originating from different sources of direct and indirect discharge of land based
sources – sewage, fallout etc. from economies of coastal states.
The Black sea is a half-enclosed sea, with 40
27
0 N-46
32
0 N latitude and
27
27
0 E–41
42
0 E longitude. Together with Azov Sea, it covers an area of
462,000 km
2 . Its east to west dimension is 1150 km and from north to south is
610 km. In the Black sea main basin, the depth of water approaches 2200 m, and the
western shelf zone is comparatively shallow. The Black sea is surrounded by six
countries and is linked with the Mediterranean Sea through the Bosphorus, and the
Azov Sea to the north.
The Black Sea has experienced the worst environmental degradation of all of the
world’s oceans. The situation has become so severe that it has affected the health
and standard of living of the people in the immediate area. Most of the six coastal
countries – Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine – have
unstable or collapsed economies. About 160 million people live in the Black Sea
catchment basin, including 80 million only in the Danube River basin. Although
international agreements, strategic plans, and national environmental programs are
in place, the severe economic problems have significantly slowed environmental
monitoring, remediation, and restoration efforts. The environmental crisis and
subsequent dramatic changes in the Black Sea’s ecosystem and resources are a
direct effect of both natural and anthropogenic causes: an enormous increase in the
nutrient and pollutant load from three major rivers, the Danube, Dnyestr, and
Dnyepr; from industrial and municipal wastewater pollution sources along the
coast; and from dumping on the open sea. The Bosphorus is essentially a narrow
elongated shallow channel approximately 31 km long, with a width varying
between 0.7–3.5 km and a depth of 39–100 m. The main rivers: Rioni, Kodori
and Inguri Chorokh, Kyzyl-Irmak, Eshil-Irmak, Sakarya, Kuban, Dnister and
Southern Bug also flow into the Black Sea.
The seabed is divided into the shelf, the continental slope and the deep-sea
depression. The shelf occupies a large area in the north-western part of the Black
Sea, where it is over 200 km wide and has a depth ranging from 0 to 160 m. In other
parts of the sea it has a depth of less than 100 m and a width of 2.2 to 15 km.
The Black Sea encloses the largest body of permanently anoxic water in the
world: some 90% of the sea’s 5.37 Â 10
5 km
3 total volume is deprived of oxygen
and rich in hydrogen sulphide. Only a thin upper layer of marine water (up to
150 m) supports the unique biological life in the Black Sea ecosystem. The deeper
and more dense water layers are saturated with hydrogen sulfide, that over thousands years, accumulated from decaying organic matter in the Black Sea. Due to
this unique geomorphological structure and specific hydro-chemical conditions,
specific organisms, basically on the level of protozoa, bacteria, and some multicellular invertebrates inhabit the deep-sea waters. The coastal industries discharge
wastes directly into the sea with little or no treatment. The countries of the Black
sea basin do their efforts to protect the nature of the sea by formulating international
rules for the cleaning of water areas from oil and wastes. Nuclides and heavy metals
in the marine environment constitute a potential risk to the flora and fauna species,
including humans through food chains. Furthermore, there is increasing evidence
296
A. Strezov
sources – sewage, fallout etc. from economies of coastal states.
The Black sea is a half-enclosed sea, with 40
27
0 N-46
32
0 N latitude and
27
27
0 E–41
42
0 E longitude. Together with Azov Sea, it covers an area of
462,000 km
2 . Its east to west dimension is 1150 km and from north to south is
610 km. In the Black sea main basin, the depth of water approaches 2200 m, and the
western shelf zone is comparatively shallow. The Black sea is surrounded by six
countries and is linked with the Mediterranean Sea through the Bosphorus, and the
Azov Sea to the north.
The Black Sea has experienced the worst environmental degradation of all of the
world’s oceans. The situation has become so severe that it has affected the health
and standard of living of the people in the immediate area. Most of the six coastal
countries – Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine – have
unstable or collapsed economies. About 160 million people live in the Black Sea
catchment basin, including 80 million only in the Danube River basin. Although
international agreements, strategic plans, and national environmental programs are
in place, the severe economic problems have significantly slowed environmental
monitoring, remediation, and restoration efforts. The environmental crisis and
subsequent dramatic changes in the Black Sea’s ecosystem and resources are a
direct effect of both natural and anthropogenic causes: an enormous increase in the
nutrient and pollutant load from three major rivers, the Danube, Dnyestr, and
Dnyepr; from industrial and municipal wastewater pollution sources along the
coast; and from dumping on the open sea. The Bosphorus is essentially a narrow
elongated shallow channel approximately 31 km long, with a width varying
between 0.7–3.5 km and a depth of 39–100 m. The main rivers: Rioni, Kodori
and Inguri Chorokh, Kyzyl-Irmak, Eshil-Irmak, Sakarya, Kuban, Dnister and
Southern Bug also flow into the Black Sea.
The seabed is divided into the shelf, the continental slope and the deep-sea
depression. The shelf occupies a large area in the north-western part of the Black
Sea, where it is over 200 km wide and has a depth ranging from 0 to 160 m. In other
parts of the sea it has a depth of less than 100 m and a width of 2.2 to 15 km.
The Black Sea encloses the largest body of permanently anoxic water in the
world: some 90% of the sea’s 5.37 Â 10
5 km
3 total volume is deprived of oxygen
and rich in hydrogen sulphide. Only a thin upper layer of marine water (up to
150 m) supports the unique biological life in the Black Sea ecosystem. The deeper
and more dense water layers are saturated with hydrogen sulfide, that over thousands years, accumulated from decaying organic matter in the Black Sea. Due to
this unique geomorphological structure and specific hydro-chemical conditions,
specific organisms, basically on the level of protozoa, bacteria, and some multicellular invertebrates inhabit the deep-sea waters. The coastal industries discharge
wastes directly into the sea with little or no treatment. The countries of the Black
sea basin do their efforts to protect the nature of the sea by formulating international
rules for the cleaning of water areas from oil and wastes. Nuclides and heavy metals
in the marine environment constitute a potential risk to the flora and fauna species,
including humans through food chains. Furthermore, there is increasing evidence
296
A. Strezov