The Caspian Sea is a natural object. Caspian Sea (largest lake)
3.2. Fauna of the Caspian Sea
Fish and crustaceans provide the largest number of species.
According to A.M. Butaeva (1999) the fauna of the Caspian Sea consists mainly of invertebrates, which account for 1394 species, or 77.1% of the total fauna.
Among them, the most numerous groups are ciliates, nematodes, rotifers, cladocerans and amphipods.
Roots(representatives - amoebas, etc.) live in the water column and at the bottom of the sea.
Order Foraminifera- these are single-celled organisms 0.1–1.0 mm in size (rarely up to 20 cm), live on the bottom of the sea, and consist of 18 species in the Caspian Sea.
Solnechniki– 2 species, live in coastal waters.,
Flagellates– subtype – sizes 2–5 microns – 1 mm.
Sponges- a type of the most primitively organized multicellular. They lead a sedentary lifestyle. In the Caspian Sea there is one species – Metschnicowia tuberculata with three forms. All of them are endemic to the Caspian Sea, found at a depth of 2-85 m in benthos, fouling of underwater rocks and rocks.
Coelenterates- a type with two layers - ectoderm and endoderm. Among them there are sessile species - polyps and free-swimming ones - jellyfish. The Caspian Sea is home to 5 species, 3 of which are Azov-Black Sea invaders. And in 1999, another species invaded – the ctenophore.
Eyelash worms- a class of the type of flatworms - 29 species live in the Caspian Sea.
Nemerteans– a type of multicellular organism – the freshwater species Prostoma clepsinoides was found in the Caspian Sea.
Nematodes- a class of roundworms that live in the seas, fresh waters and soil. In the benthos of the Caspian Sea, they are of great importance in the diet of most commercial fish and serve as indicators of water and soil pollution.
Rotifers– a class of roundworms, 1–2 mm in size, 67 species were found in the Caspian Sea (mainly in the pre-estuary of the Volga).
Polychaete worms- a class of phylum annelids. 7 species were discovered in the Caspian Sea. The polychaete worm Nereis diversicolor was acclimatized in the Caspian Sea in 1939–1941. It was brought from the Sea of Azov, is now distributed throughout the entire sea area and plays an important role in the nutrition of sturgeon.
Oligochaete worms- a class of phylum annelids. There are 31 species in the Caspian Sea. Many of them are endemic.
Leeches– a class of annelid worms – 3 species were found in the Caspian Sea, 2 of which are endemic. Found on plants and fish. They are also found in fresh waters, very rarely – terrestrial forms.
Cladocera- a detachment of the crustacean class, planktonic animals, 55 species were discovered in the Caspian Sea.
Barnacles- a subclass of the class Crustaceans. They live in seas and fresh waters. 46 species were found in the Caspian Sea (in muddy, sandy and shell soils).
Insiders– order of the crustacean class – 20 species were found in the Caspian Sea, of which 13 are endemic, leading (the majority) a benthic lifestyle.
Kumovaye- a detachment of the crustacean class - has 18 species in the Caspian Sea; bream, roach and other fish feed on them.
Isopods- a detachment of the crustacean class - in the Caspian Sea there are only 2 subspecies (endemics). One of them, the sea cockroach, is a predator and serves as food for sturgeon and stellate sturgeon.
Amphipods- order of the crustacean class - 74 species were found in the Caspian Sea. They feed on roach, fishermen, bream, carp, and gobies.
Decapods- order of the crustacean class. 5 species were discovered in the Caspian Sea, including shrimp - two species that accidentally arrived in 1930 along with mullet brought here from the Sea of Azov. The crab serves as food for sturgeon, carp, roach, and gobies, but is a food competitor for commercial fish; They also feed on dead organic matter.
Water mites– belong to the order of mites of the arachnid class, 2 species were found, they live in plankton.
Chironomidae- family of the order Diptera of the class of insects. Adults live on land, while larvae lead an aquatic lifestyle. 8 forms were found in the Caspian Sea, one of them is endemic. Their larvae make up 3–4% of the total biomass of benthic animals and serve as food for gobies, sterlet, carp, roach and sturgeon.
Mokretsy- a family of the order Diptera of the class of insects, only one species lives in the Caspian Sea.
Shellfish- the type is enclosed in a shell consisting of one or two valves. 118 species were found in the Caspian Sea. Among them are 2 Azov invaders, and one more was introduced in 1939–1940. (Abra segmentum), which plays a role in sturgeon nutrition and filtration of sea waters.
Bivalves– make up more than 90% of the biomass of bottom fauna in the sea, most of them are filter feeders. They feed on phytoplankton algae and detritus, and themselves serve as food for valuable fish in the Caspian Sea.
Bryozoans- tentacular type class. 6 species were discovered in the Caspian Sea. They are active filter feeders and play a role in the self-purification of sea water.
Intraporousaceae- class of the tentacle type, lead a sedentary lifestyle. One species was found in the Caspian Sea - Barentsia benedeni, which entered the Caspian Sea from the Black Sea on the hulls of ships, and is one of the main types of fouling of ships and hydraulic structures.
Class lampreys. One species is found in the Caspian Sea - the Caspian lamprey. It attaches itself to fish, soil and stones, has a length of 35–53 cm, and weighs 45–192 g. After spawning, the spawners die. Commercial fish.
Reptiles. There are two species of snakes found in the Caspian Sea. The common snake has a length of up to 1.5 m and is found in the lower reaches of rivers, bays and on the Caspian coast. In spring and autumn, when the soil is moist, grass snakes move far from the water. They crawl quickly, can climb trees and swim. They feed on frogs, toads and tadpoles, sometimes lizards, small birds and their chicks, as well as young water rats and muskrats.
The water snake is 130 cm long and is common in the lower reaches of rivers, bays, and the coastal zone of the Caspian Sea. They overwinter in cracks in the soil and in rock crevices. It feeds on amphibians, fish and their milk. Causes significant damage to fisheries, especially in spawning and nursery farms.
Birds. About 9 thousand species of birds are known. Many species of waterfowl nest on the Caspian coast, and there are unique colonies of wading and copepods. Ducks, geese, swans, and coots winter in the Caspian Sea.
Here you can find: black-throated auk, great grebe, Dalmatian pelican, great cormorant, little cormorant, red-headed heron, flamingo, mute swan, whooper swan, greylag goose, lesser white-fronted lesser white-fronted white-fronted white-fronted white-fronted goose, lesser white-fronted gadwall, mallard, gray duck, wigeon, narrow-billed teal, teal -gad, shoveler, red-nose duck, red-headed duck (blue duck), tufted duck, sea duck (white-sided duck), scoter, long-tailed duck, white-headed duck, plumed duck, coot, black-headed gull, sea pigeon, white-winged tern.
Mammals. Of the 4,000 species of mammals, 100 are marine. One species lives in the Caspian Sea - the Caspian seal (body length up to 150 cm, weight on average 70 kg), distributed everywhere, but more in the Northern Caspian Sea. It feeds on gobies, sprat, silverside, shrimp, amphipods and (mostly) sprat.
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The flora and fauna of the Caspian Sea are not rich in the number of species, but are heterogeneous in origin. In the main part, this is an originally marine tertiary fauna, which has undergone significant changes as a result of changes in the orography and hydrological (mainly saline) regime of the reservoir. The remains of the population of the Sarmatian and Pontic seas are represented by such groups characteristic of the Caspian Sea as herrings, gobies, pugheads, possibly sturgeons, various representatives of cardids and zebra mussels, bryozoans, polychaetes from the ampharetid group, some turbellarians, all decapod crustaceans (except shrimps), coumaceans, most mysids, gammarids, sponges, medusa merisia and the cordylophoran hydroid.
This main part of the fauna is largely mixed with later invaders from the northern seas (Arctic complex of crustaceans, fish, etc., a total of 12–15 species), from the western seas (Mediterranean complex, a total of 20 species of mollusks, fish, worms, crustaceans and other groups) and finally a large number of species of crustaceans, fish, mollusks, rotifers, algae and others from fresh waters.
In those phases of the history of the basin, when salinity dropped sharply and the reservoir became almost fresh, freshwater fauna penetrated into it, some of which then adapted to subsequent salinization. Of fish, these are primarily carp and perch, almost all gastropods, oligochaetes, some turbellarians and many other groups of animals and plants, in plankton the majority of green and blue-green algae, rotifers, cladocerans and many others.
In a remarkable way, the originally marine and initially freshwater faunas - these two main components of the modern Caspian population - experiencing together the subsequent phases of salinization and desalination, wedged into each other and acquired similar biological characteristics and similar distribution. Among both, we find groups that live only in the most saline parts of the sea, or those that live only in highly desalinated parts of the Caspian Sea, or, finally, anadromous and semi-anadromous fish that go to spawn in rivers. These two main groups of the Caspian fauna were joined by recent invaders from the Arctic seas and from the Azov-Black Sea basin.
The so-called negative features, i.e. the absence of a number of typically marine groups, have a very dramatic effect on the fauna of the Caspian Sea. Of these, only fish and crustaceans and, to a lesser extent, mollusks provide a relatively large variety in the Caspian Sea. The number of originally marine species in these three groups is about 60% of all species of free-living animals in the Caspian Sea.
The Caspian Sea is also characterized by a very large number of endemic species, that is, forms and groups that do not live anywhere else except the Caspian Sea. The number of such forms reaches 60% of the entire fauna of the Caspian Sea, and in individual groups it is much higher (Table 89). If we take this wonderful fauna in a broader framework, that is, with those Caspian forms that live in neighboring reservoirs - the Black, Azov and Aral seas and river systems, the endemism of individual groups rises to 90–100%.
The percentage of endemic genera is also very high, which indicates the great antiquity of the Caspian fauna. Thus, out of nine genera of gastropods, five are found only in the Caspian Sea, both genera of herring fish are also endemic, etc.
Such pronounced endemism arose as a result of the long existence of the Caspian Sea and the fauna inhabiting it in an isolated state. It is very characteristic of the Caspian Sea that there is a very rapid mass development of new forms of Mediterranean fauna that came into it from the Azov-Black Sea basin in later times.
On the other hand, some ancient Caspian aborigines in various periods of Tertiary and Quaternary time (some already before our eyes) were evicted through river systems beyond the Caspian Sea and quickly settled over vast territories, and in some cases acquired a cosmopolitan character. These include the freshwater jellyfish Crasjedacusta, crayfish, the cordylophoran hydroid, the zebra mussel, the crustaceans Stenogammarus and Corophium, and possibly some others. The Caspian fauna, especially fish and crustaceans, easily invades river systems, and many species have formed their local forms here.
The negative features of the Caspian fauna, in comparison with the open seas, are determined by the complete loss of such purely marine types and classes as radiolarians, calcareous and horny sponges, siphonophores, scyphomedusae and anthozoans, ctenophores, nemerteans, brachiopods, pantopods, crabs, cephalopods, echinoderms, tunicate, skullless; of fish, stingrays and sharks; Cetaceans are also absent from the Caspian Sea.
Fish and crustaceans provide relatively much greater diversity in the fauna of the Caspian Sea than in other marine bodies of water (Table 90). Obviously, fish and crustaceans are incomparably better than most other groups in transitioning to existence in brackish waters and more easily withstanding subsequent changes in the salinity of the reservoir. This is due to the presence of integuments that well protect their body from osmotic processes.
Group | Mediterranean Sea | Caspian Sea | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | in % of all fauna | total types | in % of the fauna of the Mediterranean Sea | as a percentage of the entire Caspian fauna | |
Echinoderms | 101 | 1,7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Bryozoans | 138 | 2,3 | 3 | 3 | 0,6 |
Polychaetes | 433 | 7,2 | 5 | 1,2 | 1,0 |
Bivalves | 366 | 6,1 | 20 | 5,5 | 3,7 |
Gastropods | 937 | 15,6 | 26 | 2,8 | 4,8 |
Higher crustaceans | 620 | 10,3 | 118 | 19,0 | 21,8 |
Fish | 529 | 8,7 | 74 | 14,0 | 13,7 |
Fishes and higher crustaceans together | 1 149 | 19,0 | 192 | 16,1 | 35,5 |
It is also characteristic of the fauna of the Caspian Sea that many forms have undergone a rapid process of speciation in this body of water. Groups of numerous species and forms arose, probably descended from a few or even one original form. These include fish - herrings, gobies and bullheads, crustaceans - amphipods, mysids and coumaceans, mollusks - cardidae, zebra mussels, micromelania, etc. A significant part of the fauna of the Caspian Sea represents more or less ancient invaders from fresh water. This invasion occurred several times in the history of the Caspian Sea during those phases when it was most desalinated. Of the fish, carp and perch fish are especially characteristic in this regard; from other groups - cladoceran crustaceans, insect larvae, gastropods, rotifers, green and blue-green algae, etc.
After the final separation of the Caspian and Black Seas, the connection of the latter with the Mediterranean Sea and its settlement by Mediterranean fauna, some Mediterranean forms penetrated into the Caspian Sea (through the Kuma-Manych depression) and into the Aral Sea (through Uzboy). Several thousand years ago, the marine plant zoster, the mollusk cardium, the silverside fish, the pipefish, the goby pomatoschistus and the polychaete fabricia entered the Caspian Sea in this way. Zostera and cardium penetrated further into the Aral Sea, where they still live.
Over the past 20 years, in addition to these six forms, 14 more “Mediterraneans” have penetrated into the Caspian Sea, both with the help of man and without his conscious participation, which we will talk about further, in connection with the acclimatization of new forms in the Caspian Sea. Six of these fourteen forms did not develop in a new reservoir for them and, obviously, died; seven developed very rapidly and currently make up a very significant part of the population of the Caspian Sea.
No less interesting in all respects is the fourth component of the Caspian fauna - Arctic immigrants from the Arctic Ocean (Fig. 268). About 15 species of crustaceans, fish and some other organisms 15–20 thousand years ago, when huge masses of melted glacial waters flowed south into our southern seas and the coasts of the Arctic Ocean were located several hundred kilometers to the south, and the northern shores of the Caspian Sea several hundred kilometers to the north, and made this remarkable migration.
Figure 268.
The Caspian fauna, adapted through historical events to exist in highly desalinated water, easily penetrates fresh water and spreads along river systems far up from the mouths. In this case, fish and crustaceans are ahead of other fauna groups. The number of Caspian higher crustaceans inhabiting the Volga basin reaches 44 species, mainly amphipods, coumaces and mysids. Of the genetically modified marine fish, at least 18 species have managed to penetrate fresh waters, including herring, sturgeon and gobies. Of the other groups, only a few forms of the Caspian autochthonous fauna penetrated into fresh waters. Even in ancient times, crayfish, freshwater bryozoans and the freshwater jellyfish Craspedakusta moved out from the Caspian Sea, or rather from the pools that were in its place, and spread widely across Eurasia and North America. The hydroid cordylophora, the mollusk zebra mussel and the amphipod corophium, capable of spreading up rivers on the bottoms of ships, penetrated through the Mariinsky system into the Baltic Sea, and the cordylophora further, also using ships, into distant overseas countries.
Surprisingly, the Caspian fauna reveals family ties with the fauna of some reservoirs very remote from the Caspian Sea, in particular with Baikal and Ohrid. For example, the Caspian sponge (Metschnikovia) is very close to the Ohrid sponge (Ochridospongia) and the Baikal sponge (Lubomirskia). The Caspian Sea and Lake Baikal are inhabited by the freshwater polychaete Mana Yunkia; a number of Caspian and Baikal amphipods and gastropods are undoubtedly related to each other, and the latter are also related to Ohrid. Our southern seas preserve the remains of ancient tertiary marine fauna, which previously had much wider boundaries of settlement, but is now limited to a narrow range (relict).
The originality, significant antiquity and endemism of the Caspian fauna give every reason to classify it as an independent zoogeographical brackish-water region, partly of marine, partly of freshwater origin.
The fauna of the Caspian Sea is represented by 1809 species, of which 415 are vertebrates. 101 species of fish are registered in the Caspian Sea, where most of the world's sturgeon stocks are concentrated, as well as freshwater fish such as roach, carp, and pike perch. The Caspian Sea is the habitat of fish such as carp, mullet, sprat, kutum, bream, salmon, perch, and pike. The Caspian Sea is also home to a marine mammal - the Caspian seal.
Vegetable world
The flora of the Caspian Sea and its coast is represented by 728 species. The predominant plants in the Caspian Sea are algae - blue-green, diatoms, red, brown, characeae and others, and flowering plants - zoster and ruppia. In origin, the flora is predominantly of Neogene age, but some plants were brought into the Caspian Sea by humans deliberately or on the bottoms of ships.
History of the Caspian Sea
Origin of the Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is of oceanic origin - its bed is composed of oceanic-type crust. It was formed approximately 10 million years ago, when the closed Sarmatian Sea, which lost contact with the world's oceans approximately 70 million years ago, was divided into two parts - the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea.
Where Europe meets Asia, there is one of the unique bodies of water, which is officially called a sea, and unofficially called a lake - the Caspian Sea, which washes the shores of several countries with its waters. , or rather, its northeastern part, overlooks the Caspian coast. What mysteries does the Caspian Sea hold, how big a role does it play in the life of the country, and how can people benefit the sea itself?
Geography of the Caspian Sea
Researchers are still arguing about what the Caspian Sea really is – a lake or a sea. The fact is that this reservoir is the largest of all drainless ones. These are those that have no connection with the World Ocean.
All rivers of the Caspian Sea originate on land, but do not reach the ocean shores. Thus, it is closed and can well be called a lake. However, the Caspian Sea is quite large, and its bottom is the earth’s crust, which is of the oceanic type. This indicates that the sea appeared here millions of years ago.
The fact that once upon a time on the planet, or rather, on the territory where Europe and Asia are located today, a huge prehistoric Sarmatian Sea splashed - this is the name scientists gave it. This was 12 million years ago. Water covered the entire area of the current landmass.
The Caucasus and Crimea were islands in this incredibly large sea. However, it gradually desalinated and dried out due to the slow rise of land. As a result, in place of the Sarmatian Sea, peculiar “puddles” were formed - the Caspian, Black, Aral, and Azov seas.
Finding the Caspian Sea on a geographical map today is quite simple. It is located in the region of Asia Minor and is separated from the Black Sea by the Caucasus, which acts as a kind of isthmus between these two bodies of water. It has outlines elongated from north to south. Its coordinates are 36°34"–47°13" north latitude and 46°–56° east longitude. Modern borders are the coasts of five states:
- Russia.
- Azerbaijan.
- Turkmenistan.
- Kazakhstan.
- Iran.
Geographers divide the sea's territory into the Northern, Middle and Southern Caspian, with the southern part occupying about 40% of the area, and the northern part making up only 25%. There are also boundaries to these divisions. Thus, the Middle Caspian is separated from the North by a conventional line drawn from Cape Tyub-Karagan to the island of Chechen. And the border between South and Middle runs along Cape Gan-Gulu and Chilov Island.
Area and depth
Many people are interested in the area of the Caspian Sea, but these parameters change periodically. It all depends on seasonal variations in depth. So, if the water level in the sea is about 27 meters, the reservoir can reach over 370 thousand square kilometers. During these periods, it becomes full-flowing, and holds almost 45% of the total volume of fresh lake water on the planet.
The Caspian Sea is heterogeneous in depth parameters. Thus, the shallowest part is the northern one, its average depth does not exceed 4 meters, and the maximum is 25 meters. The southern part is the deepest, in the area of the South Caspian depression it is 1025 meters. Overall, the researchers found that the average depth of the reservoir is 208 meters according to the bathygraphic curve.
The Caspian Lake is third in depth after lakes Baikal and Tanganyika. As for sea level, it fluctuates significantly. Scientific measurements of the reservoir began in 1837. Scientists, based on historical documents and archaeological research, claim that the highest water level was observed at the turn of the 13th-14th centuries, then it began to decline.
Over the course of three thousand years of our civilization, the water level in the Caspian Sea has changed by 15 meters. The reasons can be very different. First of all, these are geological changes in the state of the earth's crust, as well as climate fluctuations in a given region and human actions.
Temperature and climate
Since today the Caspian basin is home to not only industrial enterprises, but also resorts, the temperature of the Caspian Sea is of keen interest to many. This indicator is also subject to seasonal changes, and they are quite significant.
In winter, the difference in temperature fluctuations is within 10 degrees. In the southern part of the reservoir, the water temperature in winter has an average temperature of 11 degrees, while in the northern part of the sea this temperature is no more than 0.5 degrees, and sometimes even slight glaciation is observed. The northern regions, as the shallowest waters, warm up faster in summer and can reach temperatures of up to 26 degrees. At the same time, the water temperature in the western part of the reservoir is permanently higher than in the eastern part.
The summer period, lasting from June to September, makes temperature indicators more uniform throughout the sea. At this time, in the upper layers the water warms up to 26 degrees, and in the southern part it can increase to 28 degrees. By the velvet season in shallow areas, the water can warm up even more and reach 32 degrees.
In addition, in summer there is a phenomenon such as the rise of deep water layers to the surface. This is the so-called upwelling, but scientists do not observe it throughout the entire water area, but mainly only in the east; sometimes deep waters rise in the southern part of the reservoir. As a result, the water temperature on average can be understood by 10 degrees.
Like other marine bodies of water, the water in the Caspian Sea is salty. However, the level of salt saturation may vary depending on individual areas. The salt concentration is highest in the western and southern parts of the reservoir. In the northern regions, sea water is constantly diluted with fresh water from rivers. However, throughout the sea, salt concentrations vary depending on the season of the year.
In addition, winds are the reason why water becomes saltier or fresher. For example, in the Southern and Middle Caspian these fluctuations are weakly expressed, in contrast to the Northern.
The climate of this maritime region also varies. The southern part of the sea has a subtropical climate, the middle part has a temperate climate, and the northern part has a continental climate. As a result, the air temperature on the coast varies.
It is worth noting that it is hottest in the south and southeast of the reservoir. Here the temperature can sometimes reach 44 degrees in summer, and the average temperature is 26-27 degrees. The north of the reservoir also cannot complain about the cold in summer - air temperatures up to 25 degrees are recorded here. As for winter, the air temperature in the north can reach -10 degrees, and in the south – up to +10 degrees.
Pool Features
There is no need to assume that the Caspian Sea is just a closed body of water limited by its shores. On the map, the sea has fairly smooth shores, but in reality its borders are indented by small capes and peninsulas, as well as channels and river mouths. The coastline is about 7 thousand kilometers (if you take into account the islands).
The coast of the lake in its northern part looks low, there is some swampiness due to the presence of many channels. From the east, the Caspian coast is mainly limestone, and the territories smoothly turn into semi-desert lands. The tortuosity of the coastal edges is highest in the east and west.
Any large body of water cannot do without islands, and the Caspian Sea is no exception. The islands of the Caspian Sea are diverse, their total number is almost 50 islands of different sizes. The largest include:
- Boyuk-Zira;
- seal;
- Chechen;
- Ashur-Ada;
- Ogurchinsky;
- Cure-Dashi;
The coast of the Caspian Sea is also rich in peninsulas, among which Mangyshlak, Apsheronsky, and Tyub-Karagan stand out. Finally, the geography of the Caspian Sea includes many large and small bays. The most famous of them are:
- Kizlyarsky;
- Kara-Bogaz-Gol;
- Mangyshlaksky;
- Gizilagac;
- Turkmenbashi;
- Astrakhan (Astrakhansky);
- Hyrcanus.
Of these bays, one can especially highlight Kara-Bogaz-Gol, which is located in the eastern part of the sea and today belongs to Turkmenistan. Until the end of the twentieth century, it was a kind of Caspian lagoon, which was connected to the “big water” by the strait. In the 1980s, back during the Soviet era, a dam was first built here, and then a dam, as a result of which the water level in the bay was reduced.
Today the situation has returned to its original point, since the strait was restored. Water enters the bay in volumes of 10-17 cubic kilometers annually. However, due to the hot climate, it evaporates, so the Kara-Bogaz-Gol Bay is extremely salty.
The Caspian Sea, like other similar bodies of water, has rich flora and fauna. A variety of algae predominate here, and researchers believe that most of the Caspian is of local origin. However, it is also possible that individual algae were brought here artificially - for example, on the bottoms of merchant ships from other seas.
The Caspian Sea is quite diverse. There are more than 100 species of fish. This is where the famous sturgeon and other fish of the same family are found. Basically, the fish of the Caspian are those that live in fresh or low-salt waters: pike, carp, salmon, mullet, perch, carp, some of which are listed in. You can find seals in the sea.
Development of waters and seabed
Who among us does not remember the famous phrase from geography textbooks: “The Volga flows into the Caspian Sea.” This river is the largest of those whose mouth is the Caspian Sea. Every year it delivers up to 224 cubic kilometers of fresh water to the sea. But there are others, smaller ones, who also flock here. In addition to Volga, these are:
- Terek.
- Ural.
- Samur.
- Sulak.
These rivers flow through the territory of Russia, and in addition to them, the waters of the Atrek (Turkmenistan), Kura (), Sefidrud (Iran), and Emba (Kazakhstan) rivers flow into the Caspian Sea. In total, out of 130 different rivers flowing into the Caspian Sea, the mouths of nine water streams are formed in the form of a delta.
The development of the lake took place over many centuries. Today, the ports of the Caspian Sea connect the shores of the reservoir with trade routes. Of the Russian ports, the most important are Makhachkala and Astrakhan, from which ships are constantly sent to the Kazakh Aktau, the Azerbaijani Baku and other coastal shores of the Caspian Sea. In addition, it is connected to the Sea of Azov, which is reached through the Don and Volga rivers, as well as through the Volga-Don Canal.
An important direction in the economic development of the Caspian basin and the sea itself is oil production. The oil resources of the sea currently amount to approximately 10 billion tons - these are the estimates given by researchers. If we add gas condensate to this, then the reserves double.
Oil production is the most important sector of the economy of the countries of the Caspian region, therefore, for many years, disagreements regarding the use of the resources of the sea have been unresolved. During the existence of the USSR, the territory of the Caspian Sea belonged to the Soviet Union and Iran.
Legal documents on the division of the reservoir and the use of its shelf, which were concluded between Iran and the USSR, are still in force. At the same time, disputes regarding the legal division of territories continue. Thus, Iran proposes to divide it equally between five countries, and three former Soviet republics insist that the reservoir be divided along the median line of demarcation.
This issue remains very serious, because depending on where the sea should be divided, not only the volume of oil production for each Caspian state depends, but also the use of other resources of the reservoir. Here we can talk, first of all, about fisheries, because the sea is very generous with fish stocks.
They harvest not only fish, but also the famous caviar, as well as seal. However, the reproduction of the fish stock today would be much more effective if it were not for the poachers of the Caspian Sea, who organize illegal sturgeon fishing and illegally extract caviar.
Moreover, they exist in almost all Caspian countries, so the fight against them is common to the neighboring countries of the Caspian basin. As a result, sturgeon exports have been limited in recent years, as both Russia and other Caspian countries are interested in preserving this natural wealth of the region.
Poaching is a serious problem, and today Russia, together with Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, are developing measures aimed at legally limiting illegal fishing.
However, there is another big problem of the Caspian Sea - pollution of sea waters. The reason is oil production, as well as oil transportation by sea. We should not forget that large cities located on the shores of a reservoir are a constant source of water pollution. In addition, industrial enterprises, despite strict prohibitions, sometimes still discharge waste into rivers, which then end up in the sea.
Environmental violations lead not only to general pollution of the Caspian waters, but also to changes in the boundaries of the reservoir itself (swamping, drying out, and so on). But it’s not even worth talking about the importance of the Caspian Sea for the entire region.
Holidays at the resorts of the Caspian Sea
In order to understand what human civilization can lose by losing the Caspian Sea, you can look at its photo. This body of water is an amazing place for a good rest, and the sea landscapes invariably impress everyone who comes here. A vacation spent on the Caspian Sea turns out to be no worse than on the Black Sea shores. Fresh air, mild climate and well-maintained beaches - this is what it can give to tourists.
If you decide to go to the Caspian Sea, the prices for holidays will pleasantly surprise you. Tourism is valued largely because it turns out to be inexpensive compared to what awaits tourists going to resorts in other regions of the planet. Residents of Russia can relax very cheaply within their country and at the same time receive excellent service, no different in level from the Mediterranean.
There are several resorts in Russian cities (most of which are in), which are particularly popular with tourists. This:
- Astrakhan;
- Dagestan Lights;
- Kaspiysk;
- Izberbash;
- Lagan.
If tourists go to Derbent, first of all, to see its ancient sights, and to Astrakhan - to enjoy fishing, then vacation spots in Makhachkala are among the most comfortable and cozy beaches of the Caspian Sea.
This resort attracts not only a comfortable holiday, but also the opportunity to improve your health, because there are thermal and mineral springs here. Among the foreign resorts, we can note the Kazakh Aktau, the Azerbaijani Sumgait and the Turkmen recreation area Avaza.
Today the Caspian Sea is one of the world's most important regions economically. Without it, it is impossible to imagine modern Eurasia and, especially, the history of Russia. This means that the state of this reservoir must be protected by the state.
Fresh review
We have a few days left before leaving home and we have already seen enough cities, towns and even villages. But there was one more city left, significant for Saxony-Anhalt, Halle (this is more familiar to me, well, I studied “before historical materialism”, or rather, under it, when all the toponymy on maps was written in Russian transcription. And I studied in Faculty of Geography, and we took this toponymy, or as we called it - map nomenclature, weekly and with passion. So, for me, these objects are still listed as Halle and Harz, period).
Random entries
I’ll tell you a little about the hotel in Sharjah. We chose an inexpensive hotel with its own beach. And in general, we liked everything, except for the lack of alcohol, but this is of course not the hotel’s problem, but the problem of the Emirate of Sharjah as a whole.
The hotel is called quite banally - Beach Hotel Sharjah. Upon check-in, we were very happily informed that they had made a free upgrade and instead of “city view” they gave us “sea view”. To be honest, I prefer to look at the city than at the sea - it’s just more interesting, but we didn’t have to choose. And as it turned out, the sea was still not visible from our room, but at the same time we had our own separate access to the pool - this is very convenient.
All rooms, which supposedly overlook the sea, have a balcony, which is very convenient in principle. And those who live on the first floor have a balcony with access to the pool.
The first couple of days after our arrival we decided to get a little acquainted with the local environment and take a walk in the nearby parks. And since this park was a 15-minute walk away, we went there. It is named after actor and director Ted Craig. I looked on Wikipedia, there is a director who directed the series “The Box” and the film “Look Back in Anger” in 1985 based on the play by John Osborne. I couldn’t find a film from this year; there are films with the same name from 1959 and 1989. I didn’t watch it; complex family relationships in American life are not my thing. And that’s not what we’ll be talking about.
This last part will be devoted to sports and, probably, construction and new buildings (if now you can call that the buildings that had already been built by the time the album was released)
This article begins a description of our new travels in America. In general, I didn’t think that we would travel such a distance again, but my husband retired, and having nothing to do, he suddenly developed a craving for distant travels. And since our visa to the USA had not yet expired, we decided to use the opportunity to ride unhindered, and Ksyusha supported us. So, it took almost 24 hours to get from Almaty to Los Angeles: 6 hours to Istanbul and more than 13 hours from Istanbul to Los Angeles, plus the transfer took 2.5 hours. To relieve stress from such a long flight, I would like to communicate with nature, but in such a way that it does not take a long time to get to it.
Let me start with the fact that all over the world (including, oddly enough, even) brown signs indicate some sites of interest to tourists - natural and cultural attractions, museums, historical monuments. But not in Review. There is practically nothing to look at in Obzor, so absolutely all available signs here are brown. Of the new ones, anyway. (Everything that really should have brown pointers is listed in the note)
Well, I thought I was done with traveling in Germany, but it turns out there are still a lot of impressions left in my thoughts and photographs. And recently Ksyusha recalled one short trip to the village of Pehau. Now this is not a village, but a part of Magdeburg, one of its districts, and it is located 5 km from Altstadt on the right bank of the Elbe, between the Old Elbe and the Ele River. We went there at the end of the day, just for a walk, but it also has its own attractions and its own history. Pehau was first mentioned in written sources in 948 as “Pechovi” (from Slovak - stove, hearth, and from Proto-Slavic - anxiety). At that time, the Elbe River served as the border between the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation and the Slavic Morzan tribes. The old village of Pehau is attributed to the Morzan ring fortification. With the arrival of
Immediately after June 22, I will publish part 3 of the book about the Monument to the Soviet Soldier-Liberator in Treptower Park. The two previous parts were about , and about . This part will be about the construction process.
Before the project became reality...
The order was given - and the work began to boil
On June 4, 1947, the Commander-in-Chief of the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany, Marshal of the Soviet Union V.D. Sokolovsky, issued order No. 139, which ordered the construction of monuments to Soviet soldiers in the Berlin districts of Treptow and Pankow-Schönholz.
Tickets to the UAE for the May holidays were purchased in the form of a voucher along with accommodation in Sharjah on the first line and half board. It came out to about 500 bucks per person. The Fly Dubai flight is considered a low-cost airline, although 20 kg of luggage per person is included in the ticket. This year, at this time, Oraza just began - the Muslim fast during the holy month of Ramadan. At this time, prices fall and life in the Emirates almost comes to a standstill.
This introductory story will be about the journey both there and back.
A little about Almaty airport. There is a smoking room - it was moved down the stairs and placed almost on the street behind bars. There are no signs pointing to it from the waiting room. The bar with beer for 3500 tenge remained, but a bar with the same beer for 1200 tenge appeared right next to it. Comfortable
Since Fly Dubai is an inexpensive company, they take you to the planes by bus. And Air Astana is connected to the sleeve.
Honfleur was the last city on our trip to northwestern France. It is located in the Normandy region at the mouth of the Seine. It was first mentioned in written sources in 1027 as the possession of the Norman Duke Richard III. Until the 16th century, Honfleur was a major port; trade with England passed through it, and from here pirates ravaged the English coast. But over time, Honfleur harbor began to silt up and ships with deep draft had to wait for the tide to get to the port. King Francis I in 1517 decided to build a new port on the English Channel - Le Havre. The economic importance of Honfleur as a port has since been very small.