Black Sea

Definition: Black Sea

Black Sea

Noun

1. A sea between Europe and Asia; a popular resort area of eastern Europeans.

Specialty Definitions: Black Sea

Domain	Definitions
Literature	Black Sea So called from the abounding black rock in the extensive coal-fields between the Bosphorus and Heracle'a. Source: Brewer's Dictionary.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top

Specialty Definition: Black Sea

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

The Black Sea (also known as the Euxine Sea) is an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor. It is connected to the Mediterranean Sea by the Bosporus and the Sea of Marmara, and to the Sea of Azov by the Strait of Kerch. There is a net inflow of seawater through the Bosporus, 200 km³ per year. There is an inflow of freshwater from the surrounding areas, especially central and middle-eastern Europe, totalling 320 km³ per year. The most important river entering the Black Sea is the Danube.

Countries bordering on the Black Sea are Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia. The Crimea is an Autonomous Republic of Ukraine.

Important cities along the coast include: Istanbul (formerly Constantinople and Byzantium), Burgas, Varna, Constanţa, Tulcea, Odessa, Sevastopol, Batumi

Geology

The Black Sea is the largest anoxic, or oxygen-free, marine system. This is a result of the great depth of the sea and the relatively low salinity (and therefore density) of the water flowing into it from rivers and the Mediterranean; freshwater and seawater mixing is limited to the uppermost 100-150m, with the water below this interface (called the pycnocline) being exchanged only once every thousand years. There is therefore no significant gas exchange with the surface, and as a result decaying organic matter in the sediment consumes any available oxygen. In these anoxic conditions some extremophile microorganisms are able to use sulfate (SO₄^2-) for oxidation of organic material, producing hydrogen sulfide (HS) and carbon dioxide. This mix is extremely toxic (a lungful would be fatal to a human), resulting in a sea that has almost all of its ecology living in that top layer down to a depth of approximately 500 feet -- for the rest of the over 7000 feet of depth, there is basically no life at all.

Large amounts of organic material reach the bottom of the sea and accumulate in the sediments in concentrations of up to 20%. These kinds of sediments are called sapropel.

History

The Black Sea region is thought to have been the original homeland of "Proto-Indo-European", the progenitor of the Indo-European language family, by some scholars. Others move the heartland further east towards the Caspian Sea.

In 1997, William Ryan and Water Pitman from Columbia University published evidence that a massive flood through the Bosporus occurred about 5600 BC. Glacial meltwater had turned the Black and Caspian Seas into vast freshwater lakes, while sea levels remained lower. As the glaciers retreated, rivers emptying into the Black Sea reduced their volume and the water levels lowered. Then, about 5600 BC, as sea levels rose, the Mediterranean spilled over a rocky sill at the Bosphorus. Ryan and Pitman wrote: "Ten cubic miles of water poured through each day, two hundred times what flows over Niagara Falls. ... The Bosporus flume roared and surged at full spate for at least three hundred days." The event flooded 60,000 square miles of land, and significantly expanded the Black Sea shoreline to the north and east. The Black Sea's water level raised many hundreds of feet, and it was transformed from a fresh-water landlocked lake into a salt water sea connected to the ocean. The displacement of early agricultural peoples has been linked with the rapid spread of agriculture north and west into Europe. It has been popularly suggested that the survivors' memory of this event was the source of the legend for Noah's Flood. Initial resistance came from those who looked for more detailed correlation with the Book of Genesis (see Noah's Ark and Mount Ararat) or preferred as prototype the similar marine ingression that formed the Persian Gulf in the lower Tigris and Euphrates valley. Subsequent work by marine archeologist Robert Ballard has identified ancient shorelines, freshwater snail shells, drowned river valleys and tool-worked timbers in 300 feet of water off the coast of modern Turkey.

The name (initially Pontus Euxinus) was coined by the Ancient Greek navigators, because of the unusual dark colour, compared with the Mediterranean Sea. Visibility in the Black Sea is on average approximately 15 feet (as compared to up to 100 feet in the Mediterranean). The land at the eastern end of the Black Sea, Colchis (now Georgia) marked for the Greeks an edge of the known world.

William Ryan and Walter Pitman, Noah's Flood, 1999

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Black Sea."

Top

Synonym: Black Sea

Synonym: Euxine Sea (n). (additional references)

Top

Crosswords: Black Sea

English words defined with "Black Sea": Abkhas, Abkhaz, Abkhazia, Adzhar, Adzharia, Asia Minor, Asphaltum ♦ black sea bass, Bosporus ♦ Caucasus, Caucasus Mountains, Colchis, Crimea, Cutwater ♦ Danube, Danube River, Dnieper, Dnieper River ♦ Genghis Khan, Georgia ♦ Hagdon ♦ Jenghiz Khan, Jinghis Khan ♦ laughing gull ♦ Marmara, Marmora, Monk seal ♦ Odesa, Odessa ♦ Pontic, Pontus ♦ Sakartvelo, Scythia, Sea of Azof, Sea of Azov, Sea of Marmara, Sea of Marmora, Sebastopol, Serranoid, Sevastopol, Squeteague ♦ velvet duck ♦ Yalta. (references)

Specialty definitions using "Black Sea": Ashkenaz ♦ Black Flags, Black Sea Economic Cooperation ♦ carbozite ♦ euxinic ♦ Machaerus. (references)

Etymologies containing "Black Sea": Colchicum ♦ Pandermite, Pontic ♦ Sinopite. (references)

Top

Modern Usage: Black Sea

Domain

Usage

Movie/TV Titles

Black Sea Mutiny (1931)

Witch of the Black Sea Librianna (1981)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top

Commercial Usage: Black Sea

Domain	Title
Books	Applied Ecology of the Black Sea (reference) Black Sea (reference) Danube: A Sentimental Journey from the Source to the Black Sea (reference) Russian Shores of the Black Sea (Konemann Classics) (reference) The Gift of Dreams: Magical Tales of the Wandering Jews and the Gypsies from the Black Sea (Secrets of the World) [ABRIDGED] (reference) (more book examples)

Periodicals	Journal Of Southeast European And Black Sea Studies (reference) (more periodical examples)

Theater & Movies	How to Catch Black Sea Bass (reference) Mystery Gold of the Black Sea Warrior (reference) (more DVD examples; more video examples)

Music	Black Sea (reference) Black Sea (Remastered Lp-Facsimile) (reference) (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top

Image Slideshow: Black Sea

Top

Photo Album: Black Sea

Thumbnail	Description & Credit	Thumbnail	Description & Credit
	OCEANOGRAPHER in Odessa, USSR Conducted cooperative studies with USSR in Black Sea OCEANOGRAPHER around the world cruise.Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection.		The Mediterranean is a semi-enclosed sea relatively low in nutrients and fishery productivity. It has become increasingly polluted owing to runoff by nutrients from waste disposal and agriculture. Catch of key species such as Black Sea anchovy has fallen, relecting environmental degradation. High exploitation levels have also depleted important stocks such as blue fin tuna and swordfish.Credit: Fisheries.
	Angling for black sea bass at Santa Catalina Island. Gaffing a 240-pound capture. In: "Sport Fishing in California and Florida," by Charles F. Holder. Bulletin of the Bureau of Fisheries, Vol. XXVIII 1908, Part I, p. 207, Plate I.Credit: Fisheries.		Scup and Black Sea Bass hovering around a reef ledge.Credit: Sanctuaries.
	Figure 7. Bonnici sounder, invented by Carmelo Bonnici, a blacksmith on HMS SPITFIRE. This device was used in surveys in the Black Sea in 1855. Left: descending. Right: Schematic drawing of the apparatus after striking the bottom.Credit: Sailing for Science - the NOAA Fleet Then and Now.		Figure 31. Timtschenko water bottle, inspired by the Wille bottle, and built by the instrument maker Iosif A. Timtschenko for sampling waters of the Black Sea and analyzing for dissolved hydrogen sulfide content. This instrument was built in 1891 and used by Joseph B. Spindler in his studies of the Black Sea. The interior was of gold to resist corrosion. Left: descending. Right: ascending.Credit: Sailing for Science - the NOAA Fleet Then and Now.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top

Non-Fiction Usage: Black Sea

Subject	Topic	Quote
Business		Modern technologies for exploration and field development are expected to make the Black Sea area an attractive exploration target. (references)
		The location of Ukraine is such that the Ukrainian space communication centers can cover areas of the Black Sea coast, the Balkans, the Mediterranean, and Central Europe. (references)
		It extracts the entire Romanian crude oil output, of which about 10% comes from the Black Sea offshore oil fields, as well as 5.3 billion cum of natural gas. Petrom dominates more than 40% of the domestic oil market. (references)
Civil Liberties	Moldova	The Bessarabian Orthodox Church considers itself to be the legal and canonical successor to the pre-World War II Romanian Orthodox Church in Bessarabia (a historical and geographical designation generally applied to the area bounded by the Danube, Nistru, and Prut Rivers, and the Black Sea). (references)
Economic History	Moldova	Terrain: Rolling steppe, gradual slope south to Black Sea. (references)
	Georgia	The two major Black Sea ports are located in Poti and Batumi. (references)
Political Economy	Greece	Greece sees itself playing a leading role in Balkan political and economic reconstruction, and has aspirations to promote Black Sea and Mediterranean cooperation as well. (references)
	Bulgaria	Bulgaria has been an active member of NATO's Partnership for Peace since 1994. U.S.-Bulgarian defense relations are active and include regular naval ship visits to Bulgaria's Black Sea ports. (references)
Trade	Georgia	The EBRD also owns a 20 percent equity stake in the International Black Sea Commercial Bank. (references)
Travel	Georgia	Presently, about 90 present of freight traffic is concentrated on the main Trans-Caucasus route between the Black Sea ports of Poti and Batumi through Tbilisi to Yerevan (Armenia) and Baku (Azerbaijan). (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Top

Speeches: Black Sea

Speaker	Term	Phrase(s)
Ronald Reagan	1981-1989	From Stettin on the Baltic to Varna on the Black Sea, the regimes planted by totalitarianism have had more than thirty years to establish their legitimacy.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Top

Expressions: Black Sea

Expressions using "Black Sea": black sea bass ♦ Black Sea Economic Cooperation ♦ the black sea. Additional references.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top

Frequency of Internet Keywords: Black Sea

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.

Expression	Frequency per Day
black sea	235
bass black sea	28
black sea cruise	19
archaeology black sea	18
battle black sea	6
arm black sea	4
black sea turtle	4
black sea cruising	3
black sea travel	3
black sea ukraine	3
black sea vacation	3
amazon black sea	2
ancient black sea ship	2
beach black sea	2
the black sea coast	2
black sea spider	2
black sea turkey	2
barracuda black sea	2
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top

Modern Translations: Black Sea

Language		Translations for "Black Sea"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Afrikaan		Swart See (Black, Euxine, Euxine Sea). (various references)

Albanian		deti i zi (kara sea). (various references)

Bulgarian		черноморски (pontic), черно море. (various references)

Czech		èerné moře. (various references)

Danish		broget Sortehavs-kutling (mottled Black Sea goby, tubenose gobie, tubenose goby), Sortehavs-skalle (Black Sea roach), Sortehavs-pighvar (Black Sea turbot), Sortehavs-hvilling (Black Sea whiting), kaspisk stamsild (Black Sea shad, Pontic shad), kaspisk sild (Azovtyulka, Black Sea sprat, clupeonella, kilka, Tyulka sprat), almindelig havrude (black sea bream, old wife, sea bream). (various references)

Dutch		Zwarte Zee (Euxine Sea). (various references)

Esperanto		Nigra Maro (Euxine Sea). (various references)

Finnish		tokko-laji (bighead goby, lagoon gobie, mottled Black Sea goby, Panizza's goby, tubenose goby), silli-laji (Azovtyulka, Black Sea sprat, clupeonella, kilka, Tyulka sprat), mustanmerenvalkoturska (Black Sea whiting), mustanmerensilli (Black Sea shad, Pontic shad), mustanmerenpiikkikampela (Black Sea turbot), meriruutana (black sea bream, old wife, sea bream), helmisärki (Black Sea roach). (various references)

French		Pont-Euxine. (various references)

German		schwarzes meer. (various references)

Greek		μαύρη θάλασσα. (various references)

Hungarian		fekete-tenger. (various references)

Italian		mar nero. (various references)

Japanese Kanji		�'海 . (various references)

Japanese Katakana		�"っかい (bone ash, congress, National Diet, parliament). (various references)

Manx		Yn Vooir Ghoo (The Black Sea), carroo doo (black sea bream, old wife). (various references)

Pig Latin		ackblay easay

Portuguese		mar negro. (various references)

Romanian		Marea Neagrå (Euxine Sea). (various references)

Russian		черноморский, черное море. (various references)

Serbo-Croatian		crnomorski, crno more. (various references)

Spanish		mar negro. (various references)

Swedish		svarta havet. (various references)

Tagalog		Dagat Itím (Euxine Sea). (various references)

Turkish		karadeniz. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Top

Ancestral Language Translations: Black Sea

Language	Period	Translations
Latin	500 BCE-Modern	Alosa pontica, Cantharus cantharus, Cantharus griseus, Cantharus lineatus, Caspialosa pontica, Chrysophris aurata, Clupeonella cultriventris, Clupeonella delicatula, dorade dorÃ©e, dorade royale, grande castagnole, hirondelle, Luciscus meidingeri, Merlangius merlangus euxinus, Pleuronectes maeoticus, Proterorhinus marmoratus, Psetta maxima maeotica, Rutilus frisii, Scophthalmus maeoticus, Spondyliosoma cantharus, Stereolepsis gigas, VE Brama brama, VE breme de mer, VE Sparus auratus. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Top

Anagrams: Black Sea

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "a-a-b-c-e-k-l-s"
	-2 letters: akelas, blacks, bleaks, cabals, cables, calesa.
	-3 letters: aback, abase, ables, akela, alack, albas, alecs, baals, backs, bakes, balas, bales, balks, balsa, basal, beaks, becks, black, blase, bleak, cabal, cable, cakes, calks, kales, laces, lacks, lakes, leaks, sable, scale, slack, slake.
	-4 letters: aals, abas, able, aces, alae, alas, alba, albs, alec, ales, asea, baal.
	Words containing the letters "a-a-b-c-e-k-l-s"
	+1 letter: clambakes, leaseback, stackable.
	+2 letters: backlashed, backlasher, backlashes, backpedals, blackfaces, blackheads, blackleads, blacksnake, camelbacks, leasebacks, whalebacks.
	+3 letters: backlashers, backslapped, backslapper, backslashes, blackhearts, blacksnakes, blackwaters.
	+4 letters: backslappers, backsplashes, blackhanders, blackmailers, leatherbacks.
	+5 letters: packabilities.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.