This natural reservoir is considered one of the deepest and largest in Russia. The coolest Far Eastern sea is located between the waters of the Bering and the Sea of Japan.
The Sea of Okhotsk separates the territories of the Russian Federation and Japan and is the most important port point for our country.
After reviewing the information in the article, you can learn about the richest resources of the Sea of Okhotsk and the history of the formation of the reservoir.
About the name
Previously, the sea had other names: Kamchatskoe, Lamskoe, Hokkai among the Japanese.
The current name of the sea was given by the name of the Okhota River, which in turn comes from the Even word "okat", which translates as "river". The former name (Lamskoe) also came from the Even word "lam" (translated as "sea"). Hokkai literally translates to "North Sea" in Japanese. However, due to the fact that this Japanese name now refers to the sea of the North Atlantic Ocean, its name was changed to Ohotsuku-kai, which is an adaptation of the Russian name to the norms of Japanese phonetics.
Geography
Before proceeding to the description of the richest resources of the Sea of Okhotsk, we briefly present it geographical position.
The reservoir, located between the Bering and the Seas of Japan, strongly goes into the land of the mainland. The arc of the Kuril Islands separates the waters of the sea from the waters of the Pacific Ocean. The reservoir has for the most part natural boundaries, and its conditional boundaries are with the Sea of Japan.
The Kuriles, which are about 3 dozen small areas of land and separating the ocean from the sea, are located in a seismically hazardous zone due to the presence of a large number of volcanoes on them. In addition, the waters of these two natural reservoirs are separated by the island of Hokkaido and Kamchatka. The largest island in the Sea of Okhotsk is Sakhalin. The largest rivers flowing into the sea are Amur, Okhota, Bolshaya and Penzhina.
Description
The area of the sea is approximately 1603 thousand square meters. km, the volume of water - 1318 thousand cubic meters. km. The maximum depth is 3916 meters, the average is 821 m. The type of sea is mixed, continental-marginal.
Several bays pass along the rather even coastal boundary of the reservoir. The northern part of the coast is represented by many rocks and rather sharp cliffs. Storm is a frequent and quite common occurrence for this sea.
Features of nature and all resources of the Sea of Okhotsk are partly related to climate conditions and unusual terrain.
For the most part, the seashores are rocky and high. From the sea, from afar on the horizon, they are distinguished by black stripes, framed on top by brownish green spots of sparse vegetation. Only in some places (the western coast of Kamchatka, the northern part of Sakhalin), the coastline is low, fairly wide areas.
The bottom in some respects is similar to the bottom of the Sea of Japan: in many places there are hollows under water, which indicate that the area of \u200b\u200bthe current sea in the Quaternary period was above sea level, and huge rivers flowed in this place - Penzhina and Amur.
Sometimes, during earthquakes, waves appear in the ocean, reaching several tens of meters in height. There is an interesting historical fact connected with this. In 1780, one of these waves during an earthquake deep into the island of Urup (300 meters from the coast) brought the ship "Natalia", which remained on land. This fact is confirmed by the record preserved from those times.
Geologists believe that the territory of the eastern part of the sea is one of the most "troubled" areas on the globe. And today quite large movements of the earth's crust are taking place here. In this part of the ocean, underwater earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are often observed.
A bit of history
Rich Natural resources The Sea of Okhotsk began to attract the attention of people from its very discovery, which occurred during the first campaigns of the Cossacks to the Pacific Ocean through Siberia. It was then called the Lam Sea. Then, after the discovery of Kamchatka, trips by sea and coast to this richest peninsula and to the mouth of the river. Penzhins have become more frequent. In those days, the sea already bore the names Penzhinskoe and Kamchatskoe.
After leaving Yakutsk, the Cossacks moved east not straight through the taiga and mountains, but along the winding rivers and channels between them. Such a caravan path eventually led them to a river called the Hunt, and along it they were already moving to the seashore. That is why this reservoir was named Okhotsk. Since then, many significant and important large centers have arisen on the sea coast. The name that has been preserved since then testifies to the important historical role of the port and the river, from which people began the development of this vast, richest sea area.
Features of nature
The natural resources of the Sea of Okhotsk are quite attractive. This is especially true for the regions of the Kuril Islands. This is a very special world, consisting of a total of 30 large and small islands. This range also includes rocks of volcanic origin. Today, there are active volcanoes on the islands (about 30), which clearly indicates that the bowels of the earth are restless here and now.
Some islands have underground hot springs (temperature up to 30-70°C), many of which have healing properties.
Very severe climatic conditions for life on the Kuril Islands (especially in the northern part). Fogs are kept here for a long time, and in winter very often there are strong storms.
Rivers
Many rivers, mostly small ones, flow into the Sea of Okhotsk. This is the reason for the relatively small continental flow (about 600 cubic km per year) of water into it, and about 65% of it belongs to the Amur River.
Other relatively large rivers are the Penzhina, Uda, Okhota, Bolshaya (in Kamchatka), which carry a much smaller volume of fresh water into the sea. Water enters to a greater extent spring time and early summer.
Fauna
The biological resources of the Sea of Okhotsk are very diverse. This is the most biologically productive sea in Russia. It provides 40% of domestic and more than half of the Far Eastern catches of fish, crustaceans and mollusks. At the same time, it is believed that the biological potential of the sea is underutilized today.
A huge variety of depths and bottom topography, hydrological and climatic conditions in some parts of the sea, a good supply of fish food - all this led to the richness of the ichthyofauna of these places. The northern part of the sea contains 123 species of fish in its waters, the southern part - 300 species. Approximately 85 species are endemic. This sea is a real paradise for lovers of sea fishing.
Fishing, seafood production and production of salmon caviar are actively developing on the territory of the sea. The inhabitants of the sea waters of this region: pink salmon, chum salmon, cod, sockeye salmon, flounder, coho, pollock, herring, saffron cod, chinook salmon, squid, crabs. On the Shantar Islands, hunting (limited) for fur seals is carried out, and the extraction of kelp, mollusks and sea urchins is also becoming popular.
Of the animals, the white whale, seal and seal are of particular commercial value.
Flora
The resources of the Sea of Okhotsk are inexhaustible. Flora of the reservoir: arctic species predominate in the northern part, species of the temperate region prevail in the southern part. Plankton (larvae, mollusks, crustaceans, etc.) provides abundant food for fish throughout the year. The phytoplankton of the sea is represented mainly by diatoms, and the bottom flora contains many species of red, brown and green algae, as well as extensive meadows of sea grass. In total, the composition of the coastal flora of the Sea of Okhotsk includes about 300 species of vegetation.
In comparison with the Bering Sea, the benthic fauna here is more diverse, and in comparison with the Sea of Japan, it is less rich. The main food fields for deep-sea fish are the northern shallow waters, as well as the East Sakhalin and western Kamchatka shelves.
Mineral resources
The mineral resources of the Sea of Okhotsk are especially rich. Only the water of the sea contains almost all the elements of the table of D. I. Mendeleev.
The bottom of the sea has exceptional reserves of globigerin and diamond silts, consisting mainly of shells of unicellular tiny algae and protozoa. Sludge is a valuable raw material for the production of insulating building materials and high quality cement.
The shelf of the sea is also promising for prospecting for hydrocarbon deposits. The rivers of the Aldan-Okhotsk watershed and the lower reaches of the Amur have long been famous for placers of valuable metals, which indicates that there is a possibility of finding underwater ore deposits in the sea. Perhaps there are still many unexplored raw materials in the Sea of Okhotsk.
It is known that the lower shelf horizons and part of the continental slope adjoining them are enriched in phosphorite concretions. There is another more realistic prospect - the extraction of rare elements contained in the bone remains of mammals and fish, and such accumulations are found in deep-sea sediments of the Yuzhno-Okhotsk basin.
It is impossible to keep silent about amber. The very first finds of this mineral on the eastern coast of Sakhalin date back to mid-nineteenth century. At that time, representatives of the Amur expedition worked here. It should be noted that Sakhalin amber is very beautiful - it is perfectly polished, cherry-red and highly appreciated by specialists. The largest pieces of wood fossil resin (up to 0.5 kg) were discovered by geologists near the village of Ostromysovsky. Amber is also found in the oldest deposits of the Taigonos Peninsula, as well as in Kamchatka.
Conclusion
In short, the resources of the Sea of Okhotsk are extremely rich and diverse, it is impossible to list all of them, let alone describe them.
Today, the importance of the Sea of Okhotsk in the national economy is determined by the use of its richest natural resources and transport sea transportation. The main wealth of this sea are game animals, primarily fish. However, already today, a rather high level of danger of pollution of the sea fishing zones with oil products as a result of discharges of oily waters by fishing vessels creates a situation that requires certain measures to increase the level of environmental safety of the work being carried out.
The extreme points characterizing the geographical position of the Sea of Okhotsk are the following: the top of the Penzhina Bay (62° 42" N, 164° 25" E, in the north; the Nemuro Strait (Treason) (43° 43" N, 145 ° 15 "E in the south; the peak of the Udskaya Bay (54 ° 50" N, 135 ° 10 "E in the west and the mouth of the Penzhina River (62 ° 30" N 164 ° 45" c) to the east.
The Sea of Okhotsk is surrounded by mountain structures almost from all sides. In the east, west and south are the Cenozoic folded ranges of Kamchatka, Sakhalin and Hokkaido. In the northwest, the East Trans-Baikal-Priamur region of Mesozoic folding approaches the Sea of Okhotsk. Mountain structures either come close to the shore or are separated from the Sea of Okhotsk by vast lowlands (as in Kamchatka, the northern part of Sakhalin and near the mouth of the Amur and other rivers). Altitude mountain ranges is on average 1-2.5 km, increasing in Kamchatka to 3.5 km.
The largest inflow of water from the Amur is 371 km3. The rivers of the northwestern coast (Tugur, Uda, Ulya, etc.) bring about 57.2 km3 of water; rivers of the northern coast (Okhota, Kukhtui, Ulbeya, Inya, Taui, Yama, Gizhiga, Penzhina, etc.) - approximately 82.1 km3; rivers of Kamchatka - 52.3 km3; the rivers of the Kuril Islands and Hokkaido - 6.8 km3; the Sakhalin River - 16.6 km3, etc.
Geological history of the Sea of Okhotsk
The northern shallow waters and the central part of the Sea of Okhotsk represent a relatively stable platform, not “captured by Tertiary folding and having experienced recent subsidence. The Deryugin Basin and the TINRO Basin also formed relatively recently. They can be considered as marginal depressions in relation to the folded structures of Sakhalin and Kamchatka.
The southern deep basin is the most ancient depression in the Sea of Okhotsk. Its development continues to this day. The Kuril arc is a large double geoanticline, the inner ridge of which is topped by a chain of active volcanoes associated with a large deep fault; the outer ridge is apparently of a more ancient origin; there are no manifestations of modern volcanic activity on it.
The southern deep basin, together with the Kuril island arc and the adjacent Kuril-Kamchatka Trench, is included in the zone of incomplete Cenozoic folding, i.e., they are part of the modern geosynclinal system. The most intense volcanic and seismic activity is concentrated here.
Volcanic activity is especially pronounced in the area of the Kuril Islands, where there are 39 active terrestrial volcanoes and a large number of underwater volcanoes. Hokkaido has five active volcanoes. The strongest earthquakes are also concentrated in the region of the Kuril Islands; they reach 9 points here. Weaker earthquakes were recorded on Sakhalin (up to 7-8 points) and on the northern coast of the Sea of Okhotsk (up to 5-7 points). The minimum seismicity is observed in the northwestern part of the Sea of Okhotsk.
Bottom sediments
In the coastal areas of the Sea of Okhotsk, the bottom is covered with boulder-pebble-gravel and sandy sediments. Boulder-pebble-gravel sediments (the size of fragments range from 10 cm to 1 mm) are distributed in separate areas of the bottom at depths of several meters.; Pebble-gravel sediments occupy vast areas not only near the coast, but also in the open sea. They are also found on the tops and slopes of underwater uplifts. Most often, such sediments occur at depths up to 50–100 m, and in some places even at depths up to 1200–2500 m.
Small patches of shell or bryozoan deposits occur in the zone of pebble-gravel sediments. Sands (particle sizes 1-0.1 mm) cover large areas on continental and island shallows. They are common along the coasts and seaward of the zone of pebble-gravel sediments, most often at depths of 30–300 m.
In areas adjacent to the Kuril Islands, they are found at depths of up to 1500-2500 m. Here, in some places, foraminiferal sands are found. In the deeper parts of the Sea of Okhotsk, silty, silty-argillaceous and clayey silts are common.
Silty silts (particle sizes 0.1-0.01 mm) are deposited on the outer edge of the shelves and on the slopes, as well as on underwater heights in the central part of the Sea of Okhotsk at depths of up to 1000 m. In the area of the Kuril Islands, they extend to depths of up to 2800 - 3000 m. Silty-argillaceous silts (containing 50–70% of particles less than 0.01 mm) extend to the maximum depths of the Sea of Okhotsk. They usually contain from 20 to 50% (or more) amorphous silica, mainly in the form of diatom skeletons, so that these sediments can be classified as siliceous diatomaceous oozes. Bottom sediments in the area of the Kuril Islands, as a rule, include pyroclastic material and in many places pass into tuffite deposits at granulometric types.
The study of diatom remains, as well as spores and pollen in sediment cores up to 34 m long, made it possible to distinguish three warm-water horizons in the Sea of Okhotsk corresponding to the postglacial (Holocene) and the last two interglacial epochs. Between them, two horizons are distinguished, synchronous with two epochs of the Quaternary glaciation.
Climate of the Sea of Okhotsk
Due to the fact that a significant part of it deeply protrudes into the Asian continent with very cold and long winters, the climate of the Sea of Okhotsk, especially in winter, in the northern part of the sea differs little from the climate of the polar seas. From October to April, the winter monsoon sets in in the Sea of Okhotsk with fresh winds of a predominantly northern or northwestern direction (75%), often of storm strength. Summer monsoons, interspersed with calm (30%), begin in May and continue until September. The average annual air temperature in the northern part of the Sea of Okhotsk is from -6 to -6.9 ° C, and in the southern part it is about +5 ° C. In January, the minimum temperature in the city of Okhotsk is -25.2 ° C, and the maximum (Cape Soya. In summer, the maximum and minimum average temperatures are approximately 18 and 11 ° C. The average annual precipitation in the north is 230-300 mm, in the south 800-1000 mm, which is explained by the influence of dry continental air in the northwest and humid maritime air in the south .For 6-7 months, 3/4 of the water area of the Sea of Okhotsk is covered with ice.Unrest in the Sea of Okhotsk can reach great strength, especially during autumn-winter storms and during the passage of typhoons. At such times, the height of the waves in the open sea can reach 8-10 m or more, and the length can reach 100-130 m. The amount of water entering the Sea of Okhotsk from Japan, about 15 thousand km3; the water of the continental runoff is 600 km3; atmospheric precipitation is approximately 900 km3 per year.
A narrow strip of coastal currents, directed counterclockwise, spreads along the coastline. In the southeastern part of the Sea of Okhotsk, it begins in the region of the northernmost Kuril Straits, through which the surface waters of the Pacific Ocean enter the Sea of Okhotsk. Then these waters spread along the coast of Kamchatka to the north.
The rather strong Soya current, caused by the inflow of water from the Sea of Japan through the La Perouse Strait, is part of the coastal circulation to the southwest. The velocities of the coastal current range from 11–20 cm/s off the coast of Kamchatka to 50–90 cm/s in the region of the Soya Current.
A feature of the abyssal circulation of the Sea of Okhotsk is a warm (about 2.5°C) deep current entering the Sea of Okhotsk from the Pacific Ocean through a rupture in the submarine uplift of the Kuril tectonic arc near the Krusenstern Strait at a depth of 750–1250 m. In the Sea of Okhotsk, it branches: one one branch goes north, the other goes south, towards Sakhalin, along the inner slope of the Kuril Islands.
The upper layers of the water column are strongly saturated with oxygen (up to 103%). The oxygen minimum (up to 1 ml O2/l) is confined to the warmest deep waters (750-1500 m); in the Deryugin Basin, it is located near the bottom. In the southern deep basin, the saturation of bottom waters with oxygen increases. The waters of the Sea of Okhotsk are rich in biogenic elements, the concentration of which increases with depth. The maximum content of silicon and phosphorus at a depth of 4000 m, respectively, is 90 mg/l.
The chemical composition of the water of the Sea of Okhotsk favors the development of phytoplankton, the main components of which are peridinea (58 species) and diatoms (290 species), the latter accounting for 70-100% of the phytoplankton biomass. Phytoplankton biomass can reach 20 g per 1 m3 of water.
The coastal flora of the Sea of Okhotsk includes about 300 species of algae, among which kelp predominates. The ichthyofauna of the Sea of Okhotsk includes about 300 species and subspecies of fish, 30 of which are of commercial importance.
Sea of Okhotsk, whose resources have great importance for states, it is one of the largest seas belonging to the Pacific Ocean. Located off the coast of Asia. It is separated from the ocean by the islands - Hokkaido, the eastern coast of Sakhalin and the chain of the Kuril lands.
It is worth noting that this sea is considered the coldest of all located in the Far East. Even in summer, the temperature above it does not exceed 18 degrees on the south side, and in the northeast, thermometers show 10 degrees - this is the maximum figure.
Brief description of the Sea of Okhotsk
It is cold and powerful. The Sea of Okhotsk washes the shores of Japan and Russia. According to its outlines, the reservoir resembles an ordinary trapezoid. The sea stretches from the southwest to the northeast. The maximum length is 2.463 km and the maximum width is 1.500 km. The coastline is over 10,000 km long. The depth of the Sea of Okhotsk (indicator of the maximum depression) is almost 4,000 km. The type of reservoir adjacent to the outskirts of the mainland is mixed.
Volcanic activity extends both to the surface and to the bottom of the sea. When a seismic movement or an explosion of an underwater volcano occurs underwater, it can cause huge tsunami waves.
hydronym
The Sea of Okhotsk, whose resources are used in the national economic spheres of the two countries (Russia and Japan), got its name from the name of the Okhota River. According to official sources, earlier it was called Lamsky and Kamchatsky. In Japan, for a long time the sea was called "Northern". But due to confusion with another body of the same name, the hydronym was adapted and now the sea is called the Sea of Okhotsk.
Importance of the Sea of Okhotsk for Russia
It cannot be overestimated. Since 2014, the Sea of Okhotsk belongs to the inland waters of the Russian Federation. The state makes full use of its resources. First of all, it is the main supplier of salmon fish species. These are chum salmon, sockeye salmon, chinook salmon and other members of the family. The extraction of caviar is organized here, which is highly valued. No wonder Russia is considered one of the largest suppliers of this product.
The problems of the Sea of Okhotsk, however, as well as other water bodies, have led to a significant decrease in populations. It was for this state that it was necessary to limit the catch of fish. And this applies not only to the salmon family, but also to other species, such as herring, flounder, cod.
Industry
Russia has achieved great results in the development of industry on the shores of the Sea of Okhotsk. First of all, these are ship repair enterprises and, of course, fish processing factories. These two areas were modernized in the 90s and are now of great importance for economic development states. Nowadays, many commercial enterprises have appeared here.
Industry is also developing quite well on about. Sakhalin. Earlier, in tsarist times, it was perceived negatively, as it served as a place for exile of people objectionable to the rule. Now the picture has changed radically. The industry is flourishing, people themselves tend to come here in order to earn big money.
Kamchatka seafood processing enterprises entered the world market. Their products are highly appreciated abroad. It meets the standards and is quite popular in many countries.
Thanks to oil and gas deposits, Russia is a monopoly in this area. There is not a single state that could supply the same volumes of oil and gas to Europe. That is why a lot of money from the sovereign treasury is invested in these enterprises.
Islands
There are few islands in the Sea of Okhotsk, the largest of them is Sakhalin. Its coastline is heterogeneous: lowlands are observed in the northeast, the southeast is slightly elevated above sea level, and there is a shallow in the west.
The Kuril Islands are of particular interest. They are small in size, there are about 30 large ones, but there are also smaller ones. Together they form a seismic belt - the largest on the planet. There are about 100 volcanoes on the Kuril Islands. Moreover, 30 of them are operational: they can constantly “excite” the Sea of Okhotsk.
The resources of the Shantar Islands are fur seals. The largest concentration of this species is observed here. However, recently their production has been regulated in order to avoid complete extermination.
gulfs
The coastline of the reservoir is slightly indented, although it has a large length. There are practically no bays and bays in this area. The basin of the Sea of Okhotsk is divided into three basins: the Kuril, TINRO and Deryugin basins.
The largest bays: Sakhalin, Tugursky, Shelikhov, etc. There are also several bays here - sea bays that cut deep into the land, which form the depression of large rivers. Among them are Penzhinskaya, Gizhiginskaya, Udskaya, Tauyskaya. Thanks to the bays, water exchange in the seas also occurs. And at the moment, scientists call this issue quite problematic.
Straits
They are part of the Okhotsk basin. This is the important element that connects the reservoir with and also with the Pacific Ocean. In addition, there are low and shallow and Nevelsk. They do not play a special role, since they are quite small. But the Krusenstern and Bussol straits are different large area, while their maximum depth reaches 500 meters. In many ways, they regulate the salinity of the Sea of Okhotsk.
Bottom and coastline
The depths of the Sea of Okhotsk are not uniform. From the side of Sakhalin and the mainland, the bottom is represented by a shoal - a continuation of the Asian part of the mainland. Its width is approximately 100 km. The rest of the bottom (about 70%) is represented by the continental slope. Near the Kuril Islands, next to about. Iturup is a sore cavity. In this place, the depth of the Sea of Okhotsk reaches 2,500 meters. At the bottom of the reservoir, two large towering sections of relief are distinguished with rather original names: the hill of the Institute of Oceanology and the USSR Academy of Sciences.
The coastline of the Sea of Okhotsk belongs to different geomorphological forms. Most of them are high and steep slopes. Only the western territory of Kamchatka and the east of about. Sakhalin have a low-lying character. But the northern coast is significantly indented.
Water exchange
The continental runoff is small. This is due to the fact that all the rivers flowing into the Sea of Okhotsk are not full-flowing, and cannot play a significant role. The most important is r. Cupid, it is on it that more than half of the total indicator of effluents falls. There are others regarding major rivers. This is Hunt, Uda, Bolshaya, Penzhina.
Hydrological characteristic
The reservoir is completely because the salinity of the Sea of Okhotsk is quite high. It is 32-34 ppm. It decreases closer to the coast, reaching a mark of 30 ‰, and in the intermediate layer - 34 ‰.
Most of the territory is covered with floating ice in winter. The lowest water temperature during the cold season ranges from -1 to +2 degrees. In summer, the sea depths warm up to 10-18ºC.
An interesting fact: at a depth of 100 meters there is an intermediate layer of water, the temperature of which does not change throughout the year and is 1.7 ° C below zero.
Climate features
The Sea of Okhotsk is located in temperate latitudes. This fact has a great influence on the mainland, providing the Aleutian minimum in the cold part of the year. It largely influences the northern winds that cause storms that continue throughout the winter.
In the warm season, weak southeasterly winds come from the mainland. Thanks to them, the air temperature rises to a large extent. However, cyclones come along with them, which can later form typhoons. The duration of such a typhoon can be from 5 to 8 days.
Sea of Okhotsk: resources
They will be discussed further. It is known that the natural resources of the Sea of Okhotsk are still poorly explored. The sea shelf with its hydrocarbon reserves is of the greatest value. Today, 7 are open on Sakhalin, Kamchatka, in the Khabarovsk Territory and the Magadan administrative center. The development of these deposits began in the 70s. However, in addition to oil, the main wealth of the Sea of Okhotsk is flora and fauna. They are of great variety. Therefore, the industry is highly developed here. The most valuable species of salmon fish are found in the Sea of Okhotsk. In the depths, squids are mined, and in terms of catching crabs, the reservoir is in first place in the world. Recently, mining conditions have become more strict and harsh. And there are restrictions on the catch of some fish.
Fur seals, whales, seals live in the northern waters of the sea. Catching these representatives of the animal world is strictly prohibited. AT recent times fishing is gaining popularity - catching sea urchins and shellfish. From the plant world, different types of seaweeds are important. Speaking about the use of the sea, it is worth noting its importance in the transport sector. She is a priority. Important maritime trade routes have been laid here, which connect the large cities of Korsakov (Sakhalin), Magadan, Okhotsk and others.
Environmental problems
The Sea of Okhotsk, like other waters of the World Ocean, suffers from human activities. Here are fixed environmental problems in the form of a drain of oil products and residues of gas compounds. Also quite problematic are the waste of industrial and household enterprises.
The coastal zone began to be polluted from the time of the development of the first offshore fields, but until the end of the 80s it did not have such large-scale dimensions. Now human anthropogenic activity has reached a critical point and requires immediate resolution. The largest concentration of waste and pollution is concentrated off the coast of Sakhalin. This is mainly due to rich oil deposits.
Sea of Okhotsk- one of the largest water basins washing the shores of our country.
Its area - 1,603,000 km 2 - is one and a half times larger than the area of the Sea of Japan and is second only to the Bering Sea, from which it is separated by the Kamchatka Peninsula. The chain of active and extinct volcanoes of the Kuril island ridge separates the Sea of Okhotsk from the Pacific Ocean, and the islands of Hokkaido and Sakhalin from the Sea of Japan. Penzhina Bay in the north, Udskaya in the west, Tugursky, Academies, Patience and Aniva bays in the south go deep into the land. Completely enclosed in the north, the Sea of Okhotsk in the west exchanges waters with the Pacific Ocean through 19 Kuril straits, and further south, through the Laperouse and Tatar Straits, with the Sea of Japan. Its coastline stretches for 10,444 km.
The sea covers the ancient land of Okhotia, and therefore it is shallow in most of its water area. Only in the South Okhotsk Basin does the depth reach 3372 m. If you look at the geomorphological map of the Sea of Okhotsk, you can find a number of depressions and uplifts on it: the USSR Academy of Sciences Upland, the TINRO and Deryugin depressions, the Makarov and Peter Schmidt trenches. In the north, the shelf of the Sea of Okhotsk is shallow, towards the south the depths gradually increase. The shelf area is 36% of the entire sea area.
The Sea of Okhotsk feeds many large and small rivers, but its main artery is the Amur, the great river of East Asia. The shores of the Sea of Okhotsk Islands and the Kamchatka Peninsula are mostly low-lying, marshy, with relict salt lakes, bays and lagoons. Especially a lot of them on Sakhalin. The western coast of the Sea of Okhotsk is mountainous, with steep, straight banks. The Pribrezhny and Ulinsky ridges and the spurs of the Suntar-Khayat ridge come close to the sea near Ayan, Okhotsk and Magadan.
In the Sea of Okhotsk, almost all islands are located near the coast. The largest of them is Sakhalin, whose area is 76,400 km 2. The Kuril archipelago, stretching for 1200 km between the Japanese island of Hokkaido and Cape Lopatka in Kamchatka, has 56 islands (except for small ones of volcanic origin). Volcanologists have identified and taken into account here. 38 active and 70 extinct volcanoes. The Shantar Islands are located in the extreme west of the sea. The most significant of them is Big Shantar. Its area is 1790 km2. Some of these 15 islands have long been inhabited by birds and attract the attention of scientists. To the south of the Patience Peninsula is the small island of Seals, famous for its seal rookery. But the tiny island of Iona, lying 170 miles east of Ayan, is just a lonely rock, visited only by sea birds and sea lions. In addition to these fragments of land, at the very top of the Sakhalin Bay, there are the islands of Chkalov, Baidukov and Belyakov, named after the brave Soviet aces.
The water masses of the Sea of Okhotsk, moving mainly counterclockwise, form a cyclonic system of currents. This is due to two main factors - the runoff of river waters and the inflow of warm waters of the Pacific Ocean through the Kruzenshtern and Bussol straits. Around the Shantar Islands there is a circular movement in the opposite direction (clockwise), reminiscent of the currents in the bays of Aniz and Patience.
Branches of two powerful water currents enter the south of the sea - the warm current Kuro-Sivo and the cold Oya-Sivo. In addition to these currents, jets of the warm current Soya penetrate into the Sea of Okhotsk through the La Perouse Strait. The influence of warm currents increases in summer and weakens in winter. In addition to the Oya-Sivo Current, which flows into the Sea of Okhotsk through the Kuril Straits, cooling of the waters also causes the alongshore East Sakhalin Current, directed from north to south. Through the southern Kuril straits, cold waters leave for the Pacific Ocean.
The Sea of Okhotsk is known for its powerful tides. In the Penzhina Bay, their height reaches almost 13 m (a kind of record for the USSR), a slightly smaller difference in sea levels at high (tide) and low (low tide) water is observed in the Gizhiginskaya Bay and on the Shantar Islands.
Storms often roam the expanses of the Sea of Okhotsk. The southern region of the sea is especially restless, where strong winds blow from November to March, and wave crests rise to a height of 10-11 m. Another feature of this huge water basin is its ice cover, the largest in the Far East. Only off the western shores of Kamchatka and the Middle Kuril Islands is a strip of clear water preserved in winter. The destruction of the ice cover lasts from April to August - as you can see, our sea is called icy not by chance. The movement of air masses also affects the harsh nature of the Sea of Okhotsk. The winter anticyclone determines the northwestern direction of the winds, and in summer the southeastern winds prevail, which is typical for the monsoon climate. The amplitude of annual fluctuations in air temperature is 35°C, exceeding that in the Bering and Japan Seas by 10°. The average annual air temperature in the Sea of Okhotsk varies from -7° (in the Gizhigi region) to 5.5° (Abasiri in Hokkaido).
Summer heating of the waters of the Sea of Okhotsk is limited to: the uppermost layers. In August, the surface water temperature reaches 16-18° off the coast of Hokkaido and 12-14° C in the northwest. The lowest summer temperature of surface waters is kept along the Middle Kuriles (6-8°C) and near the Pyagin Peninsula (4-6°C). In February (the coldest month), negative temperatures prevail throughout the Sea of Okhotsk. The “permafrost” layer is what hydrologists call a water horizon lying at a depth of between 50 and 100 m. Off the coast of Sakhalin, the temperature of this water layer is the lowest and reaches -1.6 °. Deeper, about 200 m, the temperature rises again by 1.5-2° above zero. Only in the northern part of the sea and southeast of Sakhalin is this depth characterized by negative temperatures. With further immersion, the temperature slowly rises, reaching 2.4 ° at around 1000 m (due to warmer ocean waters), and then slightly decreases again. At depths of two to three thousand meters, it is 1.9 ° C in winter and summer.
In the area of the Kuril Islands, the salinity of the waters of the Sea of Okhotsk reaches 33 ppm (slightly more than 30 grams of salts in one liter). Salinity is lower elsewhere; the most desalinated water is in the Sakhalin Bay, where the Amur flows. With depth, the salinity of sea water increases, and below two thousand meters it is quite consistent with ocean water, reaching 34.5 ppm.
Maximum saturation of water with oxygen and highest degree concentrations of hydrogen ions were recorded at a depth of 10 m, which is associated with the intensive development of phytoplankton. At a depth of 1000-1500 m, a sharp oxygen deficiency was noted - up to 10% saturation. A zone of "biological depression" is formed here. Deeper, the oxygen content increases to 20-25%. Filled through the straits with oceanic waters with a low oxygen content, the Sea of Okhotsk basin contains water masses that are weakly mixed due to sharp differences in density between individual layers. The vertical circulation of water occurs within the first two hundred meter layer. This is due to the formation at a depth of 50-100 m of a denser and colder intermediate layer of water. Their winter cooling is accompanied by an increase in salinity and density, which leads to the sinking of these masses from the surface.
Differences in water salinity in the Amur Estuary can reach 22 ppm. Salt waters come from the north into the estuary sea waters, mixing with fresh river. With strong southerly winds, a countercurrent sometimes occurs in the Amur, salty water rises up its channel, and the so-called "faunistic barrier" is formed, which animals cannot overcome.
The bottom sediments of the Sea of Okhotsk are represented by sands, pebbles and stony placers with an admixture of silt on the shelf. In closed bays, separated from the sea by sandy spits, pure silts are deposited. Sandy sediments prevail in the Sakhalin Bay, and pebble - in the Penzhina Bay. In the deep basin in the south of the sea, the bottom is covered with sandy silts, and in the central part of it, greenish and brown silts at depths between 1000 and 3000 m determine the spread of the stagnant water zone. Around the island of Iona, at a depth of about 500 m, iron-manganese nodules were found.
The sediments contain many flint shells of the smallest unicellular organisms - diamote algae and radiolarians.
The history of the Sea of Okhotsk goes back hundreds of millions of years. Seaweeds and bacteria that existed over one and a half billion years ago left traces of their life activity on the western coast of the current Sea of Okhotsk. In the Silurian period (about 450 million years ago), the southwestern part of the modern Sea of Okhotsk basin and the region of Sakhalin Island were under water. The same situation persisted in the Devonian (400-350 million years ago) in the region of the Shantar Islands, where even coral reefs developed, or rather reef-like communities with the participation of coral polyps, bryozoans, sea urchins and lilies. However, most of the basin in the Paleozoic rose above sea level. The ancient land of Okhotia located here about 220 million years ago included the central part of the current sea, Sakhalin and Kamchatka. From the north, west and south, Okhotia was washed by a rather deep sea with many islands. Finds of remains of ferns and cycadophytes indicate that subtropical flora grew here, which requires high temperatures and a humid climate.
Another 100 million years passed. In place of Sakhalin and the Japanese Islands stretched a huge chain of coral reefs, larger than the current Great Barrier Reef off the eastern coast of Australia. The Jurassic reef system probably for the first time marked the position of the future island arc that separated the Sea of Japan from the Pacific Ocean. A major transgression flooded the entire Okhotia and adjacent land areas about 80 million years ago. On the site of Kamchatka, two parallel island ridges were born. As we approached the modern era, they extended more and more in a southerly direction, separating the basins of the Bering and Okhotsk Seas with another arc.
50-60 million years ago, a sharp drop in ocean level led to the complete drying of Okhotia and Beringia. A great connoisseur of the ancient history of the Sea of Okhotsk, Professor G. U. Lindberg convincingly showed that Okhotia was even mountainous in places and large rivers flowed through its territory, starting far to the west - the Paleoamur and the Paleoopenzhina. It was they who worked out deep canyons, which later became underwater depressions. Some forms of land relief and traces of ancient coastlines have been preserved at the bottom of the Sea of Okhotsk to this day.
Okhotia went under water about 10 thousand years ago, with the end of the last Quaternary glaciation. Over time, the South Okhotsk basin was separated from the Pacific Ocean by the youngest island arc of the Far East - the Kuril one - and the outlines of the Sea of Okhotsk were finally determined.
Centuries have passed. The first inhabitants appeared on the Okhotsk coast. The bays and estuaries of the sea abounded with seal rookeries, walruses entered its northern part. The ancient northerners were engaged in sea fishing, collecting edible mollusks and algae.
The significant similarity of the ancient cultures of the Koryaks, Aleuts and the indigenous inhabitants of Kodiak Island near Alaska, noted by the Siberian historian R.V. Vasilevsky, suggests that aborigines took part in the settlement of the New World, at least starting from the Neolithic, and perhaps even earlier. Sea of Okhotsk and Kamchatka. This researcher found Proto-Aleutian features in the structure of Koryak harpoons, the shape of stone fat lamps-lamps and arrowheads, the characteristic type of tools with notched grooves, hooks, spears, awls, spoons and other hunting and household equipment.
In the south of the Sea of Okhotsk, there was an island culture, close in a number of ways to the ancient Koryak culture. We note the presence of a swivel harpoon and a significant number of seal and whale bones in the excavations, similar ceramics and stone inventory of the Amur settlements and sites of the ancient inhabitants of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.
The Soviet anthropologist M. G. Levin noted that “the anthropological, linguistic and cultural proximity of the Nivkhs of Sakhalin and Amur, reflecting, undoubtedly, the processes of constant communication between them over the past several centuries, at the same time, has its roots in the more distant past. - the Neolithic era ... It is likely that the Ainu legends about tons depict the ancestors of the Gilyaks or tribes related to them, whom the Ainu found on Sakhalin during their resettlement to this island ”(Ethnic Anthropology and Problems of Entogenesis of the Peoples of the Far East, M., 1958, p. 128 - 129).
But who are the Nivkhs, or Gilyaks, as these indigenous inhabitants of the Lower Amur and Sakhalin were recently called? The word "nivkh" means "man". Rites and customs, religious beliefs, myths and legends of the Nivkhs reflect the history of this ancient people of the Amur region and have long been the object of scientific research. Not so long ago, scientists were excited by the report of striking analogies in the language of the Nivkhs and some African tribes, in particular in Western Sudan. It also turned out that the dugout boats and axes of the Nivkhs are similar to the boats and axes of the inhabitants of the islands of Tahiti and the Admiralty.
What do these coincidences say? So far, it is difficult to answer this question. Maybe some thread will be drawn from the sacred chants of the Nivkhs?
The sea was seething. Seals and fish died.
There are no people, no fish.
Then a mountain was born from the sea.
Then the earth was born from the sea.
Does this legend testify that the Kuril Islands were born before the eyes of the Nivkhs? If we admit the possibility of such an interpretation of it, then we should recognize in the Nivkhs one of ancient peoples Far East. From the shamanic chant we learn about warm seas and white mountains, white sand shoals and abandoned Nivkh wives. Apparently, we are talking about the coral islands of the Pacific Ocean, from where the ancestors of the Nivkhs could come to the basin of the Sea of \u200b\u200bOkhotsk.
Even more mysterious is the story of the Ainu, who suddenly appeared among the natives of Sakhalin. As early as 1565, the monk de Froes reported in the Japanese Letters: "... the Ainu almost, with their European appearance and thick hair covering their heads ... differed sharply from the beardless Mongoloids." Their militancy, endurance, the custom of women to blacken their lips, nakedness, barely covered by the "belt of shame" so common among the southern islanders of the Pacific - all this was so amazing to travelers that some of them even called the Ainu black people. Vasily Poyarkov's "interrogative speeches" speak of an island lying to the east (i.e., Sakhalin), about the Nivkhs inhabiting its northern part, and "black people, who are called Kuy", living in the south. Local historians discovered the parking lot of Negroins in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky already today.
According to the outstanding Soviet scientist L. Ya. Sternberg, the peculiarities of the culture and anthropology of the Ainu bring them closer to some peoples of South India, Oceania and even Australia. One of the arguments in favor of the theory of the Austronesian origin of the Ainu is the cult of the snake, which is also common among some tribes of Southeast Asia.
When in the II millennium BC. e. The Ainu came to the southern islands of the Sea of Okhotsk, they found thinner here. According to the legends, they were sea hunters and fishermen.
The conclusion suggests itself that the peoples who once inhabited the southern archipelagos of the Pacific Ocean, India and even Australia rolled into the Sea of Okhotsk region in waves. Partly mixing with the local population, they adopted its culture and customs. Typical inhabitants of the southern countries, the Ainu borrowed the design of the canoe from the Itelmens of Kamchatka, the type of boat from the Tonchi of Sakhalin, and winter clothes from the Nivkhs. Even in Ainu ornaments, as R. V. Kozyreva writes (Ancient Sakhalin, L., 1967), on ceramics and bone products, there are simple and geometric patterns and incisions characteristic of the early periods of the history of local culture.
Already before the eyes of man, the formation of the modern coastline of the Sea of Okhotsk continued. Even in new and modern times its level did not remain constant. Just 200 years ago, according to the Khabarovsk paleogeographer L. I. Sverlova, Sakhalin was connected with the mouth of the Amur. According to her calculations, based on the establishment of a functional relationship between fluctuations in the level of the World Ocean and changes in the temperature regime of the Earth, the lowest standing of sea waters fell on 1710-1730. Comparing these data with the dates of the voyages of famous sailors, L.I. Sverlova came to the conclusion that J.F. Laieruz in 1787, W.R. Broughton in 1797, and even I.F. could pass through the Tatar Strait, because it did not exist at all: Sakhalin was a peninsula in those years.
In 1849-1855, during the period of the Amur expedition, sea waters had already blocked the bridge between the mainland and Sakhalin, and this allowed G. I. Nevelsky to convey to N. N. Muravyov: “Sakhalin is an island, the entrance to the estuary and the Amur River is possible for seagoing ships from the north and south. The age-old delusion has been positively dispelled, the truth has been revealed” (B.V. Struve. Memories of Siberia 1848-1854, St. Petersburg, 1889, p. 79).
And yet, L. I. Sverlova, apparently, overestimates the real significance of ocean level fluctuations. Without a shadow of a doubt, she writes, for example, that in 1849-1855. this level was 10 m higher than the present level. But where, then, are the marine sediments, terraces, abrasion areas, and many other features that inevitably accompany displacements of coastlines? The only proof more high level Far Eastern seas in the post-glacial period - a low terrace 1-3 m high, the remains of which were found in many places. However, the time of its formation is several thousand years from our days.
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The Sea of Okhotsk is a semi-enclosed sea located in the northern hemisphere, part of the Pacific Ocean, washing the shores of Russia and Japan.
Previously, this sea was called "Kamchatskoe". The Japanese called this sea "Hokkai", which literally translates as "North Sea", but the traditional name eventually changed to the Sea of Okhotsk.
What rivers flow
The following flows into the Sea of Okhotsk big rivers:
- Kukhtui (a river, the length of which reaches 384 kilometers, it is located in the Khabarovsk Territory, as well as the Okhota River);
- Okhota (a small river in the Khabarovsk Territory, the length of which reaches almost 400 kilometers);
- Amur (the length of the river reaches almost 2900 km, which makes this waterway quite large and important in the territory Eastern Russia, and China for infrastructure).
Relief of the Sea of Okhotsk
The western part of the bottom is a gently sloping slab and it is located at a fairly shallow depth. In the very center there are large depressions. However, the maximum depth was recorded in the so-called Kuril Basin, which is located in the eastern part of the Sea of Okhotsk. The bottom can be sandy, rocky, silty-sandy.
The seashores are mostly high and rocky. In the southwest of Kamchatka, the shores have a low relief. There are volcanoes at the bottom of the Sea of Okhotsk, and there are also on the islands. 70 are considered extinct, 30 are active.
The southeastern part of the sea almost never freezes - even in winter, which cannot be said about the northern part of the sea, where ice is kept from October to June. The northern coast of the sea is strongly indented, which is why many natural bays have been created here, the largest of which has the name Sherikhov Bay. There are also many bays in the west of the sea, the largest of which are the Shantar Sea and Sakhalin Bay.
Cities
On the shores of the Sea of Okhotsk, there is a small town called Okhotsk, which was the first Russian settlement built on the Pacific coast. One of the largest cities on the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk is Magadan with a population of more than 90 thousand inhabitants.
Kholmsk photo
The relatively small town of Kholmsk with a population of 28 thousand inhabitants is also located on the seashore. Well, the last "big city" on the Sea of Okhotsk can be called Korsakov with a population of 33 thousand people. The city is actively engaged in fishing and fish processing.
Flora and fauna of the Sea of Okhotsk
The number of fish species in the Sea of Okhotsk is large, it has always been in a fair amount, which is why the sea has become an important industrial facility. Herring, capelin, salmon, pollock and navaga are found in the largest numbers in the Sea of Okhotsk. Among the other valuable seafood, one can also distinguish the king crab - they reach really huge sizes and are a delicacy for humans.
Beluga whale in the Sea of Okhotsk photo
live here sea urchins, starfish, shrimps and crabs, mussels, jellyfish, corals. King crab is one of the largest representatives of crustaceans in the Far Eastern waters.
As in many northern waters, several types of whales can be found in the Sea of Okhotsk, including rare fin whales, as well as the largest creatures on the planet that have ever existed - blue whales. White whales, seals and seals live in the waters of the sea.
depths of the Sea of Okhotsk photo
The world of birds is diverse and numerous. On the islands of the Sea of Okhotsk, gulls, cormorants, guillemots, guillemots, ipatka, petrels, geese, etc. nest in large colonies.
birds on the Sea of Okhotsk photo
Vegetation of the sea: brown and green algae, red algae, kelp, in some places there are abundant thickets of sea grass - zosters.
Characteristics of the Sea of Okhotsk
The area of the Sea of Okhotsk reaches 1,603,000 square kilometers, and its volume exceeds 1,300,000 cubic meters. The average depth of the sea is quite large - approximately 1,700 meters, and the deepest point of the seabed is located at a depth of 3,916 meters.
In summer, the sea surface temperature is 18 degrees Celsius. And in winter it is colder - 2 degrees Celsius, and sometimes it can drop to minus temperatures of -1.8 degrees. As for the climate, it is monsoonal, very severe due to northern winds, only in the south the air temperature is relatively high.
Sea of Okhotsk in winter photo
If we compare the Sea of Okhotsk with the neighboring seas: the Sea of Japan and the Bering Sea, then it will be the coldest of them. In winter, the Sea of Okhotsk is tormented by strong northern winds and thus makes the climate even more severe. The minimum air temperature comes along with January and reaches an average of -25 degrees. In summer, the temperature rarely exceeds +15 degrees.
Quite often, storms occur in the Sea of Okhotsk, which last more than one week. They come to the southern part of the sea from the Pacific Ocean. The waves are high and the storms are long. In very severe winters, ice forms - floating and also motionless. Ice floes float along Sakhalin and the Amur region, often even in summer.
Sakhalin photo
Coastal waters are the least saline and generally do not reach even 30%. But in the rest of the sea, the advantage of the salt level sometimes reaches up to 34%. Surface waters are the least saline - no more than 32-33%, while already at a depth the salinity exceeds 34%.
There are also islands in the Sea of Okhotsk, but their number is extremely small. The biggest one is Sakhalin Island. Most of the islands are located in a seismically active zone.
