part of the Black Sea is -3 ° C, but it can drop to -30 ° C. In the territories adjacent to the southern coast of Crimea and the coast of the Caucasus, winters are much milder: the temperature rarely drops below 0 ° C. Snow, however, periodically falls in all areas of the sea. The average July temperature in the north of the sea is 22-23 ° C. The maximum temperatures are not so high due to the softening effect of the water reservoir and usually do not exceed 35 ° C.

The greatest amount of precipitation in the Black Sea region falls on the coast of the Caucasus (up to 1500 mm per year), the least - in the northwestern part of the sea (about 300 mm per year). Annual cloudiness averages 60% with a maximum in winter and minimum in summer.

The waters of the Black Sea, as a rule, are not subject to freezing, with the exception of the coastal part in the north of the reservoir. Coastal waters in these places freeze up to a month or more; estuaries and mouths of rivers - up to 2-3 months.

The flora of the sea includes 270 species of multicellular green, brown, red bottom algae (cystozira, phyllophora, zoster, cladophore, ulv, enteromorph, etc.). The phytoplankton of the Black Sea contains no less than six hundred species. Among them are dinoflagellates - carapace flagellates (prorocentrum micans, ceratium furca, small Scrippsiella trochoidea, etc.), dinoflagellates (dinophysis, protoperidinium, alexandrium), various diatoms and others. The fauna of the Mediterranean is much poorer than the Black Sea. The Black Sea is home to 2.5 thousand species of animals (of which 500 species of unicellular, 160 species of vertebrates - fish and mammals, 500 species of crustaceans, 200 species of molluscs, the rest - invertebrates different types), for comparison, in the Mediterranean - about 9 thousand species. Among the main reasons for the relative poverty of the marine life: a wide range of water salinity, moderate cold water, the presence of hydrogen sulfide at great depths.

In this regard, the Black Sea is suitable for habitation of fairly unpretentious species, at all stages of development of which great depths are not required.

At the bottom of the Black Sea, mussels, oysters, pectene, as well as a rapacious shellfish, brought in with ships from the Far East, live. Numerous crabs live in the crevices of the coastal rocks and among the stones, there are shrimps, there are different kinds jellyfish (the most common cornerot and aurelia), anemones, sponges.

Among the fish found in the Black Sea: various types of gobies (bighead goby, whip goby, round goby, martovik goby, sleeper goby), Azov hamsa, Black Sea hamsa (anchovy), katran shark, gloss flounder, five species of mullet, bluefish, hake (hake), sea ruff, red mullet (common Black Sea sultanka), haddock, mackerel, horse mackerel, Black Sea-Azov herring, Black Sea-Azov tulka, etc. Russian) and Atlantic sturgeon).

Among the dangerous fish of the Black Sea are the sea dragon (the most dangerous are the poisonous spines of the dorsal fin and gill covers), the Black Sea and noticeable scorpion fish, the stingray stingray (sea cat) with poisonous thorns on its tail.

Among birds, gulls, petrels, diving ducks, cormorants and a number of other species are common. Mammals are represented in the Black Sea by two species of dolphins (common dolphin and bottlenose dolphin), the Azov-Black Sea common harbor porpoise (often called the Azov dolphin), and also the white-bellied seal.

Some species of animals that do not live in the Black Sea are often brought into it through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits by the current or swim on their own.

The history of the study of the Black Sea began in ancient times, together with the voyages of the Greeks, who founded their settlements on the seashore. Already in the IV century BC, periplas were drawn up - the ancient sailing directions of the sea. In the future, there is fragmentary information about the voyages of merchants from Novgorod and Kiev to Constantinople.

Another milestone on the way of exploring the Black Sea was the voyage of the "Fortress" ship from Azov to Constantinople in 1696. Peter I, equipping the ship for sailing, gave instructions to carry out cartographic work along the way of its movement. As a result, a "direct drawing of the Black Sea from Kerch to Tsar Grad" was drawn up, and depth measurements were taken.

More serious studies of the Black Sea date back to the end of the 18th-19th centuries. In particular, at the turn of these centuries, Russian scientists academicians Peter Pallas and Middendorf studied the properties of the waters and fauna of the Black Sea. In 1816, the description of the Black Sea coast by F.F.Bellingshausen appeared, in 1817 the first map of the Black Sea was published, in 1842 - the first atlas, in 1851 - the direction of the Black Sea.

Start systematic scientific research The Black Sea was marked by two events of the late 19th century - the study of the Bosphorus currents (1881-1882) and the conduct of two oceanographic depth-measuring expeditions (1890-1891).

A biological station (now the Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas) has been operating in Sevastopol since 1871; it has been engaged in systematic studies of the living world of the Black Sea. At the end of the 19th century, an expedition led by JB Shpindler discovered the saturation of the deep layers of the sea with hydrogen sulfide; Later, a member of the expedition, the famous Russian chemist ND Zelinsky, gave an explanation for this phenomenon.

The study of the Black Sea continued after October revolution 1917 of the year. In 1919, an ichthyological station was organized in Kerch (later transformed into the Azov-Black Sea Institute fisheries and oceanography, now the Southern Research Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography (YugNIRO)). In 1929 in the Crimea, in Katsiveli, a marine hydrophysical station was opened (now a branch of the Sevastopol Marine Hydrophysical Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine).

In Russia, the main research organization conducting the study of the Black Sea is the Southern Branch of the Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Gelendzhik, Golubaya Bay) and a number of others.

The transport significance of the Black Sea is great for the economies of the states washed by this reservoir. A significant volume of maritime traffic is made up of tanker voyages that ensure the export of oil and oil products from the ports of Russia (primarily from Novorossiysk and Tuapse) and the ports of Georgia (Batumi). However, the volumes of hydrocarbon export are significantly constrained by the limited carrying capacity of the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits. The largest oil terminal was created in Ilyichevsk to receive oil within the Odessa-Brody pipeline. There is also a project for the construction of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline bypassing the Black Sea straits. Oil terminals of Novorossiysk are capable of receiving supertankers. In addition to oil and products of its processing, metals, mineral fertilizers, machinery and equipment, timber, lumber, grain, etc. are exported from the Russian and Ukrainian ports of the Black Sea. The main volumes of import to the Black Sea ports of Russia and Ukraine are consumer goods, food products, commodities, etc. In the Black Sea basin, container transportation is widely developed, there are large container terminals. Transportations with the help of lighters are being developed; there are railway ferry services Ilyichevsk (Ukraine) - Varna (Bulgaria) and Ilyichevsk (Ukraine) - Batumi (Georgia). Passenger traffic by sea is also developed in the Black Sea (however, after the collapse of the USSR, their volume has significantly decreased). The international transport corridor TRACECA (Transport Corridor Europe - Caucasus - Asia, Europe - Caucasus - Asia) runs through the Black Sea. The Black Sea ports are the end points of a number of Pan-European transport corridors. The largest port cities on the Black Sea: Novorossiysk, Sochi, Tuapse (Russia); Burgas, Varna (Bulgaria); Batumi, Sukhumi, Poti (Georgia); Constanta (Romania); Samsun, Trabzon (Turkey); Odessa, Ilyichevsk, Yuzhny, Kerch, Sevastopol, Yalta (Ukraine). Along the Don River, which flows into the Sea of ​​Azov, there is a river waterway connecting the Black Sea with the Caspian Sea (through the Volga-Don navigable canal and the Volga), with the Baltic Sea and the White Sea (through the Volga-Baltic waterway and the White Sea-Baltic canal) ... The Danube River is connected through a system of canals to the North Sea. A unique deep-water gas pipeline “Blue Stream” was laid along the bottom of the Black Sea, connecting Russia and Turkey. The length of the underwater part of the gas pipeline running between the village of Arkhipo-Osipovka on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus and the coast of Turkey, 60 km from the city of Samsun, is 396 km. There are plans to expand the pipeline's capacity by laying an additional pipe leg.

The following fish species are of commercial importance in the Black Sea: mullet, anchovy (anchovy), mackerel, horse mackerel, pike perch, bream, sturgeon, herring. The main fishing ports are Odessa, Kerch, Novorossiysk, etc.

V last years In the XX - early XXI century, the fishing industry has significantly decreased due to overfishing and the deterioration of the ecological state of the sea. Prohibited bottom trawling and poaching are also a significant problem, especially for sturgeon. So, in the second half of 2005 alone, specialists of the Black Sea State Basin Directorate for the Protection of Aquatic Living Resources of Ukraine (Chernomorrybvod) on the territory of Crimea uncovered 1909 violations of fish protection legislation, seized 33 tons of fish caught with illegal fishing gear or in prohibited places.

Favorable climatic conditions in the Black Sea region determine its development as an important resort region. The largest resort areas on the Black Sea include: the southern coast of Crimea (Yalta, Alushta, Sudak, Koktebel, Feodosia) in Ukraine, the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus (Anapa, Gelendzhik, Sochi) in Russia, Pitsunda, Gagra and Batumi in Georgia, Golden Sands and Sunny Beach in Bulgaria, Mamaia, Eforie in Romania.

The Black Sea coast of the Caucasus is the main resort region Russian Federation... In 2005, it was visited by about 9 million tourists; in 2006, according to forecasts of officials Krasnodar Territory, this region should have been visited by at least 11-11.5 million tourists. There are over 1000 boarding houses, sanatoriums and hotels on the Russian Black Sea coast, and their number is constantly growing. A natural continuation of the Russian Black Sea coast is the coast of Abkhazia, the most important resorts of which Gagra and Pitsunda were popular back in Soviet times. The development of the resort industry on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus is constrained by a relatively short (for example, compared to the Mediterranean Sea) season, environmental and transport problems, and in Abkhazia - also by the uncertainty of its status and the threat of a new outbreak of military conflict with Georgia.

The Black Sea coast and the basin of the rivers flowing into it are areas with a high anthropogenic impact, densely populated by humans since ancient times. The ecological state of the Black Sea is generally unfavorable.

Among the main factors disturbing the balance in the ecological system of the sea, one should single out:

Heavy pollution of rivers flowing into the sea, especially runoff from fields containing mineral fertilizers, especially nitrates and phosphates. This entails over-fertilization (eutrophication) of the sea waters, and, as a consequence, the rapid growth of phytoplankton ("bloom" of the sea - the intensive development of blue-green algae), a decrease in the transparency of the waters, the death of multicellular algae.

Water pollution by oil and oil products (the most polluted areas are the western part of the sea, which accounts for the largest volume of tanker shipments, as well as the water area of ​​ports). As a result, this leads to the death of marine animals trapped in oil spills, as well as pollution of the atmosphere due to the evaporation of oil and oil products from the water surface.

Pollution of sea waters with human waste - discharge of untreated or insufficiently treated Wastewater etc.

Massive fish catch.

A prohibited but widely used bottom trawling that destroys bottom biocenoses.

Change in composition, decrease in the number of individuals and mutation of the aquatic world under the influence of anthropogenic factors (including the replacement of indigenous species of the natural world with exotic ones that appear as a result of human exposure). So, for example, according to experts from the Odessa branch of YugNIRO, in just one decade (from 1976 to 1987) the population of the Black Sea bottlenose dolphin decreased from 56 thousand to seven thousand individuals.

According to a number of experts, the ecological state of the Black Sea has worsened over the past decade, despite the decline in economic activity in a number of Black Sea countries.

President of the Crimean Academy of Sciences Viktor Tarasenko expressed the opinion that the Black Sea is the dirtiest sea in the world.

For protection environment in the Black Sea region in 1998, the ACCOBAMS agreement (“Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantik Area ”), where one of the main issues is the protection of dolphins and whales. The main international document governing the protection of the Black Sea is the Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea from Pollution, signed by six Black Sea countries - Bulgaria, Georgia, Russia, Romania, Turkey and Ukraine in 1992 in Bucharest (Bucharest Convention). Also in June 1994, representatives of Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine and the European Union signed a Convention on Cooperation for the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Danube River in Sofia. As a result of these agreements, the Black Sea Commission (Istanbul) and the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (Vienna) were established. These bodies perform the function of coordinating environmental programs carried out under the conventions. Every year on October 31, all countries of the Black Sea region celebrate the International Day of the Black Sea.

Snake Island is the only real island in the Black Sea, about which legends were made in Ancient Greece and for Natural resources which Romania is in conflict with Ukraine. There is everything you can dream of here - sea and fresh water, land and vegetation, gold and oil ...

Photo itogi.ru

You can get to the island, located 35 kilometers from the coast, either by a private helicopter or by boat from the village of Vilkovo, Odessa region - first along the Danube, and then by sea. The island is really so close to Romania that the mobile phone periodically picks up the Romanian connection and automatically turns on roaming. So you should call carefully, checking the operator's name on the screen.

The giant pier, built in the Soviet Union, is capable of accommodating a fairly large ship. The strategic position of the island is advantageous in terms of a sentinel facility and placement, for example, an air defense system. Apparently, the Soviet government also thought so, having deployed an air defense radar company on the island in 1956, as well as a radio engineering platoon of the coastal surveillance system of the USSR Navy. However, they did not have to fight (at least, no information about this was preserved) until the transition of the Serpent to the independent Ukraine. It was then that the judicial war began for the delimitation of territorial waters: the reason was the desire to seize the shelf rich in oil and gas, and the reason - the historical right of Romania to the island, recognized The Russian empire after the defeat of V. In 2009, a UN court put an end to the dispute by dividing the maritime border. In The Hague, they left behind Ukraine a small territory around the island, 12 miles, but gave up most of the shelf to Romania - almost 80% of the disputed territories. According to experts, this is 12 million tons of oil and 70 billion cubic meters of gas.

But the island itself still not only belongs to Ukraine, but also has the status of a settlement. Also, recently Snake Island began to actively develop as a center for tourism and recreation. Indeed, in addition to black gold, there is also metal ...

On the Serpentine there are whole cemeteries of military and construction equipment, as well as the remains of pillboxes and concrete sites with pieces of rusted reinforcement (although this can also be called a kind of exotic). However, the island does not produce the same impression and - it attracts with its unique landscapes and rich history.

Now, on the territory of 20.5 hectares, several one-story houses, which have been renovated according to the latest euro word, are ennobled with gazebos, tiled alleys, benches and flower beds, as well as a lighthouse built in the 19th century, and a historical museum nearby.

It is known that the lighthouse was built from the rubble of the temple of Achilles (in Greek - Achilles), erected around the 4th century BC in honor of the legendary hero of the Trojan War. According to ancient Greek myth, in fact, the island itself was raised from the bottom of the sea by the mother of Achilles, the goddess Thetis, so that her son would find his last refuge here. Then this island was called Levke (White). The Greeks believed that it was here that the world of Hades, or the kingdom of the dead, was located, which indirectly confirms the river bed found at the bottom, which once skirted the island by analogy with the Styx River, along which Charon transported the souls of the dead to the next world.

Achilles and other fallen heroes, whose souls allegedly also went here after death, sailors sailing by brought gifts - gold coins, jewelry and various dishes. Along the coast and even right on the beaches of Serpentine, archaeologists have discovered a huge number of antique and medieval amphorae and even called these places amphora fields. And on the so-called Golden Beach of one of the expeditions of the last century, a large treasure of gold coins was found. However, most of the treasures, according to scientists, are still hidden in the caves and grottoes of the island. Access to them has not yet been found.

Found amphorae, remains of anchors and other finds made in the coastal waters are housed in a museum created on the island as a branch of the Odessa Historical and Archaeological Museum. Here you can also see the remains of the tiles and columns of the temple of Achilles, as well as its artistic reconstruction.

Recently, an antique ship was discovered in the northern bay of the island, approximately from the 4th century BC. It is the oldest ship ever found in the Black Sea and is also the only surviving ship from ancient times. At the bottom, only the skeleton is visible, and the ship itself is in the ground. About a thousand empty antique amphorae were also found 80 meters away.

Carlo Bossoli. Snake Island (1856)

Archaeologists who discovered the ship are reluctant to tell the details of the find - they say, this will attract the attention of black divers and the ship will be robbed. Although experts understand: without knowing the exact coordinates, you can swim close to the object and not notice it.

Sergey Grabovetskiy, head of the scientific expedition:

We have been working on the island since 1988 and only now have stumbled upon this unique find.

Since the dating of the ship corresponds to the time of the existence of the Temple of Achilles, and the ship, apparently, was anchored in the bay, it can be assumed that the sailors landed on the shore to leave their gifts in the sanctuary. Although, according to the official version of the Odessa Regional Department for the Protection of Objects cultural heritage, is a merchant ship that transported wine and olive oil.

Future reminder

Gradually Serpentine from a military town turns into a peaceful settlement called White. There is even a real street - Kazatskaya - along the northern part of the island. True, so far the only one.

Vladimir Yasnyuk, director of the Odessa regional enterprise "Ostrovnoe":

In theory, the issues of the island could be dealt with by the deputies of Vilkovo, but the Serpentine is an object of state importance and therefore should be directly subordinate to the region, have its own separate budget. After all, there is no such precedent anywhere else, we have one such island, not only in Ukraine, but throughout the Black Sea. And, Berezan, Limba - these are all sandy spits that can disappear.

Tourists who come to the island settle in houses, over the entrance to which there are curious signs: "Village Council", "Stronghold for the protection of order", "Bank", "Meteorological station", etc. But they do not remind of the past, as this usually happens, but, on the contrary, it is a reminder of the future.

Vladimir Yasnyuk:

Everything here must be brought to mind. The village council must work. We are preparing an appeal to the Verkhovna Rada to legally implement our plans to equip the island.

In addition, according to the general plan for the island's development, developed in 2003, there should be 64 objects on it - now there are only about twenty of them. This is also a wind farm (now while the locals manage solar collectors and diesel fuel), a shop, a library, a dispensary, a hotel, a basketball court, a table tennis room and even a cinema. And most importantly, the village administration is going to get permission from the authorities to register. Then the island will turn into a real residential area. Snake Island is the only real island in the Black Sea, about which legends were made in Ancient Greece and for the natural resources of which Romania is in conflict with Ukraine. There is everything you can dream of here - sea and fresh water, land and vegetation, gold and oil ...

Photo itogi.ru

You can get to the island, located 35 kilometers from the coast, either by a private helicopter or by boat from the village of Vilkovo, Odessa region - first along the Danube, and then by sea. The island is really so close to Romania that the mobile phone periodically picks up the Romanian connection and automatically turns on roaming. So you should call carefully, checking the operator's name on the screen.

The giant pier, built in the Soviet Union, is capable of accommodating a fairly large ship. The strategic position of the island is advantageous in terms of a sentinel facility and placement, for example, an air defense system. Apparently, the Soviet government also thought so, having deployed an air defense radar company on the island in 1956, as well as a radio engineering platoon of the coastal surveillance system of the USSR Navy. However, they did not have to fight (at least, no information about this was preserved) until the transition of the Serpent to the independent Ukraine. It was then that the judicial war began for the delimitation of territorial waters: the reason was the desire to seize the shelf rich in oil and gas, and the reason - the historical right of Romania to the island, recognized by the Russian Empire after the defeat in the Crimean War. In 2009, a UN court put an end to the dispute by dividing the maritime border. In The Hague, they left behind Ukraine a small territory around the island, 12 miles, but gave up most of the shelf to Romania - almost 80% of the disputed territories. According to experts, this is 12 million tons of oil and 70 billion cubic meters of gas.

But the island itself still not only belongs to Ukraine, but also has the status of a settlement. Also, recently Snake Island began to actively develop as a center for tourism and recreation. Indeed, in addition to black gold, there is also metal ...

On the Serpentine there are whole cemeteries of military and construction equipment, as well as the remains of pillboxes and concrete sites with pieces of rusted reinforcement (although this can also be called a kind of exotic). However, the island does not give an impression similar to the abandoned moonrock in Shkolny and the underwater bunker "Alsu" in Sevastopol - it attracts with its unique landscapes and rich history.

Now, on the territory of 20.5 hectares, several one-story houses have been preserved, which have been renovated according to the latest "euro", ennobled with gazebos, tiled alleys, benches and flower beds, as well as a lighthouse built in the 19th century, and a historical museum nearby.

It is known that the lighthouse was built from the rubble of the temple of Achilles (in Greek - Achilles), erected around the 4th century BC in honor of the legendary hero of the Trojan War. According to ancient Greek myth, in fact, the island itself was raised from the bottom of the sea by the mother of Achilles, the goddess Thetis, so that her son would find his last refuge here. Then this island was called Levke (White). The Greeks believed that it was here that the world of Hades, or the kingdom of the dead, was located, which indirectly confirms the river bed found at the bottom, which once skirted the island by analogy with the Styx River, along which Charon transported the souls of the dead to the next world.

Achilles and other fallen heroes, whose souls allegedly also went here after death, sailors sailing by brought gifts - gold coins, jewelry and various dishes. Along the coast and even right on the beaches of Serpentine, archaeologists have discovered a huge number of antique and medieval amphorae and even called these places amphora fields. And on the so-called Golden Beach of one of the expeditions of the last century, a large treasure of gold coins was found. However, most of the treasures, according to scientists, are still hidden in the caves and grottoes of the island. Access to them has not yet been found.

Found amphorae, remains of anchors and other finds made in the coastal waters are housed in a museum created on the island as a branch of the Odessa Historical and Archaeological Museum. Here you can also see the remains of the tiles and columns of the temple of Achilles, as well as its artistic reconstruction.

Recently, an antique ship was discovered in the northern bay of the island, approximately from the 4th century BC. It is the oldest ship ever found in the Black Sea and is also the only surviving ship from ancient times. At the bottom, only the skeleton is visible, and the ship itself is in the ground. About a thousand empty antique amphorae were also found 80 meters away.

Carlo Bossoli. Snake Island (1856)

Archaeologists who discovered the ship are reluctant to tell the details of the find - they say, this will attract the attention of black divers and the ship will be robbed. Although experts understand: without knowing the exact coordinates, you can swim close to the object and not notice it.

Sergey Grabovetskiy, head of the scientific expedition:

We have been working on the island since 1988 and only now have stumbled upon this unique find.

Since the dating of the ship corresponds to the time of the existence of the Temple of Achilles, and the ship, apparently, was anchored in the bay, it can be assumed that the sailors landed on the shore to leave their gifts in the sanctuary. Although, according to the official version of the Odessa Regional Department for the Protection of Cultural Heritage Objects, this is a merchant ship that transported wine and olive oil.

Future reminder

Gradually Serpentine from a military town turns into a peaceful settlement called White. There is even a real street - Kazatskaya - along the northern part of the island. True, so far the only one.

Vladimir Yasnyuk, director of the Odessa regional enterprise "Ostrovnoe":

In theory, the issues of the island could be dealt with by the deputies of Vilkovo, but the Serpentine is an object of state importance and therefore should be directly subordinate to the region, have its own separate budget. After all, there is no such precedent anywhere else, we have one such island, not only in Ukraine, but throughout the Black Sea. And Tuzla, Berezan, Limba - these are all sandy spits that can disappear.

Tourists who come to the island settle in houses, over the entrance to which there are curious signs: "Village Council", "Stronghold for the protection of order", "Bank", "Meteorological station", etc. But they do not remind of the past, as this usually happens, but, on the contrary, it is a reminder of the future.

Vladimir Yasnyuk:

Everything here must be brought to mind. The village council must work. We are preparing an appeal to the Verkhovna Rada to legally implement our plans to equip the island.

In addition, according to the general plan for the island's development, developed in 2003, there should be 64 objects on it - now there are only about twenty of them. This is a wind power station (now while the locals manage with solar collectors and diesel fuel), a shop, a library, an outpatient clinic, a hotel, a basketball court, a table tennis room and even a cinema. And most importantly, the village administration is going to get permission from the authorities to register. Then the island will turn into a real residential area.

The Black Sea, its interesting places and landscape landscapes have remained pleasant memories for everyone who has ever visited these places, for many people are interested in the very name of the Black Sea? Why are these huge masses of water surface of dark blue color called -Black? And were they always called that? Even in the days of the ancient Greeks, the beginning of this was the name - Pontus of Eusyntus - as a hospitable sea, but the sea received this name after the ancient Greeks studied it completely and established by sea - ship communication with Hellas itself, supplying ships to Greece, like wines and fish, which in Greece began to be valued due to its special fat content, ships back to the Greek colonies on the Black Sea supplied oils and other useful things that had not yet been produced here on their own. Many versions about the name of the Black Sea excite the minds modern people, but one of these versions seems plausible - so when anchors sink to the bottom of the sea at great depths - upon further examination of the removed iron parts of the anchor - a characteristic black coating is noticeable due to the fact that at great depths of the Black Sea there is a large amount of hydrogen sulfide, which thus interacts with metals (hence the name Black). With its area of ​​the Black Sea - and it is almost 413 thousand square kilometers, it also touches Europe and Asia (Russia and Bulgaria), Turkey and Romania, Ukraine and Georgia with its borders, although the Black Sea area among all the water sea basins of Russia is not too large, but its importance is no less important, the Black Sea is Russia's exit to the Mediterranean Sea and the World Ocean. The development of sea transport is widely practiced from such Black Sea ports as Novorossiysk and Tuapse, from where Russia annually exports oil and many metals, timber and other natural resources ...

Russian Black Sea coast

It is known not only for its ports, but also for the Black Sea resorts, in such resort cities as Sochi, Gelendzhik and Anapa, millions of Russians annually rest and improve their health in sanatoriums and rest homes. At the service of vacationers in the Black Sea resorts - equipped beaches and a developed resort infrastructure.

Are there any islands in the Black Sea?

In terms of its area, the Black Sea is not as large as the Pacific Ocean, and it has already developed naturally that there are not so many islands in the Black Sea, two of which belong to the Turkish coast, during the Soviet era The Soviet Union belonged to the island Dolgiy in the Egorlytsky Bay and the Snake Island or Fedonisi 37 miles east of the Danube River, although the area of ​​the Snake Island is only one and a half square kilometers, its steep banks are visible from afar, the island itself was still described by the Ancient Greeks as an island in the Black Sea , where there was a temple to the hero of the Trojan War - Achiles. It is still rumored that on this island in its caves looted treasures from pirate ships docked here are kept.

What is the bottom of the Black Sea?

Many visiting vacationers visiting the Black Sea resorts think that already 500 meters from the coast, the depths go sharply down for kilometers, but this is not entirely true, the hundred-meter depths pass at a distance of about 150 kilometers from the coast itself, but there are also small deviations in the region of the Crimean peninsula , where the depths go sharply down at a distance of one kilometer from the coast, but even in the deepest part of the Black Sea - 2211 meters a person has already visited, on a deep-sea bathyscaphe back in 1971 a small crew sank to the bottom of the Black Sea and made a conclusion - What is life in The Black Sea exists only at a depth of no more than 100 meters, and there further in the darkness there are no fish or marine inhabitants, only rotting organic remains slowly turn into muddy silt.

Hypotheses of the origin of the Black Sea

Currently, disputes about the origin of the Black Sea do not subside, one of the hypotheses nevertheless indicates simply a naturally formed fault filled with water over time, now two parts of the Black Sea can be distinguished, one of them in the north-west, the one that borders from the south The Russian platform goes through the steppe Crimea, while the main part of the Black Sea is a depression in the earth's crust, the emergence of this depression can be equated with the emergence Caucasus mountains, Crimea and Asia Minor, along its edges and now the movement of the earth's crust is noted, accompanied by small earthquakes on both sides of the Black Sea, both in Turkey and in Russia.

Current and waves on the Black Sea

Water in the Black Sea, where does it come from? and where does it go? As everyone knows, many rivers, both large and small, flow into the Black Sea (Danube, Dniester, Psou, Kodori and others, which annually replenish 300-400 cubic kilometers of water and annually through the Bosphorus Strait its surplus leaves the World Ocean. the small width and depth of the Bosphorus, the Dardanelles and the Gibroaltar straits, makes such a natural phenomenon as tidal waves in the Black Sea not significant.The currents in the Black Sea, due to its apparent closure, are very weak and only small changes are associated with a change in weather or wind speed - but the main the current speed is not more than 0.5 meters per second, the main stream of the current has a width of 40-60 kilometers and passes at a distance of 3 kilometers from the coast.

What is the maximum wave height in the Black Sea

What is the Black Sea roughness from the point of view of oceanography? According to a certain scale, it can be divided into several points, and so 1 point is when there is almost a full surface on the sea surface and only a small wind ripple, 2 points is a wave that has already risen a little and at this moment the waves are still without white lambs on the sea, but the whole sea is possible evaluate on a nine-point scale, but it is also possible by the height of the waves (as can be seen from the figure that waves in the Black Sea are also 14 meters high) Not only strong winds can deal with the defeat of waves in the Black Sea, but also earthquakes, and so once Scientists believe that the reason for the death of ancient cities on the Black Sea coast, such as Sebastopolis and Dioscuria, were waves from underwater earthquakes and tsunamis as a result of strong earthquakes that occurred not far away, but today on the Russian Black Sea coast earthquakes of 6 points were observed in 1905 and in 1966, the epicenters of which lay near the resort town of Anapa, such earthquakes also caused small tsunamis, which came to ash to the coast of resort Bulgaria. For a long time, the Black Sea waves caused only harm to humanity - they impeded the movement of ships, broke the coastal shores, but small waves at the Black Sea Resorts delight and fascinate the eyes of visitors who have arrived from those places where there are only small rivers and lakes from the water.