Lagoons of the Smallest Russian Sea

Abstract

The Sea of Azov is one of the smallest on the planet. Its surface area is 39.1 thousand km² and the average depth is about 7.4 m. The total length of the seashores along the Russian part of the Sea of Azov is about 500 km. The majority of the population of the Krasnodar region lives in the coastal zone of the Sea of Azov. This area includes important federal and international communications, ports, industrial and civil establishments. A comprehensive study of contemporary seaside processes has allowed for identifying four main types of coastal development: abrasion (representing two types), accumulation and stable. In general, the following natural processes defining the state and dynamics of the region’s coasts can be highlighted: abrasion processes, sea level fluctuations, changes in wind-wave regime parameters, and fluctuation in the volume of biogenic materials.

Lagoons, like other water bodies of land-to-sea interface, have long attracted the attention of scholars and experts because of their abundance in the littoral area of the Sea of Azov, their natural uniqueness and their high resource potential. Historically, the majority of the land-to-sea interface water bodies of the Sea of Azov are called “limans”. There are three main lagoon groups: the Azov-Kuban limans, the East-Azov limans, the lagoons of the Kerch Strait and many small lagoon reservoirs. As a rule, these are brackish-water reservoirs separated from the Sea of Azov by accumulative forms. Until the middle of the nineteenth century, the evolution of the Azov lagoons was determined by natural factors, as the population of the coastal area was very small and the agriculture was undeveloped. Now, the role of man’s impact is significant. Water bodies are used for irrigation and as areas for recreation, hunting, fishing and fish farming. It has also proved to have significant value for fisheries. In recent decades, a significant reduction in river run-off, used for irrigation farming, resulted in the salinization of lagoons, causing the degradation of species of flora and fauna and a general reduction in the ecosystems’ productivity, especially the fish capacity of the water basin. The Azov lagoons occupy an important place in the reproduction of the local semi-aquatic and water birds, as well as for the migratory routes of the many birds that run through this territory. The Azov lagoons are unique coastal systems. A large part of the Azov lagoons is included on the Ramsar Convention list of wetlands of international importance.