8 Amazing Facts about the Black Sea

By MI News Network | In: Know More | Last Updated on September 28, 2017

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Black Sea is one of the major water bodies and a famous inland sea of the world. It has been
famous for a long time, mainly because of the name that denotes rather inhospitable nature of
this sea. For a long time, the lack of hospitality of this sea was attributed to difficulty in its
navigation.

However, with time its image as one of the most difficult water bodies changed but the name
remained. But still, there are a lot of interesting Black Sea facts that must be known. We
enumerate 10 of the most important facts..

1. Surrounded by Six Countries : Geography and location

The most interesting thing about this sea is its map. The map of Black Sea flaunts its 159,600
sq mi sea lying between South East Europe and Asia. This sea is connected with the
Mediterranean Sea through Bosporus, the Sea of Marmara and the Dardanelles. It is an
amazing feature on the map of Black Sea that it is surrounded by six different countries.
Credits: Norman Einsttein/wikipedia.org

Sharing its shores with boundaries of Turkey, Romania, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Russia and
Georgia, this sea is the connecting link between all these six different countries.

2. Mystery Surrounding the Origin of the name – Black Sea

One of the best and little known Black Sea facts is the origin of its name. There are various
theories as to how this sea got to be called by this particular name. Of the many prevalent
theories, there is one that says that the Black sea was called ‘the Sea’ for a long time before
being called as the ‘inhospitable Sea’ before the Greeks took over its shore lines. Once
Greeks made navigation through this sea very easy, the name changed from the inhospitable
to the hospitable sea.

However, this sea has been given many names over the centuries by different people but this
particular name happens to be the most famous one, believed to be given by the Turkish in
medieval times.

3. Anoxic water
 One of the most intriguing facts about the Black
Sea is its anoxic water. Black Sea happens to be the largest water body with a meromictic
basin. This means the movement of water between the lower and upper layers of water in this
sea is the least found anywhere in the world.

This makes a considerable temperature difference between these layers along with making
the lower layers absolute free of oxygen and hence, inactive.

4. Believed to be the Landing Point of the Noah’s Ark : Maritime History

Another very interesting fact or perhaps rumor about the Black Sea is that the Mt. Ararat
standing in the eastern Turkey along the coastline of the Black Sea is considered to be the
landing point for Noah’s Ark.

Since there is no concrete way of verifying this rumor, black Sea happens to be one the most
famous ways for people to check out the rumored mountain for themselves.

5. Has Exotic Smaller islands

The black sea is a house to many smaller islands all along its inland. These islands are about
ten in number and are amazing store of fauna and flora that make this sea even more unique
that it already is. These islands cover an expanse of three different countries, making each
one a unique experience of its own.
Credits: Tarih/wikipedia.org

6. Creepy Rumors: The dead lies beneath the water

What seems like an intriguing and almost scary fact is that the dead are believed to persist in
waters of the Black Sea. Remains of ships and humans and other decomposable materials like
ropes, wood etc can still be found at the bed of this sea, hundreds of years after their entry
into the waters of the Black Sea. As thrilling as this fact sounds, the scientific explanation for
it is that due to anoxic nature of the lower water layers of this sea, the process of
decomposition is negligibly slow, hence, the persistence of remains of the dead inside the
sea’s water.

7. The Water Level Always Remains the Same

Another one of the interesting Black Sea facts is that the water level in this sea always
remains the same. Due to absence of any high or low tides, there is no fluctuation in the water
level, making it a calm, quiet and serene sea on the surface.

8. Thriving tourists spot choice and favorite destination for cruises

In spite of all the mystery surrounding the Black Sea, the fact remains that it happens to be a
very famous choice for tourists’ vacations all the year round. With its amazing destinations
that include six countries, tour of the Mediterranean sea, intermediate sea, tourists spots etc, it
remains one of the most famous picks for people wishing to enjoy some quality time on a
relaxed laid back traveling experience.

Credits: Martyr/wikipedia.org

Because of its popularity as a tourist choice and amazing scope of cruising, there are a
number of cruises that offer a chance to explore the secrets of this sea. You can choose your
destination from any of the six countries this sea borders along with the smaller islands that
fall on the way, along with the Mediterranean Sea as a bonus.

Facts About Black Sea –

Everything in 20 Facts
by Sankalan Baidya · Published August 31, 2017 · Updated September 1, 2017
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Facts About Black Sea: 11-15

11. About Black Sea’s Biblical importance, we will like to start by saying that we
are devout Hindus and we don’t believe in any other religion. Having said that,
here is what people say – Black Sea is the point where Noah’s Ark finally rested.
As the story goes (without any scientific base), Noah’s Ark landed on a high point
after sailing for months. That high point is supposed to be Mount Ararat.

12. It happens that Mount Ararat is standing along coastline of Black Sea in
Eastern Turkey. So, That’s the Biblical significance of Black Sea.

13. Coming to marine ecosystem of Black Sea, you will be surprised to know that
despite there being almost no life in Black Sea beyond 180 meters of depth, the top
layer of water of the sea is teeming with life. The first major being the
Phytoplankton.

14. There are several groups of Phytoplankton present in Black Sea and those
groups are:

 Dinoflagellates – anywhere between 193 to 267 different species live there

 Diatoms – several species live in the sea in form of colonies of
heterotrophic, non-motile and unicellular algae.
  Coccolithopores – these are autotrophic and motile Phytoplankton which
produce coccoliths or CaCO3 plates. Emiliania huxleyi is the major species.
 Cyanobacteria – these are the bacteria that get energy from photosynthesis.

15. If you really want to meet the wide array of marine life in Black Sea, start at
the surfline and take a close look at the shallow sandy bottom. You will be greeted
by benthic fish, molluscs and crabs, hiding themselves like champion
camouflagers.

Facts About Black Sea: 16-20

16. Comb a little more and you will be sure to find pipefish, stargazer, golden-grey
and red mullets, flatfish and gobies.

17. For enhanced variety try diving into the rocky bottom habitats where sea
anemones, shrimps and variedly bright blennies are aplenty. And yes, the sight of
multicolored macroalgae is just breathtaking.

18. Knee-deep and all the way down to 15 meters and you will find little
crustaceans, marine worms and miniature marine snails. And yes, there’s stone
crabs – big ones and red triplefin are the tricky ones – always hiding from plain
sight.

19. Those that aren’t shy at this depth are mullets and horse mackerels that sweep
around in schools right over the brown algae jungle that you find there.

20. Black Sea is also home to a various jellyfish, scorpion fish, skates, common
stingray, piked dogfish (a shark actually), seahorse, goat fish, hermit crab, blue
sponge, common dolphin and bottle nose dolphin, harbor porpoise etc.

Different Names of Black Sea

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Black Sea is known by several names
because it is surrounded by 6 different countries. Each country has its own unique
name. The name given to Black Sea in each country is given in the table below:

Country Name of Black Sea

Russia Chornoye More
Ukraine Chorne More
Bulgaria Cherno More
Turkey Kara Deniz
Georgia Shavi Zghva
Romania Marea Neagra

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

 Why is Black Sea called Black Sea?

 Is Black Sea salt water or fresh?

About the second question – Black Sea is salt water but heavy or high salinity is at greater
depths than the surface level. Surface level has low salinity because of huge influx of fresh
water from multiple rivers.

Read our previous article on Black Sea here.

Now the question is, what will we learn in this article?

Here are the few things we are going to cover:

 Is Black Sea toxic?

 Does Black Sea support life?
 What are the different animal species we find in Black Sea?
 Why do the organic matter that sink in Black Sea stay preserved?
 Biblical importance if any.
 What are the different names of Black Sea?

Combined with our previous list of Black Sea facts, these should be enough for you to score
A+ in your school project. So, let’s get started!

Facts About Black Sea: 1-5

1. We start with this question – Is Black Sea Toxic? The answer to this question is a bit
complicated. The answer is both YES and NO. Modeling of the sea has shown that at the
depths of 180 meters and beyond, where you find the high saline water, there is hydrogen
sulfide. Yes, that is toxic and that is the reason why, marine lives do not exist at that depth.

2. In shallower depths, that is above 180 meters, there is no hydrogen sulfide and this is
where all the marine life forms thrive in Black Sea.

3. Also, the reason why life cannot thrive in greater depths of the sea is that the water is
anoxic. We discussed this in our previous article. It is worth reading. Go through it.

4. Can you swim in Black Sea? Don’t worry! It is not going to bite you. As we mentioned, it
only gets toxic if you happen to reach the depths of the Black Sea. You really can’t swim all
the way down to 180 meters, can you? And remember, there’s life in the top layer of water.
So, if they can thrive, you can swim!

5. Here is a brilliant and really surprising Black Sea fact: Organic matter and
anthropogenic artifacts like boat hull that sink all the way down to the depths of Black
Sea, stay preserved. The reason is simple! For them to decompose, there has to be oxygen
that can be used by microbes. The water down below is anoxic (devoid of dissolved oxygen)
and hence, such matter don’t decompose.

Facts About Black Sea: 6-10

6. Did we mention why the water at such depths is anoxic? Well, it is not that organic matter
(that sink in Black Sea) do not decompose or decay at all. They do but, at a very slow rate
and whatever oxygen is there is used up, making the water anoxic. This further slows down
decaying of organic matter and hence, we see well-preserved organic matter and
anthropogenic artifacts.

7. Deep sea expeditions in Black Sea have turned some well-preserved ancient artifacts like
Byzantine shipwreck, boat hulls, settlement remains and more. No wonder, Black Sea has
received some attention from marine archaeologists.

8. Actually, quite large amounts of organic matter reach the bottom of Black Sea and they get
accumulated in sediments. The concentration of organic matter in sediments at the bottom of
Black Sea is a whopping 20%. These kinds of sediments actually have a name. They are
called sapropel.

9. Talking of Hydrogen Sulfide, where does it come from? We said that at the depths of 180
meters and beyond (that is 600 feet and beyond), there is no oxygen or very little oxygen.
Nothing lives there. BUT, we didn’t mention that there are some extremophile
microorganisms down there. These microbes make use of sulfate and oxidize organic
material. In the process, they end up producing Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) and Carbon
Dioxide (CO2) as byproducts. This is how Hydrogen Sulfide is formed in Black Sea.

10. Scientists have something interesting to say about the Hydrogen Sulfide. In case, the
scientists say, an asteroid lands in Black Sea, it can cause serious problems. The Hydrogen
Sulfide will be released in form of clouds and it can threaten the life of people and animals
that live around Black Sea.