Where is the Sea of Azov? The Sea of Azov on the map of Russia. Crimea, the Sea of Azov

The Sea of Azov on the map is a semi-enclosed water area of the Atlantic Ocean. An object is located in the eastern part of Europe. Two countries have the Azov Sea - Ukraine and Russia on their territory.

general information

The Azov Sea is considered the smallest in the world. Its maximum depth is not more than thirteen and a half meters, and the average (according to various estimates) is within 6.8-8 m. In the area where the Sea of Azov is located, there are other objects that connect the water area with the Atlantic Ocean. Among them, the Straits of Kerch and Gibraltar, the Bosporus and the Dardanelles should be noted. In addition, the connecting links are the Mediterranean, Aegean and Black Seas.

History

Earlier, in ancient times, where the Azov Sea is now, there was no water. The filling of the water area presumably began in 5600 BC. E. At that time, the River Don flowed into the Black Sea directly in the area of the present Kerch Strait. In the area where the Azov Sea is located, there are different settlements. The names of many of them went on behalf of the pond. For example, the villages of Priazovskaya and Azov, the city of Azov, which is located in the lower reaches of the river. Don, Novoazovsk and others.

Name

In ancient times, different nationalities called the water area in their own way. It should be said that the sea was renamed many times. Until now, the exact origin of the name has not been established. There are several hypotheses on the etymology of the original word "basics":

• By the name of Prince Azuma, who was killed in 1067;
• By the name of the tribe "Assy", which, in turn, occurred allegedly from the Avestan and means "fast";
• On the Circassian "Uzev", which means "throat";
• On the Turkic word "azan" - "lower".

Back in the 1st century. N. E. In his works Pliny, listing Scythian tribes, speaks of the settlement of "Asoka". The name is similar to the word "basics". It is believed that the modern name of the water area has been used in Russian toponyms since the beginning of the 17th century, thanks to the chronicler Pimen. At the same time, it must be said that initially the name was not received by all the Sea of Azov (on the map of Russia not far from the one that received the name, part of today is the city of Taganrog). And only to the second half of the 18th century the name was assigned to the entire water area.

Research

The history of studying the region where the Sea of Azov is located is conditionally divided into several stages.

1. Geographical (ancient), which lasted from the time of Herodotus to the beginning of the 19th century.
2. Geological and geographical. It lasted from the 19th century to the 40s of the 20th century.
3. Complex. This period began in the mid-20th century and continues to this day.

Claudius Ptolemy made the first map of the coast of the Azov Sea. Ukraine as such did not exist then, and the situation of the reservoir itself with respect to other objects was not entirely understandable. Ptolemy established the first geographical coordinates for the mouths of rivers, cities, bays and capes. Subsequently, Gleb Svyatoslavovich, who ruled in 1068 in Tmutarakan, measured the distance from Kerch to Taman along the ice. At the time, it was about 20 kilometers. As early as the 12th and 14th centuries, the Venetians and Genoese began to draw maps and sailing directions of the Azov and Black Seas.

Geographical position

The area where the Azov Sea lies lies between 45 ° 12'30 "and 47 ° 17'30" s. W. And 33 ° 38 'and 39 ° 18' in. Etc. The maximum length of the reservoir is 380 kilometers, and the width is 200 kilometers. The coastline has a length of 2,686 km, the surface of the water area covers an area of 37,800 sq. Km. Km (this figure does not include spits and islands, which are distributed on the territory of 107.9 square kilometers). In accordance with morphological features, the object is classified as flat seas. The reservoir is considered shallow, with low slopes of the coast. The Sea of Azov (on the map of Russia it is clearly visible) is quite far from the ocean. In this connection, the object belongs to the group of continental reservoirs. In winter, the Sea of Azov may fully or partially freeze. Ice at the same time is carried out along the Kerch Strait. Usually the formation of ice begins in January. In the cold years, it can happen a month earlier.

Bathymetry

The place where the Sea of Azov is located differs relatively simple underwater relief. During the distance from the shore, a gradual and slow increase in depth occurs. In the central part of the water area, they reach 13 meters. Here the depths are maximal. The location of the isobath, which is close to a symmetrical one, disturbs their small elongation toward the northeast toward Taganrog Bay. Approximately two kilometers from the shore is an isobath of 5 meters. It moves away from the Taganrog Gulf and near the mouth of the Don River. In this area the depths increase towards the open part of the reservoir. On the border of the sea and the bay they reach eight or nine meters. The bottom relief is characterized by the presence of systems of underwater elevations. They are stretched along the western (banks Arabatskaya and Morskaya) and east (Železinskaya bank) coasts. The depths above them are reduced from 8-9 to three to five meters. For the coastal underwater slope on the northern coast is characterized by a fairly wide shallow water. Here the depth is 6-7 m. The southern coast has a steep underwater slope. The depths on this site are 11-13 meters. Seaside beaches are usually sandy and flat. In the southern part, however, you can find hills of volcanic origin, and in places passing into the advanced steep mountains.

The catchment area in the basin is about 586,000 square meters. Km. The currents depend on the blowing strong winds of the north-east and south-west directions. The main movement occurs along the coast. Its direction is backwards clockwise.

Temperature conditions

For shallow water bodies, the seasonal variability of temperatures is typical. In winter, the indicators reach a minimum. In January-February, the values are close to the freezing point. In the southern part of the reservoir, not far from the Kerch Strait, the thermometer's pole rises above zero. The temperature amplitude in a year is + 27.5 ... + 28.5 degrees. In summer, fairly uniform indicators are observed across the entire surface of the sea - from +24 to +26 degrees. In July, in some areas (for example, such as the Crimea) the Azov Sea warms up to +28 ... +28.5 degrees. The highest temperature was recorded in Primorsko-Akhtarsk. It was +32.5 degrees. As for the long-term average annual temperature, on the surface it is within 11 ° C. Interannual fluctuations in this case are of the order of one degree.

Salinity

The Sea of Azov has hydrochemical features. They are mainly formed under the influence of abundant river inflow (about 12% of the total water volume). In addition, there is a somewhat difficult water exchange with the Black Sea. Prior to the regulation of the Don, the salinity of the pond in question was lower than that of the ocean. three times. The indicators varied from 1 ppm at the mouth of the river to 10.5 in the central part and to 11.5 in the vicinity of the Kerch Strait. The salinity of the Azov Sea began to increase after the construction of the Tsimlyansk hydroelectric complex. By 1977, the average figures had risen to 13.8 ppm, in the Taganrog Bay figures were slightly lower - 11.2. During a relatively high moisture content, a rapid decrease in salinity was observed. It was 10.9 ‰ in that period. However, by the year 2000 the figures had again grown, having stabilized by 11 . It should be said that there is little salt in the northern part of the reservoir, unlike the site to which Crimea adjoins. The Sea of Azov (map showing the location of the object, presented below) in this area is rich in self-planting salt. It was mined since ancient times. Until the end of the 19th century, salt from this site provided almost half of the needs of Russia. The salinity of water reaches its highest value in solution - the Sivash brine and other lakes. This is due to intensive evaporation from the surface of the water in the summer. All these hypersaline areas are large renewable deposits of mineral salt, which the Azov Sea is aware of. Russia, having these objects, provides itself with a significant volume of this mineral. Due to the connection with the sea, the composition of their brine is similar to the structure of sea water. Advantageously in the brine there are sulfates and chlorides of magnesium and sodium.

Water

The Sea of Azov is characterized by low transparency. In every season and in different regions it is different. The indicators range from 0.5 to 8 meters. Low transparency is due, mainly, to the arrival of a large number of river muddy waters, a fairly rapid stirring of bottom silt during water waves, as well as the presence of planktonic masses in the reservoir. The lowest rates are observed in Taganrog Bay. There the transparency is in the range of 0.5-0.9, in rare cases - 2 meters. Water in this area can change its color from greenish-yellow to brownish-yellow. In the central part of the reservoir, due to great depths and under the influence of the Black Sea currents, the transparency can be from one and a half to two and a half to eight meters. Here the water has a greenish-blue color. Almost everywhere in the summer, there is an increase in transparency. And in some areas, because of the rather rapid development of the smallest animals and plant organisms in the upper layers, the indicators fall to zero. And the water becomes bright green. This phenomenon is called "bloom of the sea."