Why the sea is called “Black”. There are several legends about the origin of the name that the isolated sea received in the 15th century. Some refer to the fact that the sea is very dangerous, that storms break out very easily and are very violent.Over time, Greeks, then Romans – who called it “Pontus Euxinus” – and eventually Turks landed on its shores. They called it “Karadeniz”, meaning the north sea, the dark sea (west), because it was positioned north of the Ottoman Empire. Therefore, its name comes strictly due to its geographical position on the map in relation to the Ottoman Empire.
The flood has increased the salinity of the sea, the water has a relatively low salinity, especially in the upper layers, of 17 per thousand. But originally, the Black Sea had a much lower level of salinity than today. When the fury of the waters broke the tongue of land that separated the sea from the planetary ocean and formed the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits, the very salty water of the old Tethys Sea entered the waters of the Black Sea, along with many new species.
There are two overlapping seas: one living and one dead. After the salinity of the sea increased, the most resistant native species remained near the mouths of the rivers, where the water was sweeter. Others could not adapt and died. “All this mass of living things, not being vertical currents, settled on the seabed and began to decompose, which required oxygen consumption. Thus, today, in the depths, there is no oxygen, only hydrogen sulfide and, in the absence of vertical currents, those waters remain almost dead. Only anaerobic bacteria live there. That is why he considers that there are in fact two seas: one alive oxygenated and the other dead. In the absence of vertical currents, the two worlds do not interact.“That’s why Grigore Antipa considered the Black Sea unique.”
The Black Sea is bordered by six countries and has an area almost twice that of Romania. It has a volume of 547,000 cubic meters. The total area of the sea is 436,000 square kilometers. The maximum depth in the Black Sea is 2,212 meters. The greatest depth is 2200 meters, near Turkey.
The Museum of the Deep of the Black Sea is considered an extremely interesting fossilization site, precisely because, as there is no oxygen at depths greater than 200 meters, all the wrecks that have reached there over time have been perfectly preserved.
Continuously invaded by species, the Black Sea is constantly subjected to the invasive process. Ships transiting the waters bring with them species from other parts of the world, which adapt immediately. That’s what happened to the Rapana Venosa snail. Some species, which look very much like jellyfish, have invaded the waters and have unbalanced the ecosystem, their food being fish eggs. Even the shells we find on the beaches of the Romanian coast are “imported” from other seas. “White shells arrived in the waters of the Black Sea 40-50 years ago.”
In the future, the color of the water will change to an azure blue due to an algae that deposits carbon dioxide on the seabed.
There are many wrecks in the Black Sea, the most important being Moscow. This was the largest battleship of World War II. It is sunk 20 km from the coast of Constanța at a depth of 40 meters and discovered in 2011.
She has sharks! The predator found in the waters of the Black Sea they known as the “sea dog” and measures about one meter. ,,It is very rare and very scary. From the same family are the sea cat and the sea fox, more common “. He lives at very deep depths, between 25m – 75m, where even for divers it is difficult to find it. Usually he feeds on mackerel, gooseberries and anchovies.
The largest amount of fresh water that feeds the Black Sea comes from the rivers that flow into it. Thus, annually, 369 cubic km of water are brought by rivers and 224 cubic km come from atmospheric precipitation.
Fertile for algae. Why are there more algae on the Romanian coast than on the shores of its Bulgarian neighbors? In the area of our country, annual algae grow very well, because they find the food they need. Our coast is much closer to the place where the Danube flows into the sea, and the river brings the nutrients that algae feed on. “In addition, Cape Kaliakra in Bulgaria functions as a barrier to the waters of the Danube, and mariculture in the area favors the development of perennial algae.” In addition, the shells filter the water, which in Bulgaria is much cleaner.
In the Black Sea there is a unique underground river in the world, and researchers say that if it were discovered on the surface it would have been the sixth largest river in the world.
Hide endangered species. Researchers in all coastal areas – Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine – have concluded that 160 species of marine and coastal plants and animals are increasingly rare or threatened with extinction. In the Red Book of the Black Sea we find species such as sturgeon, trout, lizard, starfish, Kaliakra seal, stone crab, porpoise, tuna, sea swallow.
There are several cities located on the shores of the Black Sea: Zonguldak, Rize, Sinop, Giresun, Hopa, Batumi, Burgas, Varna, Yalta, Sevastopol, Sochi, Mangalia, Navodari, Odessa, Ordu, Constanta, Istanbul, Sukhumi, Trabzon, Novorossiysk, Poti and Sozopol.
Are there only three species of marine mammals living in this sea? The best known of these is the dolphins. The porpoise or the sea pig reaches approx. 1.5 m long and 30 kg. They can be seen in groups south of Constanta to Costinesti. Monk seal, the only seal species in the Black Sea that is unfortunately endangered.
Source
https://jurnalspiritual.eu/marea-neagra-stiati-ca/
https://www.litoralulromanesc.ro/stire/curiozitati-marea-neagra.htm
https://www.zilesinopti.ro/articole/16792/curiozitati-despre-marea-neagra
https://www.stirilekanald.ro/7-curiozitati-despre-marea-neagra-pe-care-sigur-nu-le-stiai-20109675
Author: Camelia Mahu – ECOM Team Romania
