| Black Sea |
The basin in which lies the Black Sea is roughly oval in shape; a
bout 730 miles east to west and 160 miles north to south.
It’s surface area is about 163,000 square miles if you exclude
the Sea of Azov on the north side. It’s maximum depth is over 7250
feet near the south edge, tapering to quite shallow as you go north
across the surface. The Black Sea is located in the southeastern part
of Europe, with Russia to the north, Romania and Bulgaria to the west and
Turkey on the southern border. Turkey and Russia abut on the east edge,
near about the middle of the Sea.
On the north-central edge, a large peninsula juts out into the sea,
with the Sea of Azov located to the north of the peninsula.
This peninsula has a low mountain chain along the southern edge,
along the shoreline with the Black Sea. Behind the chain is some
of the best grain fields in south Russia. An ancient city called
Chersonesus was first established by the Greeks, then enlarged by the Romans.
This agricultural area, known as the Crimea, was of extreme importance to
the Romans, as a large amount of the wheat needed in Rome came from the Crimea.
The Sea of Azov is 210 miles long by 85 wide, about 15,000 square miles
in surface area, and is joined to the Black Sea by a narrow strait, called
the Kerch Strait. The Sea of Azov is extremely shallow, with a maximum depth
of only 46 feet, but this very shallow aspect allows marine life to flourish
in abundance. The water temperature and sunlight here promotes the growth of
the bottom plants, and hence, fish flourish also. [The sturgeon is found here,
although the famous Russian black caviar sturgeon is found mostly in the Caspian
Sea to the east.] Sardines and anchovies are particularly abundant, and are
exported to the south.
Originally the Black Sea was part of a series freshwater lakes and connected
to the Caspian Sea. However, continual crustal movements closed off the
drainage to the Caspian Sea, then eventually breached the ridge of the
southwest coastline at the Bosphorous Strait. The Mediterranean Sea then
flowed into the Black Sea basin through the strait, and the Black Sea became
salty. This breach raised the water level several hundred feet and buried
ancient pre-historic villages sited along the coast. This occurred about
6000 to 8000 years ago, and the event was lost to written history. It is
calculated that it took several generations for the Mediterranean to flow
into the Black Sea basin and fill it to it’s present level; it was not an
overnight deluge. Strong earthquakes still affect this area.
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