The depth of the Black Sea ... What secrets are there in it?

The interior, belonging to the Atlantic basin, the Black Sea is washed by the shores of various countries, including Russia, and is not only the largest Eurasian resort center, but also an important transport artery, and the strategic military base of the Black Sea Fleet of Russia. It washes the shores of Turkey and Georgia, as well as Abkhazia, which many countries consider part of the Georgian land, although it is a separate territorial-state entity.

Among the characteristics is very important is the depth of the Black Sea. Thanks to the Bosporus Strait, it has a connection with the Sea of Marmara, and through the Kerch Strait - with the Azov Sea. On the north side it bathes the shores of the Crimean peninsula, and on its surface the border between Asia Minor and Europe extends. Data on the total area is ambiguous. In some sources it is equal to 422 thousand square kilometers, in others - 436,4 thousand square kilometers. On the largest axis it stretched for almost one thousand two hundred kilometers, and from the south to the north its maximum extent is five hundred and eighty kilometers.

An exact answer to the question of what the maximum depth of the Black Sea is, almost no one gives. Scientists have been engaged in research for many years. The deepest is the depth of the Black Sea at two thousand two hundred and ten meters. The average value is estimated at approximately one thousand two hundred and forty meters. At a depth in excess of one hundred and fifty - two hundred meters, in addition to the colonies of some anaerobic microorganisms, there are no living beings and plants. All these huge deep layers of water are oversaturated with hydrogen sulfide, which prevents the development of living things, even shellfish, because they need oxygen for development. And the depth of the Black Sea does not contain oxygen in the water column. Therefore, sunken ships are preserved in it without damage for thousands of years.

Through the Crimea, trade routes of ships from different countries passed for three millennia. Historians and archaeologists argue that most of the sea voyages along the water area of this sea ended in shipwrecks, the causes of which were strong winds. Judging by the findings of archaeologists, the relief of the Black Sea bed between the Crimean peninsula, Romania, Turkey and Bulgaria abounds in sunken ships buried in the depths of the waters.

Well-informed about this divers who conduct their professional activities in the Crimea. Many places of very ancient shipwrecks have already been plundered, and photos of finds are actively published on the Web. If the state had not been idle, and organized scientific expeditions, just as it was done in Turkey, our museums would have been enlarged with very valuable exhibits. Turkey also invested in such a project and extracted a lot of valuable exhibits from the bottom of the sea, which served as the basis for the opening of a center of underwater archeology, in which tourists from all over the world come today.

I would very much like to hope that the depth of the Black Sea will soon open its richest potential to the state underwater archaeologists, and finds from Byzantine ships will delight visitors to our museums, as today their wildlife pleases.