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The only underwater river in the world's oceans has been discovered at the bottom of the Black Sea. It is about 70 kilometers (37 nautical miles) long and over 1 kilometer (half a mile) wide. The speed of the water flow in it is 350 times stronger than the Thames.
This sensational discovery was made using a specially designed controlled submarine by a group of scientists from the University of Leeds (UK). Along the course of this unique river there are rapids and waterfalls, river banks and floodplains.
The gutter formed by the course of this underwater river has a depth of up to 35 meters in some places. The speed of movement of water in it is 4 miles per hour (about 7.5 km / h). Small, at first glance, the river has a colossal volume of moving water - 22 thousand cubic meters per second. According to scientists, if such a river were located on land, it would become the sixth in the world according to this indicator.
Scientists believe that this river was formed due to the penetration of the more salty water of the Sea of Marmara through the Bosphorus into the less saline environment of the Black Sea. The head of the research team, Dr. Dan Parsons, notes that the water in such channels is denser than the surrounding sea, since it has a higher salinity and more sediment.
Unlike ocean trenches and other geological formations that form in the deepest parts of the ocean, movement tectonic plates, the direction of the underwater riverbed meanders and is formed according to the same laws as on land.
"The course of the river is such that, flowing through the sea shelf, it, like a river on earth, falls into the abyssal plains - deep-sea expanses of oceanic basins and depressions of the marginal seas. These are a kind of desert sea world. At the same time, channels and currents are able to create the necessary conditions and supply deep sea inhabitants nutrients and ingredients needed to sustain life. What is surprising is that this is so far the only active underwater river found so far.
Scientists believe that there are other underwater rivers and perhaps one of them is located near the coast of Brazil, where the Amazon flows into the Atlantic Ocean. Presumably such natural anomalies formed when sea levels were much lower. Then the rivers, according to the research of scientists, could reach 4 kilometers in length and several kilometers in width. Despite this, the channel found in the Black Sea, although much smaller, is so far the only active and living confirmation of the existence of underwater rivers.
This discovery will help us learn more about how underwater rivers supply the depths of the seas and oceans far from the coast with nutrient enzymes and what effect this has on underwater flora and fauna.
Associate Professor of the Department of Oceanology of St. Petersburg State University, Candidate of Geography Igor Shilov talks about the history of the study of the Bosphorus: "The Bosphorus has long been under close study of oceanologists around the world, as it is fraught with many mysterious and inexplicable phenomena. All experiments, as a rule, lead researchers to curious results.
The beginning of the study of this strait takes back in 1885, when a certain officer Makarov in his famous work"On the exchange of the waters of the Black and Mediterranean Seas" highlighted his research that the waters of the Bosporus are very stratified and its currents go in two opposite directions. The upper layers move from the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara, and the bottom layers in the opposite direction. With this study, Makarov laid the foundations for the theory of the hydrology of the straits of the World Ocean.
The study of this area has found worldwide interest, and science began to "dive" deeper and deeper into the mysteries of hydrology. One by one, peaks, volcanoes, deepest crevasses, huge ridges were marked on the maps ...
Also sensational was the discovery in the equatorial zone of the Pacific Ocean of powerful water flows at a depth of 50-100 meters. True, the American oceanologists who opened it could not immediately establish the exact boundaries of this channel, which was no longer enclosed in "liquid banks", but in a "water pipe". Scientists were able to establish that the flow crosses the entire Pacific Ocean in the region of the equator. This phenomenon was named after the leader of the 1951 expedition and was named the Cromwell Current.
A few years later, Soviet oceanologists detected fast jets of water at a depth of 50-250 meters at a number of points in the equatorial zone of the Atlantic. However, the first measurements were carried out in very remote areas from each other - they did not allow us to conclude that a single stream had been detected. The desire to study such mysterious underwater phenomena is literally inexhaustible, and the world ocean continues to delight us with this to this day."
The underwater world constantly surprises scientists. While the "Worlds" explore Baikal for the third year in a row, employees of the University of Leeds, using a special unmanned deep-sea vehicle, studied the bottom of the Black Sea and got an unexpected result.
It turned out that the warmest sea, access to which has Russian Federation, contains an underwater river.
And this water artery like its earthly "sisters" it contains sharp turns, tributaries, and also forms rapids and waterfalls.
Scientists estimate that every second the river carries 22,000 cubic meters of water along the channel, which in some places reaches a depth of 115 feet (38 meters), a length of 37 miles (almost 60 kilometers), and a width of 0.6 miles (about 970 meters). For comparison, according to the Telegraph, this is 350 times more than the flow of water in the Thames.
Similar water transport values make this river the sixth largest flow of water transported.
The unobstructed flow of river water inside sea water at a speed of 4 miles per hour (about 6.5 km / h), scientists explain the difference in the density of these two "reservoirs". The river discovered by researchers at the bottom of the Black Sea is saltier and therefore denser. According to Dan Parsons, one of the authors of the work, and his colleagues, the river contains water from mediterranean sea(it is saltier than the Black), which gets there through the Sea of Marmara and the Bosporus Strait, located near Istanbul.
Black Sea and environs // blackmore.ru
Probably, the existence of such rivers explains how living organisms can exist in deep-sea regions, away from nutrient-rich waters that are close to the coast. "If a sea depth- this is a kind of desert, then such a river literally gives life to this desert, ”said Dan Parsons.
The river at the bottom of the Black Sea, which has not yet received any name, is the first underwater river, the existence of which has been reliably discovered.
Many scientists, after receiving sonar data from different seas and oceans, suggested the existence of rivers in certain places. It is assumed that the largest such river is located near the coast of Brazil, where the largest river flows into the Atlantic Ocean. big river on Earth, the Amazon.
It is likely that most of the underwater rivers were formed when the sea level was much lower than today.
According to Dr. Parsons, this study is of great practical importance. Since scientists have been able to show the existence of such a river with such a powerful flow, oil companies will need careful information about the existence of such channels on seabed before the construction of oil rigs.
In light of recent developments in the Gulf of Mexico, one cannot but agree with the Leeds scientist.
» article is one of many. So, earlier, in the article “The Sea of Hydrogen Sulfide in the Black Sea”, we wrote about the fact that there is another sea in the Black Sea - the sea of hydrogen sulfide. As it turned out, the surprises of the Black Sea did not end there, and in addition to the sea in the sea, the Black Sea also boasts a river under water.
River under water. The mystery of the Black Sea was partially solved thanks to the scanning of the surface of the Black Sea by British scientists. The discovery of an underwater river in the Black Sea is significant in that it is the first discovery of its kind in the world, and it opened the eyes of scientists to the existence of such a phenomenon as underwater rivers. Sea currents are unpredictable and constantly changing, so their study is very difficult, but the analysis of the nature of the river under water is the first step towards identifying similar phenomena in other seas and oceans.
Despite the fact that the Black Sea has existed for thousands of years and has been the subject of scientific research for all the years of its existence, there are still secrets under its surface that can surprise scientists. Another such discovery managed to surprise British scientists who explored the depths of the Black Sea. They managed to find a huge underwater river at the bottom of the sea. The flow rate of the river was calculated and, as it turned out, its volume is an impressive 22,000 m 3 per second. Well, or, converting to cubic kilometers and minutes, 13.2 km 3 per minute.
This powerful stream of water, which moves at a speed of 7.5 km / h, has a length of about sixty kilometers. The depth of the river under water in the Black Sea is up to 35 meters. According to the researchers,
“It flows down the sea shelf, much like a river on land. The plains in the depths of our oceans are like the deserts of the sea world, but these channels can supply nutrients necessary for life in the desert"
This river was formed very, very long time ago. Around the same time, which is described in the article "The Flood, or what will not be the end of the world". So, about 7-8 thousand years ago, the bottom of the Black Sea was a fertile plain where people lived, cultivated gardens, fought, loved ... And suddenly (well, or not suddenly - now it’s impossible to say for sure) the isthmus between the Mediterranean Sea and this fertile plain was destroyed. And, since the water level in the Mediterranean Sea was higher than the bottom of the fertile lowland, this lowland was flooded with a huge flow of water.
So, the waters of the Mediterranean Sea broke into the waters of the future Black Sea and formed a network of trenches that are active to this day. One of them is our river under water, which continues to carry water from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea - but not on the surface of the earth, as it was thousands of years ago, but under water.
Why don't rivers and seas mix? There is a simple answer to this question - due to different densities and temperatures. If a average temperature water in the Black Sea at a depth of 1500 meters is 9 degrees, then the underground river is several degrees colder. The underwater river is much denser than the surrounding waters due to its greater salinity - after all, it is fed by the Mediterranean Sea, which is saltier than the Black Sea.
Scientists say that the river under the Black Sea is saltier and denser than the surrounding one. sea water, in particular, because it carries a lot of organic sediment and oxygen dissolved in water. It flows along the seabed, carrying water to the bottom plains, just like rivers on land. Bottom plains in the sea are like deserts on land. They are removed from coastal waters, rich in useful substances, there is practically no life. Feeding such underwater rivers comes in handy - in this case, the underwater river becomes a kind of artery that carries food and oxygen to the bottom of the sea.
For the Black Sea, this process is more relevant than for other water bodies, since there is also a sea of hydrogen sulfide in the Black Sea. Where only organic-eating bacteria can live. And who live without access to oxygen. Whereas within the limits of our underwater river, it is quite possible that a peculiar life adapted only to these conditions has developed - in an underwater river under the sea of hydrogen sulfide under the Black Sea 🙂
By the way, the fact that this underwater river was known to the ancient Greeks is practically unknown. So, when the Greeks sailed into the Black Sea, they threw a load of stones on a rope from the ship. And the underwater river pulled the cargo - and with it the ship for some time, facilitating the work of the sailors.
So, in addition to hydrogen sulfide, there is another mystery of the Black Sea - the river under water.
Based on materials http://www.terra-z.ru/archives/15228
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The oceans are full of mysteries, and this gives us the opportunity to dream and fantasize. It takes about 70 % our planet, and only 5 % body of water have been studied. This means that many secrets are hidden under the water shell of the Earth, which have not yet been discovered.
website collected 10 amazing objects found underwater. But this is just a drop in the ocean. We cannot even imagine what awaits us in the water depths.
Great Blue Hole, Belize
The Great Blue Hole is unique natural object, along the contour of which coral reefs are located. It is the largest formation of its kind in the world, 120 m and area in 10 football fields.
It is located 100 km east of the coast of Belize. The beginning of education dates back to the last ice age- about 65 million years ago. This place became popular thanks to the famous explorer of the underwater depths. Jacques-Yves Cousteau. In 1971, he declared the Big Hole one of 10 the best places for diving.
Movement of tectonic plates
Per last years as a result of the movement of the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates, the distance between them has increased significantly. This impressive phenomenon can be seen both on land and diving deep under water. The phenomenon has been captured by several underwater photographers.
marine biologist Alexander Mustard pointed out that visitors can be very surprised by the crystal clean water and enchanting views. The plate movement speed is about 2.5 cm per year.
Ancient city of Heraklion, Egypt
Ruin ancient city Heracleion was discovered by a French archaeologist Frank Goddio in 2000 at a distance of 6.5 km from coastline Egypt at a depth of 50 m.
There is a legend that the city was once visited Elena Troyanskaya and Greek hero Hercules after which the city got its name. Before today scientists conduct thorough research and raise priceless archaeological finds to the surface.
Underwater pyramids of Yonaguni, Japan
underwater pyramids Yonaguni are the most mysterious place on the territory of Japan. They were found in 1987 while diving off the coast of the island of the same name in the Japanese archipelago.
On the pyramids there are many terraces and platforms of various sizes, the surface is pitted with ditches and trenches. One of the walls of the monument breaks vertically down, going to a depth of about 27 m. According to experts, the age of the pyramids can reach more 10 thousand years.
Underwater river at the bottom of the Black Sea
Amazing underwater river at the bottom Black Sea discovered by British scientists. If this river were on land, then it would become the 6th largest in the world. Its width is about 1 km, and the depth in some areas reaches 35 m. There are even waterfalls, currents and whirlpools.
Scientists have established that the underwater river was formed as a result of the penetration of more salty water from the Marmara into the Black Sea several centuries ago.
Underwater City Shichen, China
Once upon a time in Zhejiang Province, there was a mysterious city called Shichen. His mystery was that one day he simply disappeared. As it turned out later, the valley in which the city was located was turned into an artificial reservoir for the construction of a new hydroelectric power station. The government had to relocate 290 thousand people. A dam was built on the territory of the city, as a result of which Shichen ended up at the bottom of the lake.
It's hard to believe, but after more than half a century, the wooden beams and stairs of the city are in good condition as if time flows in a different way.
Underwater sculpture park
The unique museum was created by an English sculptor Jason Taylor. It is located at the bottom of the Caribbean Sea, not far from the coast of Grenada. The first exhibits were sunk to the seabed in 2006.
To date, the museum has more than 65 exhibits, the collection of which is replenished annually. This project benefits not only as a cultural site, but also as an important part of the wildlife ecosystem.
The discovery of an underwater river in the Black Sea is significant in that it is the first discovery of its kind in the world, and it opened the eyes of scientists to the existence of such a phenomenon as underwater rivers. Sea currents are characterized by unpredictability and constant changes, so their study is very difficult, but the analysis of the nature of the Black Sea “river” is the first step towards identifying similar phenomena in other seas and oceans.
The underwater river, which does not yet have a name, was finally and comprehensively described by scientists in 2010. Of course, further research will continue for a long time, but now it can be argued with good reason that a full-flowing river flows along the bottom of the Black Sea. It starts its run from the side of the Bosphorus and then flows along the Turkish coast along the bottom of the sea. The underwater river has a channel about 35 meters deep, a kilometer wide and 60 kilometers long. It, like many channels of terrestrial rivers, has rapids, waterfalls and whirlpools, and the water in them twists in the “abnormal” direction, clockwise, and not like everything else northern hemisphere- against.
Why don't rivers and seas mix? There is a simple answer to this question - due to different densities and temperatures. If the average water temperature in the Black Sea at a depth of 1500 meters is 9 degrees, then the underground river is several degrees colder. The underwater river is much denser than the surrounding waters due to its greater salinity - after all, it is fed by the Mediterranean Sea, which is saltier than the Black Sea. The river bed was formed approximately 6 thousand years ago, when the Mediterranean Sea broke through a narrow strait into the Black Sea basin. The pool filled with water, and the seething streams fell to the bottom, where they remain to this day. Scientists suggest that the undercurrent carries nutrients into the abyssal waters, thereby feeding the meager life forms that live there.
The discovered river is one of a kind. Although scientists suggest that there are a great many such rivers at the bottom of the ocean, hands have not yet reached their discovery.
An underwater river in the Black Sea, the result of a color 3-D scan
The Bosphorus - the beginning of the underwater river
Scheme of underwater layers in the Black Sea
