Located northeast of the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea is different from its bigger neighbour, whose sky and water are famed for their hues of blue. Except for days of bright sunshine,
the Black Sea is all greens and greys, which gives it a different mood, more melancholy and meditative. This inland body of water also has a distinct formation: according to one theory, its basin might once have been a vast lake, the remnant of a large prehistoric sea that became salinised 50,000 years ago when the Mediterranean suddenly breached the Bosphorus Strait, causing a flood that must have been as majestic as it was devastating.1 Although this sea has abundant fish with set migration patterns (at least until recent decades),2 below 1,000 feet the water becomes devoid of oxygen and thus of life.
This is a boon for archaeologists, who can find organic material well preserved in the silt of the seabed: ships and artefacts are regularly found along the coasts from Bulgaria to eastern Anatolia in Turkey.3 That is for the ancient past.
Map 9.1 The Black Sea
More on the topic Located northeast of the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea is different from its bigger neighbour, whose sky and water are famed for their hues of blue. Except for days of bright sunshine,:
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