An inland sea (also known as an epeiric sea or an epicontinental sea ) is a continental body of water which is very large in area and is either completely surrounded by dry land or connected to an ocean by a river , strait or " arm of the sea ". An inland sea will generally be brackish , with higher salinity than a freshwater lake but usually lower salinity than seawater . As with other seas, inland seas experience tides governed by the orbits of the Moon and Sun.
18-734: The Sea of Marmara , also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea , is a small inland sea located entirely within the borders of Turkey . It connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea via the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, separating Turkey’s European and Asian sides. It has an area of 11,350 km (4,380 sq mi), and its dimensions are 280 km × 80 km (174 mi × 50 mi). Its greatest depth
36-419: A continent, not adjacent to it. The law of the sea does not apply to inland seas. In modern times, continents stand high, eustatic sea levels are low, and there are few inland seas. The Great Lakes , despite being completely fresh water , have been referred to as resembling or having characteristics like inland seas from a USGS management perspective. Lake Ontario is the only Great Lake connected to
54-632: A storm on 29 December 1999, the Russian oil tanker Volgoneft broke in two in the Sea of Marmara, spilling more than 1,500 tonnes of oil into the water. In 2021 the shores of the Sea of Marmara were disfigured by marine mucilage - nicknamed 'sea snot' - caused, at least in part, by the dumping of untreated waste into the water. Towns and cities on the coast of the Sea of Marmara include: Bursa Province Çanakkale Province Tekirdağ Province Inland sea What constitutes an "inland sea"
72-440: Is "more or less" cut off from the ocean. It may be semi-enclosed, or connected to the ocean by a strait or "arm of the sea". An inland sea is distinguishable from a bay in that a bay is directly connected to the ocean. The term "epeiric sea" was coined by Joseph Barrell in 1917. He defined an epeiric sea as a shallow body of water whose bottom is within the wave base (e.g., where bottom sediments are no longer stirred by
90-571: Is 1,370 m (4,490 ft). The Sea of Marmara is named after the largest island on its south side, called Marmara Island because it is rich in marble ( Greek μάρμᾰρον , mármaron 'marble'). In classical antiquity , it was known as the Propontis , from the Greek words pro 'before' and pontos 'sea', reflecting the fact that the Ancient Greeks used to sail through it to reach
108-552: Is an island situated off the Turkish coast, in the Sea of Marmara . Administratively, the island belongs to Marmara , the central settlement of Marmara Island in Balikesir , Turkey . The island has an area of around 2.47 square kilometers, one village under the same name as the island, and a population of 102 according to the census in 2014. According to Hititian sources Marmara Archipelago and its surrounding area belonged to
126-503: Is complex and somewhat necessarily vague. The United States Hydrographic Office defined it as "a body of water nearly or completely surrounded by land, especially if very large or composed of salt water". Geologic engineers Heinrich Ries and Thomas L. Watson say an inland sea is merely a very large lake. Rydén, Migula, and Andersson and Deborah Sandler of the Environmental Law Institute add that an inland sea
144-672: Is privately owned by the Koç family of industrialists. The North Anatolian Fault runs under the sea and has triggered several major earthquakes , such as those in Izmit and Düzce in August and November 1999 respectively. The August 1999 earthquake is commonly referred to as the Marmara Earthquake since its epicentre lay under the Sea and most of the places worst affected by the quake and ensuing tsunami lay along its shores. During
162-840: The Susurluk , Biga (Granicus), and Gönen Rivers also reduces the salinity of the sea, though with less effect than on the Black Sea. With little land in Thrace draining southward, almost all of these rivers flow from Anatolia . There are two main groups of islands in the Sea of Marmara. To the north lie the Princes' Islands , an archipelago made up of the inhabited islands of Kınaliada , Burgazada , Heybeliada , Büyükada and Sedef Adası and several uninhabited islands including Sivriada , Yassıada , Kaşıkadası and Tavşanadası . The inhabited islands are readily accessible by ferry from both
180-559: The Aegean Sea [A line joining Kum Kale (26°11'E) and Cape Helles ]. On the Northeast . A line joining Cape Rumili with Cape Anatoli (41°13′N). The sea's south coast is heavily indented and includes the Gulf of İzmit ( Turkish : İzmit Körfezi ), the Gulf of Gemlik ( Turkish : Gemlik Körfezi ), the Gulf of Bandırma ( Turkish : Bandırma Körfezi ), and the Gulf of Erdek ( Turkish : Erdek Körfezi ). The surface salinity of
198-727: The Atlantic Ocean below Niagara Falls . Modern examples might also include the recently (less than 10,000 years ago) reflooded Persian Gulf , and the South China Sea that presently covers the Sunda Shelf . At various times in the geologic past, inland seas covered central areas of continents during periods of high sea level that result in marine transgressions . Inland seas have been greater in extent and more common than at present. Ekinlik Island Ekinlik Island , formerly Koutalis ( Greek : Κούταλης )
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#1732764907682216-594: The Black Sea , which they called Pontos . In Greek mythology , a storm on the Propontis brought the Argonauts back to an island they had left, precipitating a battle in which either Jason or Heracles killed King Cyzicus , who had mistaken them for his Pelasgian enemies. The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Sea of Marmara as follows: On the West . The Dardanelles limit of
234-729: The Luwian in 1000 BC, while the Greek-speaking people of the region settled during the 7th century BC to colonize the islands. The oldest records specifically on Ekinlik Island belong to the 14th century during the Byzantine period, saying that the Catalan mercenaries captured the islandIn the 15th century the island passed under Ottoman rule. In the 17th century, according to the Geographer Athenian Meletios ,
252-535: The European and Asian shores of İstanbul and the entire archipelago forms part of the conurbation. To the south lie the Marmara Islands , an archipelago made up of the eponymous Marmara Island and three other inhabited islands – Avşa , Paşalimanı and Ekinlik – as well as of seventeen largely uninhabited islands including the prison island of Imralı whose most famous prisoner, since 1999, has been
270-541: The Marmara averages about 22 parts per thousand, which is slightly more than that of the Black Sea , but only about two-thirds that of most oceans . The water is much more saline at the bottom of the sea, averaging a salinity of around 38 parts per thousand, similar to that of the Mediterranean Sea . This high-density saline water does not migrate to the surface as is also the case with the Black Sea. Water from
288-544: The PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan . These islands lie within Balıkesir province and are most readily accessible from Tekirdağ in Thrace or Erdek on the southern shore of the Sea of Marmara. In high summer additional ferries travel to Avşa and Marmara Islands from the centre of İstanbul to facilitate a growing tourist trade. There are also a few individual islands elsewhere in the Sea of Marmara, such as Koç Adası, off Tuzla , which
306-581: The island was named Koutali, which was used until 1923. In 1923, as a result of the Lausanne Treaty signed between Turkey and Greece, the island's Greek-speaking people migrated to Greece and the United States, and the settlement was placed with the people who migrated from the Black Sea region of Turkey. 40°32′56″N 27°29′06″E / 40.549°N 27.485°E / 40.549; 27.485 This Turkey location article
324-479: The wave above), as one with limited connection to an ocean, and as simply shallow. An inland sea is only an epeiric sea when a continental interior is flooded by marine transgression due to sea level rise or epeirogenic movement . An epicontinental sea is synonymous with an epeiric sea. The term "epicontinental sea" may also refer to the waters above a continental shelf. This is a legal, not geological, term. Epeiric, epicontinental, and inland seas occur on
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