BLACK SEA

About:

• The Black Sea a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, is located between Eastern Europe and Western Asia
  
  
• Excluding its northern arm, the Sea of Azov, the Black Sea occupies about 168,500 square miles (436,400 square kilometers).
  
  
• Neighbouring countries: It is bordered by six countries – Romania and Bulgaria to the west; Ukraine, Russia, and Georgia to the north and east; and Turkey to the south.
  
  
• Neighbouring water-bodies:
  • The Black Sea drains into the Mediterranean Sea, via the Aegean Sea and various straits. The Bosphorus Strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the Strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean Sea region of the Mediterranean.
    
    
  • The Black Sea is also connected to the Sea of Azov by the Strait of Kerch.
    
    
  
  
  
• Five major rivers empty into the Black Sea, the largest of which is the Danube River.
  
  

Anoxic water:

• 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.
  
  
• As a result, over 90% of the deeper Black Sea volume is anoxic water. Anoxic waters are areas of sea water, fresh water, or groundwater that are depleted of dissolved oxygen.
  
  
• Because of the anoxic water at depth, organic matter, including anthropogenic artifacts such as boat hulls, are well preserved.