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September 25th is World Maritime Day. To mark this occasion, NeMoscow decided to explore Russia's abundant waterways, their similarities, and differences. We also collected more photos of seas and oceans—some of which our journalists have already visited, and others they'd like to see.
What seas have you been to? Share some beautiful photos!
Russia is bordered by 15 seas. Fourteen of them belong to three oceans: the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic. The exception is the landlocked Caspian Sea (though it's a bit of a stretch to call it a sea).
Seas Atlantic ocean Baltic, Black и AzovskoeThey are internal, and the connection between these seas and the ocean is rather weak.
Baltic Sea — one of the shallowest and freshest seas in the world. Its salinity varies greatly in different parts and at different depths, averaging 7 ‰ (parts per thousand). Its surface area is 419 km². Its water volume is 21,5 km³. The average depth is 51 m, and the maximum is 470 m.
Black SeaA characteristic feature is the absence of life at depths greater than 150–200 m due to the saturation of hydrogen sulfide. The area is 422,000 km² (according to other sources, 436,400 km²). The volume of water is 555,000 km³. The average depth is 1240 m, the maximum is 2210 m.
Sea of Azov — the shallowest lake in the world: an average depth of about 7,4 meters, with a maximum depth of 13,5 meters. It is also the youngest: it formed only about 8,000 years ago. Its surface area is 37,800 km². The volume of water is 290 km³.
Seas Arctic Ocean Barents, White, Karskoye, Laptevs, East Siberian, Chukotka и PechoraAll the seas are shallow: their average depth is 185 m. Only the northern waters of the Laptev Sea reach a depth of 3385 m.
The shallowest sea is the East Siberian Sea. In winter, all these seas freeze over.
The total area of the seas, bays, and straits of the Arctic Ocean is 70% of the total ocean area (10,28 million km²), and the water volume is 6,63 million km³. The average salinity is 32 ‰.
Seas Pacific Ocean Beringovo, Japanese, Okhotsk и ShantarskoeIn addition, parts of Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands are washed directly by the Pacific Ocean. The deepest (4150 m) and largest sea is the Bering Sea. The average depth of these seas is 1350 m. Salinity varies from 28 to 35,5 ‰.
In all Far Eastern seas, under the influence of the Pacific Ocean tidal wave, distinct periods of high and low tide are observed. The largest tides observed in Russian seas are in Penzhina Bay of the Sea of Okhotsk.
Caspian Sea - The largest enclosed body of water on Earth. It is classified both as a sea and as the largest endorheic lake. The water is not particularly salty—from 0,05‰ near the mouth of the Volga to 11-13‰ in the southeast. Its area is approximately 390,000 km². The average depth is 208 meters, the maximum is 1025 m.
