Baltic Sea: salinity, depth, coordinates, description

The Baltic Sea is the northern outlying reservoir in Eurasia. It cuts deep into the land, and due to this it refers to water flows of internal type. The sea fills the waters of the Atlantic. It is located in Northern Europe. The Baltic countries have access to the Baltic Sea. And also such states as Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Russia and Poland. With the ocean, the stream is connected through the system of the Danish straits and the North Sea.

The area of the reservoir is about 415 thousand square kilometers. The volume of the water mirror is more than 20 thousand cubic meters. Km. The deepest trough is 470 meters.

Hydrology

The Baltic Sea, the salinity of which strongly affects the animal and plant world, is filled with a huge amount of fresh water. They are a constant source of precipitation. Salty streams penetrate the reservoir thanks to the bays and tributaries. Tides have insignificant levels and, as a rule, their value is not more than 20 cm.

The depth of the Baltic Sea is constantly within a radius of one mark. It is strongly influenced by air masses. Near the coast , the water level can rise up to 50 cm, in more narrow places - up to 2 meters.

There are practically no storms on the water stream. Like other seas washing Russia, the Baltic water body is calm, and rarely when its waves can reach a height of 4 meters. Most storms in the fall, in November. Maximum fluctuations - 7-8 points. In winter, they practically stop, this is facilitated by the ice.
The constant flow of the Baltic Sea is small. Within 10-15 cm / s. The maximum flow increases during storms to 100-150 cm / s.
The tides of the Baltic Sea are almost invisible. This is facilitated, to a greater extent, by the isolation of the water flow. Their level varies within 20 meters. The maximum increase in water levels is in August and September.

A significant part of the coast is covered with ice from October to April. The southern part and the center of the sea do not freeze, but glaciers can drift through them during thawing (June-August).

The Baltic Sea is rich in natural resources. There are oil reserves here, new deposits are being developed. Also, large deposits of amber have recently been found. On the bottom of the sea passes the gas way "Nord Stream".

And the Baltic Sea is rich in fish and seafood. In recent years, the ecology of the flow has deteriorated significantly. Water is littered with toxins from large rivers. The presence of landfills from chemical weapons is also fixed.

Due to the small depth of the sea, shipping is not very developed here. Only light vessels have the ability to cross the watercourse without problems. The largest ports of the Baltic Sea: Vyborg, Kaliningrad, Gdansk, Copenhagen, Tallinn, St. Petersburg, Stockholm.

The waters of this reservoir are not suitable for the development of resort tourism, but nevertheless there are sanatoria and hospitals on the coastal part. These are the Russian resort towns of Svetlogorsk, Zelenogorsk, Sestroretsk, Latvian Jurmala, Lithuanian Neringa, Polish Koszalin and Sopot, Germanic Albek and Binz.

Brief description of sea water temperature and salinity

In the central part of the Baltic Sea, as a rule, the temperature rarely exceeds 15-18 ° C. At the bottom it is about 4 degrees. In the Gulf, there is often a calm weather and +9 .. + 12 ^° C.

The Baltic Sea, the salinity of which decreases in the direction from west to east, at the beginning of the current has an official rate of 20 ppm. At a depth this figure is increased by 1.5 times.

Name

For the first time the etymological name "Baltic" is found in the historical treatise of the 11th century. The earlier name of the sea is the Varangian. It is mentioned in the famous "Tale of Bygone Years".

Extras

The extreme points of the Baltic Sea:

• Southern - Wismar (Germany), coordinates - 53 ° 45` p. W .;
• Northern - Polar circle coordinates - 65 ° 40` s. W .;
• East - St. Petersburg (Russia), coordinates - 30 ° 15` in. E.
• West - Flensburg (Germany), coordinates - 9 ° 10` in. E.

Geographical characteristics: territory, tributaries and bays

The Baltic Sea (salinity and its characteristics are described below) is stretched from the southwest to the northeast by 1,360 km. The greatest width is located between the cities of Stockholm and St. Petersburg. It is 650 kilometers.

According to historical information, the Baltic Sea has existed for about 4 thousand years. In the same period of time, the most full-flowing river that flows into this reservoir begins to exist, the Neva (74 km). In addition to it, more than 250 rivers merge with the flow. The largest of them are the Vistula, the Oder, Narva, the Neman, the Western Dvina.

Some ports of the Baltic Sea lie on its large bays. In the north is the Gulf of Bothnia, the largest and the deepest. In the east - Riga, is located between Estonia and Latvia, Finnish, washing the coast of Finland, Estonia, Russia, and the Curonian Lagoon. Due to the fact that the latter is separated from the sea by a sandy scythe, the water in the stream is almost fresh. This is a unique feature.

The average depth of the Baltic Sea is 50 meters, the bottom is entirely within the continent. This nuance also makes it possible to refer it to the inland water bodies.

The Islands

In the water area of the sea are more than 200 different in size islands. They are located unevenly near the coast, and far from them. The largest islands of the Baltic are Zealand, Falster, Myon, Langeland, Lollann, Bornholm, Fyn (belong to Denmark); Eland and Gotland (the Swedish islands); Fehmarn and Rügen (refers to Germany); Hiiumaa, Saaremaa (Estonia).

Coastline

The Baltic Sea (the ocean strongly affects it with its waters) has a different coastline along the entire perimeter of the waters. In the northern part - the bottom is uneven, rocky, and the shore is cut with small bays, protrusions and small islets. The southern part, on the contrary, has a flat bottom, and the coast is low, with a sandy beach, which in some sections is represented by small dunes. A frequent phenomenon on the young coast is the sand spit, deep cutting into the sea.
Sedimentary bottom is represented by green, black silt (has a glacial origin) and sand, and the ground consists of stones and boulders.

Salinity and its regular changes

Due to the large amount of precipitation and powerful water flow from the rivers, the Baltic Sea (the salinity of the reservoir is relatively small) is filled with excess fresh water. It is distributed unevenly. Where the Baltic pond enters the shore deeply, the water is almost fresh, and the Northern Sea influences its salinity. This situation is not permanent. Storm winds promote mixing of water.
Proceeding from this, the salinity of the Baltic Sea is low. Reducing its level is typical for the shoreline, the largest number of promills - at the bottom.
On the territory where the watercourse meets the straits in the west - the salinity of the water is up to 20 ‰ on the sea surface, at the bottom - 30 . On the shores of the Bothnia and the Gulf of Finland the smallest indicator. It does not exceed a value of 3 . The level from 6 to 8 is characteristic of the waters of the central part.

Seasonality also affects the distribution of the salinity of the waters of the Baltic Sea. So, in the spring-summer season, it decreases by 0.5-0.2 ppm. This is due to the fact that melted rivers carry fresh water into the sea. In autumn and winter, on the contrary, it increases due to the arrival of cold northern masses.

A change in the salinity of the sea is one of the important causes that regulate biological, physical and chemical processes on the shore. In part due to the freshness of water, the shore has a loose structure.