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The Black Seais asea inSoutheastern Europe.It is bounded

byEurope,Anatoliaand theCaucasus and is ultimately connected totheAtlantic Ocean via theMediterranean

and theAegean Seas andvariousstraits.TheBosphorus Strait connects it to theSea of Marmara,and

the Strait of theDardanellesconnects that sea to the Aegean Sea region ofthe Mediterranean. These waters separateeastern Europe andwestern

Asia.The Black Sea is also connected to theSea of Azov by theStrait of

Kerch.

The Black Sea has an area of 436,400 km2(not including the Sea of

Azov), a maximum depth of 2,212 m, and a volume of 547,000 km3.

The Black Sea forms in an east-west trending elliptical depression which

lies betweenBulgaria,Georgia,Romania,Russia,Turkey,andUkraine.It is

constrained by thePontic Mountains to the south and by theCaucasus

Mountains to the east, and features a wide shelf to the northwest. The

longest east-west extent is about 1,175 km.

The Black Sea has a positivewater balance;that is, a net outflow of water

300 km3 per year through the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles into the

Aegean Sea. Mediterranean water flows into the Black Sea as part of atwo-way hydrological exchange. The Black Sea outflow is cooler and less

saline,and floats over the warm, more saline Mediterranean inflow as a

result of differences in density caused by differences in salinity leading to

a significantanoxic layer well below the surface waters. The Black Sea also

receives river water from largeEurasianfluvial systems to the north of the

Sea, of which theDon,Dnieper andDanubeare the most significant.

In the past, the water level has varied significantly. Due to these variations

in the water level in the basin, the surrounding shelf and associated apronshave sometimes been land. At certain critical water levels it is possible for

connections with surrounding water bodies to become established. It is

through the most active of these connective routes, theTurkish Straits,that

the Black Sea joins theworld ocean.When this hydrological link is not

present, the Black Sea is alake,operating independently of the global

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeastern_Europehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatoliahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatoliahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Oceanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean_Seahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean_Seahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aegean_Seahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosphorushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_of_Marmarahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dardanelleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dardanelleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Europehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Asiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Asiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_of_Azovhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strait_of_Kerchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strait_of_Kerchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strait_of_Kerchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgariahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_(country)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romaniahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkeyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontic_Mountainshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasus_Mountainshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasus_Mountainshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_balancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saline_waterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anoxic_watershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluvialhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_River_(Russia)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dnieperhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danubehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_Straitshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_oceanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_oceanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_Straitshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danubehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dnieperhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_River_(Russia)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluvialhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anoxic_watershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saline_waterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_balancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasus_Mountainshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasus_Mountainshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontic_Mountainshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkeyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romaniahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_(country)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgariahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strait_of_Kerchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strait_of_Kerchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_of_Azovhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Asiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Asiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Europehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dardanelleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_of_Marmarahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosphorushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aegean_Seahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean_Seahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Oceanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatoliahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeastern_Europehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea

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ocean system. Currently the Black Sea water level is relatively high, thus

water is being exchanged with theMediterranean.The Turkish Straits

connect the Black Sea with the Aegean Sea, and comprise the Bosphorus,

the Sea of Marmara and the Dardanelles.

Climate

Short-term climatic variation in the Black Sea region is significantly

influenced by the operation of theNorth Atlantic Oscillation,the climatic

mechanisms resulting from the interaction between the north Atlantic and

mid-latitude air masses. While the exact mechanisms causing the NorthAtlantic Oscillation remain unclear,it is thought the climate conditions

established in western Europe mediate the heat and precipitation fluxes

reaching Central Europe and Eurasia, regulating the formation of

wintercyclones,which are largely responsible for

regionalprecipitationinputs and influence Mediterranean Sea Surface

Temperatures .

The relative strength of these systems also limits the amount of cold air

arriving from northern regions during winter. Other influencing factors

include the regionaltopography,as depressions and storms systems

arriving from theMediterraneanare funneled through the low land around

the Bosphorus,PonticandCaucasusmountain ranges acting as wave

guides, limiting the speed and paths of cyclones passing through the region

connected to theWorld Oceanby a chain of two shallow straits, the

Dardanellesand the Bosphorus. The Dardanelles is 55 m deep and the

Bosphorus is as shallow as 36 m. By comparison, at the height of the

lastice age,sea levels were more than 100 m lower than they are now.

There is also evidence that water levels in the Black Sea were considerablylower at some point during the post-glacial period. Thus, for example,

archaeologists found fresh-water snail shells and man-made structures in

roughly 100 m of water off the Black Sea coast of modern Turkey.

Therefore it is agreed that the Black Sea had been a landlocked freshwater

lake (at least in upper layers) during the last glaciation and for some time

after.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterraneanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Atlantic_Oscillationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Atlantic_Oscillationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Atlantic_Oscillationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycloneshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycloneshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycloneshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precipitation_(meteorology)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precipitation_(meteorology)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precipitation_(meteorology)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topographyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topographyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topographyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterraneanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterraneanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterraneanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontic_Mountainshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontic_Mountainshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontic_Mountainshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasus_Mountainshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasus_Mountainshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasus_Mountainshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Oceanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Oceanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Oceanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dardanelleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dardanelleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaternary_glaciationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaternary_glaciationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaternary_glaciationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaternary_glaciationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dardanelleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Oceanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasus_Mountainshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontic_Mountainshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterraneanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topographyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precipitation_(meteorology)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycloneshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Atlantic_Oscillationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean

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In the aftermath of the last glacial period, water levels in the Black Sea and

the Aegean Sea rose independently until they were high enough to

exchange water. The exact timeline of this development is still subject to

debate. One possibility is that the Black Sea filled first, with excess fresh

water flowing over the Bosphorus sill and eventually into the MediterraneanSea.