What Is the Caspian Sea?
The Caspian Sea is the biggest body of water in the world that is surrounded by land from all sides. Between Europe and Asia, there is a huge lake.
The Caspi tribes who resided in the Caucasus Region may be responsible for the Caspian Sea’s name. But the sea was referred to as the Hyrcanian Ocean by the Persians as well as the Greeks.
The Caspian Sea is most well-known for its caviar as well as oil industries. Many animal and plant species can be found there. Environmental organizations, meanwhile, are pushing for limited industrial activity in the region as contamination, notably from the petroleum industry, is the main threat to the ecosystem of the sea.
Possession of the sea’s assets is a hotly debated topic among the nations that surround it. Natural gas and oil are abundant in the Caspian Sea, adequacy of facilities to it is risky. The Caspian Sea is a fascinating topic for researchers because of its complex socioeconomic and political dimensions as well as its geographical and natural characteristics.
Where Is the Caspian Sea?
Northwest is Russia, Northeast is Kazakhstan, west is Azerbaijan, east is Iran, and Southeast is Turkmenistan.
An endorheic basin is the Caspian Sea. It is around 1,200 kilometers long, 320 km broad, and has a contact area of around 386,400 km2. The sea does have a surface area of 78,200 km3 and a depth of around 27 m beneath sea level. Between 40 and 44 percent of the world’s crustal waters are found in the Caspian Sea. Southern, Northern, and Middle Caspian Seas are the three distinct regions that make up the Caspian Sea. Whereas the Apsheron Threshold divides the Southern from the Central Caspian, the Mangyshlak Threshold establishes the boundary between the Middle and Northern regions. A shallow area, the Northern Caspian has an average thickness of 5 to 6 meters. Or less than 1% of the sea’s capacity is carried by it.
Is the Caspian Sea a Sea or a Lake?
The Caspian Sea is a lake, not a sea, according to the definition of a sea because it is a landlocked body of water without the need for a direct exit to the ocean. But 5.5 million years ago, the area was a portion of the ancient Parathethys Sea; as a result of geological uplift as well as sea level decline, it became landlocked. As a result, oceanic basalt rather than granite from the continent makes up the Caspian Sea’s seabed. Similarly large and producing waves along coasts are the Caspian Sea. The Caspian Sea’s quality of water fluctuates as well, being saltier in the south and virtually fresh in the sea’s northern regions. Currently, the Caspian Sea’s average salinity is roughly one-third that of the seas.
Why the Caspian Sea Is So Important?
The Caspian Sea is regarded as being one of the world’s unique zoogeographical areas and has a unique and rich biodiversity. Many rare and indigenous species can be found there. Plant and animal species can find refuge on the coastlines. Shallow saltwater ponds along the shoreline are home to smaller organisms, fish, and even birds.
- Oil and Gas Reserves
The Caspian Sea’s neighboring nations are heavily reliant on mineral resources, such as oil and gas. This accounts for about 40% of all exports and 10% of their total GDP, respectively.
In an attempt to improve dialogue and cooperation and coordinate efforts across a range of sectors, including infrastructures, oil and gas, entertainment, commerce, and transit, these nations organized the Caspian Business Forum in 2019.
The two countries that have drawn the most foreign investment to their energy markets are Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. Iran ranks second in the world for oil reserves and also has a big crude oil.
- Caviar
The Caspian Sea is a significant location for roe cultivation, and caviar is a pricey delicacy that is loved worldwide. Then how is caviar produced in this place, and exactly how is it formed? It refers to specific fish species’ salted-cured roe or eggs, such as salmon or sturgeon.
Caviar is a name that mostly refers to fish eggs farmed in the Caspian as well as Black Seas, though it also includes other local fish species. The cultivation of roe from the European Seaof Azov can be linked to the invention of caviar in the tenth century.
- Shallow features
With a surface size of 38,380 sq miles, the northern Caspian is the ocean’s shallowest region, with a depth of approximately 13 – 26 feet and a high of 66 ft around the sea’s border with the central Caspian. The bottom is composed of a repetitively rippling geological plain that is only interrupted by a series of southern barring and shoals that represent underlying structural elevations and a few of which serve as the bases for the Tyuleny as well as Kulaly islands as well as the Zhemchuzhny sandbars. The middle Caspian, which is 53,250 sq miles in size, creates an uneven depression with a steep western slope as well as a milder eastern gradient further than that region, also called the Mangyshlak Bank.
Pollution in the Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is under numerous ecological risks, which have an impact on the region’s inhabitants, the flora and wildlife, the economy, and the ecosystem as a whole. The current issues with these internationally inland bodies of water are access, u utilization, pollutants/water purity, and resources.
According to Case Data, the Caspian region’s extensive gas and oil development has resulted in serious troubles with water, air, and land pollution, the exhaustion of natural resources, damage to plant and animal life, ecological disturbance, soil erosion, and lost opportunity of biological as well as landscape diversification. The main causes of pollution of land and water include oil spills, garbage from onshore municipal and industrial facilities, chemicals, raw wastewater, and trash brought in by rivers.