87-423: The South Zelenchuksky Church is a former Alanian church located in modern-day Arkhyz , Russia , dating to the late 10th century or early 11th century . The church's modest size suggests that it was privately owned, potentially by a member of the nobility. The South Zelenchuksky Church dates back to the late 10th or early 11th century, and is one of three cross-in-square churches known to have been built in
174-527: A halocline that stops at the Cold Intermediate Layer (CIL). This layer is composed of cool, salty surface waters, which are the result of localized atmospheric cooling and decreased fluvial input during the winter months. It is the remnant of the winter surface mixed layer. The base of the CIL is marked by a major pycnocline at about 100–200 metres (330–660 ft), and this density disparity
261-850: A different literal meaning (see below), is still widely used: The Black Sea is one of four seas named in English after common color terms – the others being the Red Sea , the White Sea and the Yellow Sea . The earliest known name of the Black Sea is the Sea of Zalpa, so called by both the Hattians and their conquerors, the Hittites . The Hattic city of Zalpa was "situated probably at or near
348-413: A hundred talents for their ransom. These Alans therefore plundered the country without opposition, and with great ease, and proceeded as far as Armenia, laying waste all before them. Now, Tiridates was king of that country, who met them and fought them but was lucky not to have been taken alive in the battle; for a certain man threw a noose over him and would soon have drawn him in, had he not immediately cut
435-484: A marked vertical stratification and a warm, shallow mixed layer. Day length and insolation intensity also control the extent of the photic zone . Subsurface productivity is limited by nutrient availability, as the anoxic bottom waters act as a sink for reduced nitrate , in the form of ammonia . The benthic zone also plays an important role in Black Sea nutrient cycling, as chemosynthetic organisms and anoxic geochemical pathways recycle nutrients which can be upwelled to
522-589: A strongly stratified vertical structure. Because of the extreme stratification, it is classified as a salt wedge estuary . Inflow from the Mediterranean Sea through the Bosporus and Dardanelles has a higher salinity and density than the outflow, creating the classic estuarine circulation. This means that the inflow of dense water from the Mediterranean occurs at the bottom of the basin while
609-433: A threat to health—and perhaps even life—for people living on the Black Sea coast. There have been isolated reports of flares on the Black Sea occurring during thunderstorms, possibly caused by lightning igniting combustible gas seeping up from the sea depths. The Black Sea supports an active and dynamic marine ecosystem, dominated by species suited to the brackish , nutrient-rich, conditions. As with all marine food webs,
696-529: A very thick convective bottom layer. The Black Sea undersea river is a current of particularly saline water flowing through the Bosporus Strait and along the seabed of the Black Sea. The discovery of the river, announced on August 1, 2010, was made by scientists at the University of Leeds and is the first of its kind to be identified. The undersea river stems from salty water spilling through
783-496: A weaker mixed assemblage of community development below the seasonal thermocline during summer months, and surface-intensified autumn production. This pattern of productivity is augmented by an Emiliania huxleyi bloom during the late spring and summer months. Since the 1960s, rapid industrial expansion along the Black Sea coastline and the construction of a major dam on the Danube have significantly increased annual variability in
870-631: Is supplied by major rivers, principally the Danube , Dnieper and Dniester . Consequently, while six countries have a coastline on the sea, its drainage basin includes parts of 24 countries in Europe. The Black Sea, not including the Sea of Azov , covers 436,400 km (168,500 sq mi), has a maximum depth of 2,212 m (7,257 ft), and a volume of 547,000 km (131,000 cu mi). Most of its coasts ascend rapidly. These rises are
957-442: Is a current of particularly saline water flowing through the Bosporus Strait and along the seabed of the Black Sea, the first of its kind discovered. Current names of the sea are usually equivalents of the English name "Black Sea", including these given in the countries bordering the sea: Such names have not yet been shown conclusively to predate the 13th century. In Greece , the historical name "Euxine Sea", which holds
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#17327795103671044-425: Is a three-apse three-nave cross-in-square building based on four square pillars, and plastered with a thin layer of grout . The church is built out of sandstone blocks, with largest of these blocks being on the bottom, the smallest in the middle, and the medium-sized blocks on top. It is possible that the church was covered with flat stone slabs. The outside of the building is 8.5 meters long and 7.75 meters wide, while
1131-518: Is about 1,175 km (730 mi). Important cities along the coast include (clockwise from the Bosporus ) Burgas , Varna , Constanța , Odesa , Sevastopol , Novorossiysk , Sochi , Poti , Batumi , Trabzon and Samsun . The Black Sea has a positive water balance , with an annual net outflow of 300 km (72 cu mi) per year through the Bosporus and the Dardanelles into
1218-552: Is cognate with the name of the country Īrān (from the gen. plur. *aryānām ). The Alans were documented by foreign observers from the 1st century CE onward under similar names: Latin : Alānī ; Greek : Ἀλανοί Alanoi ; Chinese : 阿蘭聊 Alanliao ( Pinyin ; Alan + Liu ) in the 2nd century, 阿蘭 Alan in the 3rd century, later Alanguo ( 阿蘭國 ); Parthian and Middle Persian Alānān (plural); Arabic Alān (singular); Syriac Alānayē ; Classical Armenian Alank' ; Georgian Alaneti ('country of
1305-470: Is connected to the Sea of Azov by the Kerch Strait . The water level has varied significantly over geological time. Due to these variations in the water level in the basin, the surrounding shelf and associated aprons have sometimes been dry land. At certain critical water levels, connections with surrounding water bodies can become established. It is through the most active of these connective routes,
1392-590: Is subject to interannual variability. Outside of the Rim Current, numerous quasi-permanent coastal eddies are formed as a result of upwelling around the coastal apron and "wind curl" mechanisms. The intra-annual strength of these features is controlled by seasonal atmospheric and fluvial variations. During the spring, the Batumi eddy forms in the southeastern corner of the sea. Beneath the surface waters—from about 50 to 100 metres (160 to 330 ft)—there exists
1479-460: Is the major mechanism for isolation of the deep water. Below the pycnocline is the Deep Water mass, where salinity increases to 22.3 PSU and temperatures rise to around 8.9 °C (48.0 °F). The hydrochemical environment shifts from oxygenated to anoxic, as bacterial decomposition of sunken biomass utilizes all of the free oxygen. Weak geothermal heating and long residence time create
1566-534: Is therefore anoxic . This anoxic layer is responsible for the preservation of ancient shipwrecks which have been found in the Black Sea, which ultimately drains into the Mediterranean Sea , via the Turkish Straits and the Aegean Sea. The Bosporus strait connects it to the small Sea of Marmara which in turn is connected to the Aegean Sea via the strait of the Dardanelles . To the north, the Black Sea
1653-477: Is thought the climate conditions established in western Europe mediate the heat and precipitation fluxes reaching Central Europe and Eurasia, regulating the formation of winter cyclones , which are largely responsible for regional precipitation inputs and influence Mediterranean sea surface temperatures (SSTs). The relative strength of these systems also limits the amount of cold air arriving from northern regions during winter. Other influencing factors include
1740-751: Is today North Caucasus – while some continued on to Europe and later North-Africa. They are generally regarded as part of the Sarmatians , and possibly related to the Massagetae . Modern historians have connected the Alans with the Central Asian Yancai of Chinese sources and with the Aorsi of Roman sources. Having migrated westwards and becoming dominant among the Sarmatians on
1827-621: The Aegean Sea . While the net flow of water through the Bosporus and Dardanelles (known collectively as the Turkish Straits ) is out of the Black Sea, water generally flows in both directions simultaneously: Denser, more saline water from the Aegean flows into the Black Sea underneath the less dense, fresher water that flows out of the Black Sea. This creates a significant and permanent layer of deep water that does not drain or mix and
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#17327795103671914-768: The Alps in the winter of 464, into Liguria , but were there defeated , and Beorgor slain, by Ricimer , commander of the Emperor's forces. Black Sea Unrecognised states: The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia , east of the Balkans , south of the East European Plain , west of the Caucasus , and north of Anatolia . It is bounded by Bulgaria , Georgia , Romania , Russia , Turkey , and Ukraine . The Black Sea
2001-679: The Aorsi ( Ancient Greek Αορσιοι ) ) had become a vassal state of the Kangju and was now known as Alan (< LHC: * ʔɑ-lɑn 阿蘭) Y. A. Zadneprovskiy suggests that the Kangju subjugation of Yancai occurred in the 1st century BCE, and that this subjugation caused various Sarmatian tribes, including the Aorsi, to migrate westwards, which played a major role in starting the Migration Period . The 3rd century Weilüe also notes that Yancai
2088-782: The Aorsi , a powerful Sarmatian tribe living between the Don River and the Aral Sea , mentioned in Roman records, in particular Strabo . The Later Han dynasty Chinese chronicle, the Hou Hanshu , 88 (covering the period 25–220 and completed in the 5th century), mentioned a report that the Yancai nation (奄蔡 lit "Vast Steppes" or "Extensive Grasslands" < LHC * ʔɨam - sɑ ; a.k.a. Hesu (闔蘇), compare Latin Abzoae , identified with
2175-739: The Germanic Goths expanded south-eastwards and broke the Alan dominance on the Pontic Steppe . The Alans however seem to have had a significant influence on the culture of the Goths, who became excellent horsemen and adopted the Alanic animal style art. (The Roman Empire, during the chaos of the 3rd century civil wars, suffered damaging raids by the Gothic armies with their heavy cavalry before
2262-976: The Hunnic defeat of the Goths on the Pontic Steppe around 375 CE , many of the Alans migrated westwards along with various Germanic tribes . They crossed the Rhine in 406 CE along with the Vandals and Suebi , settling in Orléans and Valence . Around 409 CE they joined the Vandals and Suebi in crossing the Pyrenees into the Iberian Peninsula , settling in Lusitania and Hispania Carthaginensis . The Iberian Alans, soundly defeated by
2349-617: The Illyrian Emperors adapted to the Gothic tactics, reorganized and expanded the Roman heavy cavalry, and defeated the Goths under Gallienus , Claudius II and Aurelian .) After the Gothic entry to the steppe, many of the Alans seem to have retreated eastwards towards the Don, where they seem to have established contacts with the Huns . Ammianus writes that the Alans were "somewhat like
2436-595: The Kartvelian tribe of Speris or Saspers . Other modern names such as Chyornoye more and Karadeniz (both meaning Black Sea) originated during the 13th century. A 1570 map Asiae Nova Descriptio from Abraham Ortelius 's Theatrum Orbis Terrarum labels the sea Mar Maggior (Great Sea), compare Latin Mare major . English writers of the 18th century often used Euxine Sea ( / ˈ j uː k s ɪ n / or / ˈ j uː k ˌ s aɪ n / ). During
2523-527: The Medes unexpectedly, and plundered their country, which they found full of people, and replenished with abundance of cattle, while nobody dared make any resistance against them; for Pacorus, the king of the country, had fled away for fear into places where they could not easily come at him, and had yielded up everything he had to them, and had only saved his wife and his concubines from them, and that with difficulty also, after they had been made captives, by giving
2610-656: The Ottoman Empire , it was called either Bahr-e Siyah ( Perso-Arabic ) or Karadeniz ( Ottoman Turkish ), both meaning "Black Sea". The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Black Sea as follows: On the Southwest. The Northeastern limit of the Sea of Marmara [A line joining Cape Rumili with Cape Anatoli (41°13'N)]. In the Kertch Strait . A line joining Cape Takil and Cape Panaghia (45°02'N). The area surrounding
2697-793: The Pontic Mountains to the south, bar the southwest-facing peninsulas, the Caucasus Mountains to the east, and the Crimean Mountains to the mid-north. In the west, the coast is generally small floodplains below foothills such as the Strandzha ; Cape Emine , a dwindling of the east end of the Balkan Mountains ; and the Dobruja Plateau considerably farther north. The longest east–west extent
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2784-773: The Pontic–Caspian steppe , the Alans are mentioned by Roman sources in the 1st century CE . At that time they had settled the region north of the Black Sea and frequently raided the Parthian Empire and the South Caucasus provinces of the Roman Empire . From 215 to 250 CE the Goths broke their power on the Pontic Steppe , thereby assimilating a sizeable portion of the associated Alans. Upon
2871-656: The Visigoths in 418 CE, subsequently surrendered their authority to the Hasdingi Vandals . In 428 CE, the Vandals and Alans crossed the Strait of Gibraltar into North Africa , where they founded a kingdom which lasted until its conquest by forces of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I in 534. Eventually in the 9th century those Alans who remained under Hunnic rule established
2958-742: The 2nd century BCE, the Alans were pushed west by the Kangju people (known to Graeco-Roman authors as the Ἰαξάρται Iaxártai in Greek, and the Iaxartae in Latin), the latter of whom were living in the Syr Darya basin, from where they expanded their rule from Fergana to the Aral Sea region. The first mentions of names that historians link with the Alani appear at almost the same time in texts from
3045-587: The Alani. The 1st century CE Jewish historian Josephus supplements this inscription. Josephus reports in the Jewish Wars (book 7, ch. 7.4) how Alans (whom he calls a " Scythian " tribe) living near the Sea of Azov crossed the Iron Gates for plunder (72 CE) and defeated the armies of Pacorus , king of Media , and Tiridates , King of Armenia , two brothers of Vologeses I (for whom
3132-425: The Alanian Diocese, the other two being the North Zelenchuksky Church and the Shoana Church. Unlike the other two churches, the South Zelenchuksky Church is a simple cross-domed church without beams. The church was renovated at the end of the 19th century, during which a cornice was added under the dome, the walls were plastered, the frescoes were painted over, the slab flooring was replaced with wooden flooring, and
3219-434: The Alans for the purpose of uniting a heterogeneous group of tribes through the invocation of a common, ancestral 'Aryan' origin. Like the name of Iran (* Aryānām ), the adjective * aryāna is related to Airyanəm Waēǰō ('stretch of the Aryas'), the mythical homeland of the early Iranians mentioned in the Avesta . Some other ethnonyms also bear the name of the Alans: the Rhoxolāni ('Bright Alans'), an offshoot of
3306-566: The Alans were "formerly called Massagetae ," while Dio Cassius wrote that "they are Massagetae." It is likely that the Alans were an amalgamation of various Iranian peoples , including Sarmatians , Massagetae and Sakas . Scholars have connected the Alans to the nomadic state of Yancai mentioned in Chinese sources. The Yancai are first mentioned in connection with late 2nd century BCE diplomat Zhang Qian's travels in Chapter 123 of Shiji (whose author, Sima Qian , died c. 90 BCE). The Yancai of Chinese records has again been equated with
3393-403: The Alans whose name may be linked to religious practices, and the Alanorsoi ('White Alans'), perhaps a conglomerate of Alans and Aorsi . The personal names Alan and Alain (from Latin Alanus ) may have been introduced by Alan settlers to Western Europe during the first millennium CE. The Alans were also known over the course of their history by another group of related names including
3480-417: The Alans'); Hebrew Alan (pl. Alanim ). Rarer Latin spellings include Alauni or Halani . The name was also preserved in the modern Ossetian language as Allon . The ethnonym Alān is a dialectal variant of the Old Iranian * Aryāna , itself derived from the root arya -, meaning ' Aryan ', the common self-designation of Indo-Iranian peoples . It probably came in use in the early history of
3567-510: The Black Sea Depression they are terrigenous non-carbonate silts , and at the foot of the continental slope turbidite sediments. The Black Sea is the world's largest body of water with a meromictic basin. The deep waters do not mix with the upper layers of water that receive oxygen from the atmosphere. As a result, over 90% of the deeper Black Sea volume is anoxic water. The Black Sea's circulation patterns are primarily controlled by basin topography and fluvial inputs, which result in
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3654-401: The Black Sea belong to Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, and Ukraine: Short-term climatic variation in the Black Sea region is significantly influenced by the operation of the North Atlantic oscillation , the climatic mechanisms resulting from the interaction between the north Atlantic and mid-latitude air masses. While the exact mechanisms causing the North Atlantic Oscillation remain unclear, it
3741-585: The Black Sea features a range of trophic groups, with autotrophic algae, including diatoms and dinoflagellates , acting as primary producers. The fluvial systems draining Eurasia and central Europe introduce large volumes of sediment and dissolved nutrients into the Black Sea, but the distribution of these nutrients is controlled by the degree of physiochemical stratification, which is, in turn, dictated by seasonal physiographic development. During winter, strong wind promotes convective overturning and upwelling of nutrients, while high summer temperatures result in
3828-432: The Black Sea is commonly referred to as the Black Sea Region . Its northern part lies within the Chernozem belt (black soil belt) which goes from eastern Croatia ( Slavonia ), along the Danube (northern Serbia, northern Bulgaria ( Danubian Plain ) and southern Romania ( Wallachian Plain ) to northeast Ukraine and further across the Central Black Earth Region and southern Russia into Siberia . The littoral zone of
3915-562: The Black Sea is often referred to as the Pontic littoral or Pontic zone . The largest bays of the Black Sea are Karkinit Bay in Ukraine; the Gulf of Burgas in Bulgaria; Dnieprovski Bay and Dniestrovski Bay, both in Ukraine; and Sinop Bay and Samsun Bay, both in Turkey. The largest rivers flowing into the Black Sea are: These rivers and their tributaries comprise a 2-million km (0.77-million sq mi) Black Sea drainage basin that covers wholly or partially 24 countries: Unrecognised states: Some islands in
4002-457: The Bosporus Strait from the Mediterranean Sea into the Black Sea, where the water has a lower salt content. Because of the anoxic water at depth, organic matter, including anthropogenic artifacts such as boat hulls, are well preserved. During periods of high surface productivity, short-lived algal blooms form organic rich layers known as sapropels . Scientists have reported an annual phytoplankton bloom that can be seen in many NASA images of
4089-483: The Bosporus is located at 36.5 m (120 ft) below present sea level (deepest spot of the shallowest cross-section in the Bosporus, located in front of Dolmabahçe Palace ) and has a wet section of around 38,000 m (410,000 sq ft). Inflow and outflow current speeds are averaged around 0.3 to 0.4 m/s (1.0 to 1.3 ft/s), but much higher speeds are found locally, inducing significant turbulence and vertical shear. This allows for turbulent mixing of
4176-402: The Caspian Sea. By the early 2nd century CE the Alans were in firm control of the Lower Volga and Kuban . These lands had earlier been occupied by the Aorsi and the Siraces , whom the Alans apparently absorbed, dispersed and/or destroyed, since they were no longer mentioned in contemporaneous accounts. It is likely that the Alans' influence stretched further westwards, encompassing most of
4263-574: The Huns, but in their manner of life and their habits they are less savage." Jordanes contrasted them with the Huns, noting that the Alans "were their equals in battle, but unlike them in their civilisation, manners and appearance". In the late 4th century, Vegetius conflates Alans and Huns in his military treatise – Hunnorum Alannorumque natio , the "nation of Huns and Alans" – and collocates Goths, Huns and Alans, exemplo Gothorum et Alannorum Hunnorumque . The 4th century Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus noted that
4350-428: The Mediterranean, Middle East and China. In the 1st century CE, the Alans migrated westwards from Central Asia , achieving a dominant position among the Sarmatians living between the Don River and the Caspian Sea . The Alans are mentioned in the Vologases inscription which reads that Vologases I , the Parthian king between around 45 and 78 CE, in the 11th year of his reign (62 CE), battled Kuluk , king of
4437-423: The Mid-Black Sea High, which includes the Andrusov Ridge, Tetyaev High, and Archangelsky High, extending south from the Crimean Peninsula . The basin includes two distinct relict back-arc basins which were initiated by the splitting of an Albian volcanic arc and the subduction of both the Paleo - and Neo- Tethys oceans, but the timings of these events remain uncertain. Arc volcanism and extension occurred as
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#17327795103674524-448: The N:P:Si ratio in the basin. Coastal areas, accordingly, have seen an increase in the frequency of monospecific phytoplankton blooms, with diatom-bloom frequency increasing by a factor of 2.5 and non-diatom bloom frequency increasing by a factor of 6. The non-diatoms, such as the prymnesiophytes Emiliania huxleyi (coccolithophore), Chromulina sp., and the Euglenophyte Eutreptia lanowii , can out-compete diatom species because of
4611-454: The Neo-Tethys Ocean subducted under the southern margin of Laurasia during the Mesozoic . Uplift and compressional deformation took place as the Neotethys continued to close. Seismic surveys indicate that rifting began in the Western Black Sea in the Barremian and Aptian followed by the formation of oceanic crust 20 million years later in the Santonian . Since its initiation, compressional tectonic environments led to subsidence in
4698-464: The Rim Current. The Rim Current has a maximum velocity of about 50–100 cm/s (20–39 in/s). Within this feature, two smaller cyclonic gyres operate, occupying the eastern and western sectors of the basin. The Eastern and Western Gyres are well-organized systems in the winter but dissipate into a series of interconnected eddies in the summer and autumn. Mesoscale activity in the peripheral flow becomes more pronounced during these warmer seasons and
4785-429: The Sarmatian world, which by then possessed a relatively homogenous culture. In 135 CE , the Alans made a huge raid into Asia Minor via the Caucasus, ravaging Media and Armenia. They were eventually driven back by Arrian , the governor of Cappadocia , who wrote a detailed report ( Ektaxis kata Alanoon or 'War Against the Alans') that is a major source for studying Roman military tactics . From 215 to 250,
4872-406: The Turkish Straits, that the Black Sea joins the World Ocean . During geological periods when this hydrological link was not present, the Black Sea was an endorheic basin , operating independently of the global ocean system (similar to the Caspian Sea today). Currently, the Black Sea water level is relatively high; thus, water is being exchanged with the Mediterranean. The Black Sea undersea river
4959-552: The above-mentioned inscription was made): Now there was a nation of the Alans, which we have formerly mentioned somewhere as being Scythians, and living around Tanais and Lake Maeotis . This nation about this time laid a design of falling upon Media , and the parts beyond it, in order to plunder them; with which intention they treated with the king of Hyrcania ; for he was master of that passage which king Alexander shut up with iron gates. This king gave them leave to come through them; so they came in great multitudes, and fell upon
5046-425: The basin, interspersed with extensional phases resulting in large-scale volcanism and numerous orogenies , causing the uplift of the Greater Caucasus , Pontides , southern Crimean Peninsula and Balkanides mountain ranges. During the Messinian salinity crisis in the neighboring Mediterranean Sea , water levels fell but without drying up the sea. The collision between the Eurasian and African plates and
5133-412: The centre of the Black Sea reaches a maximum depth of 2,212 metres (7,257.22 feet) just south of Yalta on the Crimean Peninsula . The Paleo- Euxinian is described by the accumulation of eolian silt deposits (related to the Riss glaciation ) and the lowering of sea levels ( MIS 6, 8 and 10). The Karangat marine transgression occurred during the Eemian Interglacial (MIS 5e). This may have been
5220-405: The cord with his sword and escaped. So the Alans, being still more provoked by this sight, laid waste the country, and drove a great multitude of the men, and a great quantity of the other booty from both kingdoms, along with them, and then retreated back to their own country. The fact that the Alans invaded Parthia through Hyrcania shows that at the time many Alans were still based north-east of
5307-401: The dark color of the water or climatic conditions. Some scholars understand the name to be derived from a system of colour symbolism representing the cardinal directions , with black or dark for north, red for south, white for west, and green or light blue for east. Hence, "Black Sea" meant "Northern Sea". According to this scheme, the name could only have originated with a people living between
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#17327795103675394-407: The day for the Vandals in an armed encounter with the Franks at the crossing of the Rhine on December 31, 406). According to Gregory, another group of Alans, led by Goar , crossed the Rhine at the same time, but immediately joined the Romans and settled in Gaul. Under Beorgor ( Beorgor rex Alanorum ), they moved throughout Gaul, till the reign of Petronius Maximus , when they crossed
5481-399: The drum was covered in a wooden facade. Additionally, because the church's original doorway was plastered over, a new doorway was built into the church's northern wall. After the renovation, the building was consecrated as a church of the Alexander-Athos monastery. Because of the renovation, the church is now one of the most studied cross-domed churches in Alanya. The South Zelenchuksky Church
5568-444: The elevation of the corner compartments of the church, it is believed that the church originally had a curved coating. The church's apses are semi-circular and small, with side apses being nearly the same height as the central one. Each apse has a window with a corbel arch, indicating that this church was built later than most other Alanian churches. Originally, the church's windows were located in its northern and southern walls, however,
5655-480: The estuary of the Marrassantiya River, the modern Kızıl Irmak , on the Black Sea coast." The principal Greek name Póntos Áxeinos is generally accepted to be a rendering of the Iranian word * axšaina- ("dark colored"). Ancient Greek voyagers adopted the name as Á-xe(i)nos , identified with the Greek word áxeinos (inhospitable). The name Πόντος Ἄξεινος Póntos Áxeinos (Inhospitable Sea), first attested in Pindar ( c. 475 BC ),
5742-441: The highest sea levels reached in the late Pleistocene . Based on this some scholars have suggested that the Crimean Peninsula was isolated from the mainland by a shallow strait during the Eemian Interglacial. The Neoeuxinian transgression began with an inflow of waters from the Caspian Sea . Neoeuxinian deposits are found in the Black Sea below −20 m (−66 ft) water depth in three layers. The upper layers correspond with
5829-483: The inside is 7.7 meters long and 6.16 meters wide. The dome of the building is asymmetrical and has a length of 1.8 meters and a width of 2.7 meters. The northern and central naves of the church have the same width, while the southern nave is much narrower. Differences between this church and similar churches include its arches, which are uneven and are narrower than its pillars, and its vaults, which are shaped differently than most Alanian and Abkhazian architecture. Due to
5916-518: The late 1980s. Additionally, an alien species—the warty comb jelly ( Mnemiopsis leidyi )—established itself in the basin, exploding from a few individuals to an estimated biomass of one billion metric tons. The change in species composition in Black Sea waters also has consequences for hydrochemistry, as calcium-producing coccolithophores influence salinity and pH, although these ramifications have yet to be fully quantified. In central Black Sea waters, silicon levels also reduced significantly, due to
6003-407: The limited availability of silicon, a necessary constituent of diatom frustules. As a consequence of these blooms, benthic macrophyte populations were deprived of light, while anoxia caused mass mortality in marine animals. Overfishing during the 1970s further compounded the decline in macrophytes, while the invasive ctenophore Mnemiopsis reduced the biomass of copepods and other zooplankton in
6090-431: The name Ho-su 闔蘇, reconstructed in ‘Old Chinese’ as ĥa̱p-sa̱ĥ, can be compared with Abzoae found in Pliny VI, 38 (see also Pulleyblank (1968), p. 252). Also Humbach (1969), pp. 39–40, accepts the identification, though with some reserve. Around 370, according to Ammianus, the peaceful relations between the Alans and Huns were broken, after the Huns attacked the Don Alans, killing many of them and establishing an alliance with
6177-431: The north of the basin is up to 190 km (120 mi) wide and features a shallow apron with gradients between 1:40 and 1:1000. The southern edge around Turkey and the eastern edge around Georgia , however, are typified by a narrow shelf that rarely exceeds 20 km (12 mi) in width and a steep apron that is typically 1:40 gradient with numerous submarine canyons and channel extensions. The Euxine abyssal plain in
6264-561: The northern (black) and southern (red) seas : this points to the Achaemenids (550–330 BC). In the Greater Bundahishn , a Middle Persian Zoroastrian scripture, the Black Sea is called Siyābun . In the tenth-century Persian geography book Hudud al-'Alam , the Black Sea is called Georgian Sea ( daryā-yi Gurz ). The Georgian Chronicles use the name zğua sperisa ზღუა სპერისა (Sea of Speri) after
6351-454: The outflow of fresher Black Sea surface-water into the Sea of Marmara occurs near the surface. According to Gregg (2002), the outflow is 16,000 cubic metres per second (570,000 cubic feet per second) or around 500 cubic kilometres per year (120 cubic miles per year), and the inflow is 11,000 m /s (390,000 cu ft/s) or around 350 km /a (84 cu mi/a). The following water budget can be estimated: The southern sill of
6438-579: The peak of the Khvalinian transgression, on the shelf shallow-water sands and coquina mixed with silty sands and brackish-water fauna, and inside the Black Sea Depression hydrotroilite silts. The middle layers on the shelf are sands with brackish-water mollusc shells. Of continental origin, the lower level on the shelf is mostly alluvial sands with pebbles, mixed with less common lacustrine silts and freshwater mollusc shells . Inside
6525-488: The photic zone, enhancing productivity. In total, the Black Sea's biodiversity contains around one-third of the Mediterranean's and is experiencing natural and artificial invasions or "Mediterranizations". The main phytoplankton groups present in the Black Sea are dinoflagellates , diatoms , coccolithophores and cyanobacteria . Generally, the annual cycle of phytoplankton development comprises significant diatom and dinoflagellate-dominated spring production, followed by
6612-493: The region. As a result of these characteristics the Black Sea has gained interest from the field of marine archaeology , as ancient shipwrecks in excellent states of preservation have been discovered, such as the Byzantine wreck Sinop D , located in the anoxic layer off the coast of Sinop, Turkey . Modelling shows that, in the event of an asteroid impact on the Black Sea, the release of hydrogen sulfide clouds would pose
6699-584: The regional topography , as depressions and storm systems arriving from the Mediterranean are funneled through the low land around the Bosporus, with the Pontic and Caucasus mountain ranges acting as waveguides, limiting the speed and paths of cyclones passing through the region. The Black Sea is divided into two depositional basins—the Western Black Sea and Eastern Black Sea—separated by
6786-499: The regionally powerful kingdom of Alania . It survived until the Mongol invasions of the 13th century CE. Various scholars regard these Alans as the ancestors of the modern Ossetians. The Alans spoke an Eastern Iranian language which derived from Scytho-Sarmatian and which in turn evolved into the modern Ossetian language . The name Alan represents an Eastern Iranian dialectal form of Old Iranian term Aryan , and so
6873-527: The sea was called the "Inhospitable Sea Πόντος Ἄξεινος Póntos Áxeinos by the inhabitants of the Pontus region of the southern shoreline before Greek colonisation due to its difficult navigation and hostile barbarian natives (7.3.6), and that the name was changed to "hospitable" after the Milesians colonised the region, bringing it into the Greek world. Popular supposition derives "Black Sea" from
6960-508: The survivors. These Alans successfully invaded the Goths in 375 together with the Huns. They subsequently accompanied the Huns in their westward expansion. Following the Hunnic invasion in 370, other Alans, along with other Sarmatians , migrated westward. One of these Alan groups fought together with the Goths in the decisive Battle of Adrianople in 378 CE, in which emperor Valens
7047-408: The two layers. Surface water leaves the Black Sea with a salinity of 17 practical salinity units (PSU) and reaches the Mediterranean with a salinity of 34 PSU. Likewise, an inflow of the Mediterranean with salinity 38.5 PSU experiences a decrease to about 34 PSU. Mean surface circulation is cyclonic ; waters around the perimeter of the Black Sea circulate in a basin-wide shelfbreak gyre known as
7134-458: The variations Asi , As , and Os ( Romanian Iasi or Olani , Bulgarian Uzi , Hungarian Jász , Russian Jasy , Georgian Osi ). It is this name at the root of the modern Ossetian . The Alans were formed out of the merger of the Massagetae , a Central Asian Iranian nomadic people, with some old tribal groups. Related to the Asii who had invaded Bactria in
7221-599: The westward escape of the Anatolian block along the North Anatolian and East Anatolian faults dictates the current tectonic regime, which features enhanced subsidence in the Black Sea basin and significant volcanic activity in the Anatolian region. These geological mechanisms, in the long term, have caused the periodic isolations of the Black Sea from the rest of the global ocean system. The large shelf to
7308-615: The windows were plastered over and moved during the church's renovation. Alans Pontic Steppe Caucasus East Asia Eastern Europe Northern Europe Pontic Steppe Northern/Eastern Steppe Europe South Asia Steppe Europe Caucasus India Indo-Aryans Iranians East Asia Europe East Asia Europe Indo-Aryan Iranian Indo-Aryan Iranian Others European The Alans ( Latin : Alani ) were an ancient and medieval Iranic nomadic pastoral people who migrated to what
7395-510: Was considered an ill omen and was euphemized to its opposite, Εὔξεινος Πόντος Eúxeinos Póntos (Hospitable Sea), also first attested in Pindar. This became the commonly used designation in Greek, although in mythological contexts the "true" name Póntos Áxeinos remained favoured. Strabo 's Geographica (1.2.10) reports that in antiquity, the Black Sea was often simply called "the Sea" ( ὁ πόντος ho Pontos ). He thought that
7482-582: Was killed. As the Roman Empire continued to decline , the Alans split into various groups; some fought for the Romans while others joined the Huns, Visigoths or Ostrogoths . A portion of the western Alans joined the Vandals and the Suebi in their invasion of Roman Gaul . Gregory of Tours mentions in his Liber historiae Francorum ("Book of Frankish History") that the Alan king Respendial saved
7569-577: Was then known to be Alans, although they were no longer vassals of the Kangju. Dutch Sinologist A. F. P. Hulsewé noted that: Chavannes (1905), p. 558, note 5, approves of the identification of Yen-ts’ai with the ‘Αορσοι mentioned by Strabo, as proposed by Hirth (1885), p. 139, note 1 ; he believes this identification to be strengthened by the later name Alan, which explains Ptolemy's "Alanorsi". Marquart (1905), pp. 240–241, did not accept this identification, but Pulleyblank (1963), pp. 99 and 220, does, referring for additional support to HSPC 70.6b where
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