BLACK
SEA – GEOGRAPHY
News:
Panama-flagged bulk
carrier hits mine in Black Sea, two people injured, Kyiv says
What's
in the news?
●
A Panama-flagged bulk carrier headed for
grain loading to one of the Danube ports hit a mine in the Black Sea, the Ukrainian
military said.
Black Sea:
●
It is a large inland sea located in southeastern Europe.
●
It covers an area of approximately 436,000sq.
km (168,000 square miles).
●
It is also known as Euxine Sea.
Bordering
countries:
It is bordered by six countries such as
●
Ukraine (North)
●
Russia (Northeast)
●
Georgia (East)
●
Turkey (South)
●
Bulgaria (Southwest)
●
Romania (West)
Key
takeaways:
●
It is connected
to the Mediterranean Sea through the Bosporus Strait, the Sea of Marmara and
the Dardanelles Strait.
●
The Bosporus Strait connects it to the
small Sea of Marmara which in turn is connected to the Aegean Sea via the
Strait of the Dardanelles.
●
To the north, the Black Sea is connected
to the Sea of Azov by the Kerch Strait.
Rivers:
●
The Black Sea receives freshwater inflows
all around the basin, but the important ones (Danube, Dniepr and Dniestr) discharge into the north-western
coastal waters.
Meromictic
Basin:
●
The Black Sea is the world’s largest body
of water with a meromictic basin.
●
A meromictic lake has layers of water that do not intermix. The deep waters do not mix
with the upper layers of water that receive oxygen from the atmosphere.
Limited
Oxygen Levels:
●
The Black Sea's deeper waters have lower
levels of oxygen due to its unique geological and hydrological conditions.
●
The lack of oxygen in the lower layers
creates a distinct environment, and it is one of the world's largest anoxic basins, meaning it has areas with very
little dissolved oxygen.
Islands:
●
It contains several islands, with the
largest ones being Snake Island
(Ukraine), Giresun Island (Turkey) and St. Ivan Island (Bulgaria).