There were reports in the mass press about the possibility of an explosion of sulfurhydrogen in the Black Sea. Are such statements correct and what is neededtake to reduce the amount of hydrogen sulfide in deep andsurface layers of water? These issues are discussed in the followingarticle.

V. I. BELYAEV, E. E. SOVGA

HYDROGEN SULFIDE IN THE BLACK SEA WILL NOT EXPLODE

In 1890, a Russian oceanographic expedition, led by an academician, discovered in the depths of the Black Sea a noticeable concentration of dissolved hydrogen sulfide, a poisonous gas with the smell of rotten eggs. As further studies showed, this gas is present in the entire deep water area of ​​the Black Sea, approaching the surface by about 100 m in the central part of the sea and by 150-250 m off the coast. Such a difference in position upper bound The hydrogen sulfide zone is due to the specifics of the circulation of water masses, in which there is an increase in water (upwelling) in the center of the sea and their subsidence (deepening) at its periphery.

The Black Sea is the only one on the globe in which hydrogen sulfide constantly huge masses of water are contaminated. In the seas and oceans, there are areas where hydrogen sulfide contamination occurs periodically or even persists throughout the year, for example, in the Norwegian fiords and the Caryako depression in the Caribbean Sea. Extensive deep anaerobic water masses contaminated with hydrogen sulfide occasionally appear in the oceans. They migrate across the water area, sometimes invading shelf areas, which adversely affects the state of coastal ecological systems. Thus, in the early 1950s, in Walvis Bay (the Atlantic coast of southwestern Africa), upwellings brought to the surface a water mass containing hydrogen sulfide formed in the depths. There was a mass death of fish, on the coast up to 40 miles inland there was a smell

© BELYAEV Valery Ivanovich - Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, Chairman of the Commission of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR on the problems of the World Ocean. SOVGA Elena Evgenievna - Candidate of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Senior Researcher Marine Hydrophysical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR.

IN. AND. Belyaev, HER. Sovga

hydrogen sulfide, which caused concern among the population. Water masses contaminated with hydrogen sulfide systematically invade the shelf of the Arabian Sea - in the northwestern part of the Indian Ocean. It also causes a mass death of fish. Local formations of hydrogen sulfide are recorded in the Caspian Sea and even in the shallow Baltic Sea.

In the geological history of the Black Sea, the formation of hydrogen sulfide has always been associated with the penetration of saltier Mediterranean waters through the Bosporus into the deep layers of the Black Sea. At the same time, a significant volume of river runoff also enters the sea, as a result of which a sharp jump in density, a halocline, arises between the freshened surface and saline deep waters. The changeable circulation of water masses shifts the halocline: it either raises it closer to the surface, or lowers it in depth. As a rule, the upper boundary of the hydrogen sulfide zone begins immediately below the halocline, which hinders the flow of oxygen into this zone from the upper layers. In the course of climatic fluctuations in the ocean level, the connection between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean through the Bosphorus was either broken or resumed again. The last time it was restored about 6-7 thousand years ago. During this time, a deep water column containing hydrogen sulfide has formed in the Black Sea. It occupies about 90X the volume of the sea.

There are three main sources of hydrogen sulfide in the Earth's water bodies. Firstly, it is formed due to the reduction of sulfates present in water during the oxygen-free decomposition of organic substances. Decomposition is carried out with the participation of anaerobic sulfate-reducing bacteria, which use the oxygen of sulfates in the course of their life, releasing hydrogen sulfide. Secondly, this gas arises from the decay of organic substances containing sulfur. And thirdly, it can come from earth's crust through seabed crevices and with hydrothermal waters.

Generalization of research materials of the hydrogen sulfide zone of the Black Sea was carried out by a well-known oceanologist. He analyzed all the material available on this issue until 1965, that is, before the development of the process of eutrophication of the sea, which has now spread to its entire water area. suggested that if the flow of organic matter into the Black Sea increases (for example, due to an increase in its biological productivity or a large influx of low-resistant organic compounds entering the sea with river waters), then the chemical composition of the sea will change. The consequence of these changes will be possible local rises in the upper boundary of the deep hydrogen sulfide zone, that is, the rise of the "limit of life" in the sea.

These assumptions are now beginning to be justified. According to data obtained over the past decade and a half, the environmental situation in the Black Sea has deteriorated. Not only in coastal areas, but also in open waters sea ​​discovered an excess of organic matter. The structure of biological communities has also changed: large predatory fish have practically disappeared, the number of dolphins has decreased, the aurelia jellyfish and microalgae nocturnus have unusually multiplied, the near-bottom field of phyllophora algae and mussel colonies in the northwestern shallow part of the sea have decreased, where in summer large freeze zones. Clear,

that such a situation should sooner or later affect the balance of hydrogen sulfide in the sea. But to what extent this balance is determined by the influence of natural, and to what extent anthropogenic factors is still not known for certain. The answer to the question can only be obtained as a result of long-term observations of the hydrogen sulfide zone of the sea. The solution of this interdisciplinary problem required the involvement of specialists in various fields: hydrophysicists, hydrochemists, hydrobiologists, as well as specialists in the field of mathematical modeling of ecological systems.

In 1984, the voyage of the research vessel "Vityaz" of the Institute of Oceanology. Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Its participants explored the region of the upper boundary of the hydrogen sulfide zone with the help of the Argus submersible. The features of the distribution of chemical compounds in the contact layer of the oxygen and hydrogen sulfide zones, where hydrogen sulfide is oxidized, were studied. Visually, fish and other organisms were observed penetrating this zone.

In 1985-1986 work was carried out under the interdepartmental program of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine "Study of the dynamics of the hydrogen sulfide zone of the Black Sea in order to develop methods and means to prevent the negative restructuring of its ecological system." Within the framework of this program, six complex expeditions were carried out on the ships "Mikhail Lomonosov", "Akademik Vernadsky", "Professor Kolesnikov" and others. During the expeditions, which worked in all seasons of the year, 430 deep-water stations were completed. To detect possible geological sources of hydrogen sulfide in the Black Sea, samples of deep water were taken at a distance of 5-10 m from the bottom, as well as samples of bottom sediments. Not only the concentrations of hydrogen sulfide and oxygen were measured, but also the content of sulfur in other forms (thiosulfates, sulfates), samples of phyto-, zooplankton, bacteria, chlorophyll were taken, optical and hydrological characteristics were determined.

The study of the hydrogen sulfide zone continued after the completion of this program. In all expeditions, sampling of deep water was carried out with a spatial interval of 30 miles using bottle meters of the sounding complex MGI-4102 (Istok) with a vertical measurement discreteness of 5-10 m in the zone of interaction of oxygen and hydrogen sulfide. Measurement of hydrogen sulfide content in downhole samples sea ​​water- not an easy task. The concentrations of hydrogen sulfide in these samples are low, and it quickly oxidizes upon accidental contact with atmospheric oxygen. Therefore, when sampling deep water containing hydrogen sulfide and other reduced forms of sulfur, their complete isolation from the atmosphere was ensured.

As a result of expeditionary research, the inter-seasonal and intra-seasonal variability of the hydrogen sulfide zone boundary throughout the year was determined. Closest to the surface (70-90 m), the upper boundary of the zone is located in spring in the area of ​​a single cyclonic gyre in the center of the sea. In summer and autumn, in the presence of two stationary cyclonic gyres in their center, the depth of the hydrogen sulfide boundary is 95 m.

of the hydrogen zone strongly depend on the duration of the time interval. Thus, judging by estimates of changes in the position of this boundary over a rather long period (about 60 years), its average depth changed little. But within this period of time there were periods of both uplifts and deepening of the upper boundary of the hydrogen sulfide zone. In 1984-1986 there was a tendency for it to rise, and then, up to 1990, a slight deepening. Academician T believes that against the background of recorded interannual variations, there is no permanent unidirectional change in the position of the boundary of the hydrogen sulfide zone. This conclusion coincides with the opinion of most experts studying this problem. The highest position of the boundary of the hydrogen sulfide zone in the entire history of the study of the Black Sea was noted in the spring of 1988, when hydrogen sulfide was recorded at a depth of 70 m in the center of a single cyclonic gyre. But this rise was short-lived. When the research vessel returned to the area 20 days later, the depth of water sampling, which corresponded to the appearance of hydrogen sulfide, was already 90-95 m. Such local rises are not stable in time and space and, as a rule, are caused by short-term active synoptic disturbances.

It should be emphasized that the very concept of the "upper boundary of the hydrogen sulfide zone" is rather arbitrary, it is determined by many factors that are difficult to control. The upper limit is the depth at which, in accordance with the accepted methodology, the presence of hydrogen sulfide in water samples is detected (concentration of the order of 0.1 ml/l). By the way, a more sensitive measurement technique reveals traces of hydrogen sulfide in the Black Sea and at higher horizons, up to the surface. The position of the upper boundary depends on the rate of the hydrogen sulfide oxidation reaction, the rate of delivery (due to vertical water exchange) of oxygen from the upper and hydrogen sulfide from the lower layers to the intermediate layer, where oxidation occurs. Finally, the upper boundary of the hydrogen sulfide zone can move along with water when vertical currents. In addition to slow climatic changes in the vertical circulation in the sea, as already noted, there are rapid vertical rises and falls of water associated with eddy movements. The intensity of these movements is due to the activity atmospheric processes. Therefore, it is very difficult, without having the data of sufficiently long-term observations, to determine what causes each time the anomalous vertical rises of the boundary of the hydrogen sulfide zone: the intensification of atmospheric processes, the intensification of the formation or the weakening of the oxidation of hydrogen sulfide. The processes of formation of hydrogen sulfide are associated with the activity of bacteria, which also depends on climatological factors, including solar activity.

From the point of view of mathematical statistics, in order to obtain a conclusion about the trend of changing the positions of the upper boundary of the hydrogen sulfide zone, it is necessary to determine the average values ​​of the characteristics of non-stationary random fields from a relatively small sample of observations. This circumstance reduces the problem of the dynamics of the upper boundary only to an assessment of the tendencies of its vertical displacements.

Specialists studying the hydrogen sulfide zone in the Black Sea judge its

hydrogen sulfide V Black sea Not explode 51

behavior according to independent observations of many processes in the sea (physical, chemical, biological), and natural observations are combined with numerical experiments on mathematical models. A correct understanding of the behavior of the hydrogen sulfide zone requires reliable ideas about its origin. Expeditionary studies point to sulfate reduction as the main process of hydrogen sulfide replenishment in the Black Sea. At the same time, the main reasons for the existence of a hydrogen sulfide zone here are considered to be density stratification, which hinders vertical exchange, and a large biogenic runoff from the coast per unit area of ​​the sea. Both of these factors provide intensive sulfate reduction leading to the formation of hydrogen sulfide in the deep anaerobic zone. Expeditionary data confirm the focal nature of sulfate reduction, and the location of these foci is confined to the places where dead organic matter comes from the shelf.

At the same time, both of these factors are under strong anthropogenic pressure. Thus, the regulation of river flow reduces the volume of fresh water entering the upper layer of the sea, evens out stratification, and can improve vertical water exchange. The increase in biogenic runoff as a result of industrial, domestic and agricultural pollution causes an increase in the production of dead organic matter, which stimulates the process of sulfate reduction and replenishment of hydrogen sulfide in the sea. At the same time, oxygen is spent in the aerobic zone for the decomposition of additional amounts of organic matter, which reduces the possibility of rapid oxidation of hydrogen sulfide in the event of its local rises. Since most of the organic matter is formed in the Black Sea on the shelf, the ecosystem of the latter largely determines the state of the hydrogen sulfide zone in the deep part of the sea.

According to rough estimates, due to anthropogenic pollution in the Black Sea today, an additional amount of hydrogen sulfide can appear, comparable to that which is formed naturally. An increase in the supply of hydrogen sulfide in deep waters increases the likelihood of its invasion into the oxygen zone, accompanied by a detrimental effect on the fish, algae and mollusks living in it. There is an increased risk of hydrogen sulfide release directly to the sea surface in coastal areas of resort water use. Although these phenomena can be short-lived, rather rare (like hurricanes in the atmosphere) and occur under certain hydrological and meteorological conditions, they are quite unpleasant. No matter how low the concentration of hydrogen sulfide in the deep Black Sea water, in contact with air it emits a quite noticeable smell. Feeling it already means that the concentration of hydrogen sulfide in the air is above the safety threshold for people. So far, such phenomena have not been observed in the resort areas of the Black Sea. However, there is a need to create a permanent monitoring service for the concentration of hydrogen sulfide in the Black Sea in order to warn the population in time about the anomalous rise in hydrogen sulfide waters, to inform about the rules of conduct in such situations.

The fears of specialists about the negative consequences of the development of sulfide

native zone in terms of anthropogenic pollution, in all likelihood, provoked the appearance in the mass press of articles about the possibility of an explosion of hydrogen sulfide in the Black Sea. To prevent a catastrophe, it was proposed to "simply" extract hydrogen sulfide from pumped out deep water. The idea was put forward that by burning hydrogen sulfide it is possible to obtain energy and commercial sulfur by building a chemical plant on the Black Sea coast for this purpose.

It should be noted that the dissolved gaseous phase of hydrogen sulfide in the Black Sea is only 0.24 g per ton of sea water at a depth of 300 m, 1.2 g at a depth of 1000 m and up to 2.2 g at the bottom. at depths of about 2000 m. Hydrogen sulfide has a high solubility: even at atmospheric pressure it is possible to dissolve up to 12 kg in 1 ton of water, and in deep waters under a pressure of about 200 atm, many times more. Thus, the concentration of deep-seated hydrogen sulfide raised to the surface is less than 0.0001 of the saturating value. At such low gas concentrations, it is not necessary to talk about the possibility of its release in bubbles from the solution as a result of shaking.

Nevertheless, with an insignificant concentration of hydrogen sulfide, its total amount, annually formed in the Black Sea basin in a natural way, is about 107-10e tons, and maybe even more. We do not know the exact value, but there is every reason to believe that it is a variable that varies over a wide range along with a change in the position of the upper boundary of the hydrogen sulfide zone. To oxidize such a quantity of hydrogen sulfide, it is necessary to create a gigantic industrial installation, through the pipes of which at the same time pump deep water in an amount equal to several flows of such rivers as the Volga or the Danube. Even with the ideal environmental cleanliness of the main sulfur production, the construction of such a large-scale industrial complex in the resort area of ​​the Black Sea coast will not do without negative consequences For environment. It is no coincidence that it is forbidden to build here industrial enterprises. At the same time, we cannot reliably calculate the impact of this installation on the hydrogen sulfide zone of the sea, guarantee the success of its work and assess the long-term environmental consequences.

In the absurdity of the proposals to pump out deep hydrogen sulfide, one can see the vicious concept of using water resources practiced in our country. It practically ignored the fact that water bodies are not just water masses, but ecological systems formed as a result of long evolution - a kind of natural factories in which living organisms work, converting the energy of the Sun into products directly consumed by humans - fish, molluscs, crustaceans. . The implementation of this concept of nature management has led to the death of the ecosystem of rivers, lakes, and inland seas. Huge resources have been lost in our country the most valuable fish, which was previously obtained from rivers and lakes, the Black and Seas of Azov. At the same time, it was possible, through a careful, carefully substantiated stage-by-stage hydrotechnical and hydro-reclamation arrangement of these reservoirs, to multiply their natural ability to produce fish and other "gifts of nature". Unfortunately, energy is taken from rivers in such a way

Hydrogen sulfide in the Black Sea will not explode 53

the way in which their ecosystems were destroyed. With the help of this energy, metals were obtained, ships were built from them, which went "for hake" to distant seas...

It is more realistic to influence the hydrogen sulfide zone of the Black Sea, preventing pollution of waters that come with coastal runoff. It is important not to mix wastes of different origin, then they can be passed through specialized recycling facilities directly at each production site. Indeed, in principle, there is no waste that is not a raw material for any production. All this costs additional costs, but this is the only way to ensure the purity of rivers, lakes, air, while the sea will become clean and will cope with its problems on its own, as it has dealt with them for over 7 thousand years.

Of course, one cannot categorically object to proposals for the extraction of certain substances from sea water, including sulfur. In sea water, hydrogen sulfide is present not only in the free, but also in the bound state, in the composition of hydrosulfides (salts). Taking into account the last 1 ton of deep water contains 9-12 g of hydrogen sulfide and its compounds. Note for comparison that in 1 ton of coal there can be from two to 80 kg of sulfur. When such coal is burned, toxic sulfur oxides are formed that poison the environment. Therefore, first of all, it is necessary to solve the problem of extracting sulfur from coal. Nevertheless, its extraction from the Black Sea water may someday be worthwhile. But since the Black Sea coast is an all-Union health resort, plans to create next industrial giants here affect the interests of the whole people and should already be subjected to a thorough environmental assessment and wide public discussion at the level of ideas. Of course, in the current state of production culture, such projects are harmful.

The authors of articles published in the mass press base their assertion about the possibility of an explosion of hydrogen sulfide in the Black Sea on information about a flame that appeared during an earthquake in 1927 above the sea surface, opposite the southwestern part of Crimea. Eyewitness accounts of this phenomenon are given. However, the fact that it has been studied and the results of research have been published in the scientific press is completely ignored. In the Crimea, at that time, an expedition was working under the leadership. Its participants immediately went to sea on a boat, took water samples, examined the bottom and found that there was a release of gaseous hydrocarbons with an admixture of hydrogen sulfide from the earth's interior. In other words, mud volcanoes at the bottom of the sea "worked". Thus, hydrogen sulfide dissolved in deep waters had nothing to do with the flame that broke out over the sea in 1927.

So, the natural hydrogen sulfide zone, most likely, does not threaten anyone in itself. At the same time, this is not dead water, but bacterial saturated with life. ecological system, well balanced in its functions with the aerobic ecosystems of the sea. Its bacterial population provides carbon and nutrient cycling just as well, and perhaps even better, than the deep ecosystems of the seas without hydrogen sulfide.

Everyone knows the role of the soil: if it were not for it, the surface of the Earth will quickly

Biosphere" href="/text/category/biosfera/" rel="bookmark"> the biosphere and life itself would cease. Unfortunately, this natural potential is now poorly realized, since the ecosystems of bays, estuaries, coastal waters, where fish spawned or hibernated, suffered a severe blow. economic activity person. The proposal to destroy the hydrogen sulfide zone, to destroy its ecosystem, looks the same as the proposal to burn Ukrainian black soil to generate electricity.

The hydrogen sulfide zone has a complex vertical structure. Each "floor" is inhabited by its own type of bacteria that perform certain function, including those creating biomass due to the energy of hydrogen sulfide. The destruction of this zone through gross intervention will complete the destruction of the Black Sea ecosystem and ultimately lead to an ecological catastrophe. This consideration is expressed in case someone in the future comes up with the idea of ​​building several nuclear power plants on the Black Sea coast and using them to extract sulfur from the Black Sea hydrogen sulfide.

Pollution entering the sea produces a massive combined effect. Pesticides washed off the fields kill zooplankton and fish, and fertilizers contribute to the mass reproduction of unicellular algae. Due to the death of zooplankton and fish, there is no one to eat algae, they die and rot, absorbing oxygen. This leads to the death of the remaining zooplankton, fish and other aquatic animals. On the shelf of the Black Sea, extensive anoxic "excessive" zones are formed. Sometimes they cover almost the entire northwestern water area. In their oxygen-free environment, hydrogen sulfide is formed, rising to the surface of the sea. This hydrogen sulfide, caused by pollution, has nothing to do with deep. However, the destruction of oxygen by man in the surface layers of the sea also creates conditions for the local rise of deep hydrogen sulfide with vertical jets in the centers of eddy movements. In the opinion, the occurrence of dead zones is associated with the state of vertical water exchange, which, in turn, is due to the general weather situation. Similar situations are repeated with the frequency of solar activity - approximately every 11 years. The last time severe kills in the Black Sea were observed in 1983. Due to the fact that sea pollution has increased dramatically over the past years, severe kills, the formation of hydrogen sulfide and its release to the surface in coastal waters in summer months(July-August) 1991 - 1995, with the next occurrence of a weather situation that contributes to deaths. Their highest probability falls on 1994.

The fight against sea pollution contributes not only to the restoration of its fish stocks, the healing recreational properties of waters, the removal of coastal areas from the state of ecological disaster, but also the prevention of local disasters associated with the formation of hydrogen sulfide in coastal sea waters. We emphasize again; sea ​​pollution has created a very real danger of local releases of hydrogen sulfide

Hydrogen sulfide in the Black Sea will not explode 55

the surface of the sea and into the atmosphere near its shores. Places of exits are determined by the weather situation and are not predictable in advance. Such catastrophes are not directly related to the deep hydrogen sulfide zone, so pumping hydrogen sulfide out of it will not be able to prevent them.

Currently, theoretical studies of the interaction of oxygen and hydrogen sulfide in the waters of the Black Sea are being carried out in order to establish the mechanisms that determine the dynamics of the upper boundary of the hydrogen sulfide zone. The models established the main regularities of the behavior of this boundary depending on the characteristics of vertical exchange and the power of oxygen and hydrogen sulfide sources. An analysis of the processes of formation of the vertical distribution of oxygen and hydrogen sulfide in the Black Sea, carried out by different authors, showed that the main influence on the concentration of oxygen and hydrogen sulfide at different depths is exerted by the dependence of the turbulent diffusion coefficient on depth. A decrease in this coefficient to almost zero in the halocline region causes a decrease in the flow of oxygen into the hydrogen sulfide zone. An increase in the source power by an order of magnitude or even two orders of magnitude leads to a slight increase in its upper limit. These regularities qualitatively agree well with the data of expeditionary observations.

The Academy of Sciences of Ukraine has developed a model of the bacterial ecosystem of the hydrogen sulfide zone of the Black Sea... In some places, the destruction reached 100%... The epicenter of the earthquake was to the sea... Where numerous tectonic faults pass... Then the authorities successfully concealed one of the important facts, fearing publicity... That the earthquake caught fire as a result of the earthquake sea ​​... Eyewitnesses of the tragedy say that the fire extended for tens of kilometers into the sea, and the flame reached a height of up to 500-600 meters ... By coincidence, during the earthquake there was a thunderstorm ... And lightning struck the sea, setting fire to the methane raised by the earthquake to the surface (at mixtures, the electrical conductivity is higher than that of pure sea water, so there is nothing surprising in this) and huge tongues of flame hundreds of meters high burst out of the water, even far from the sea there was a strong smell of rotten eggs and thunder lightning flashed on the sea horizon, leaving burning pillars to heaven (H2S hydrogen sulfide is a flammable and explosive poisonous gas). A real biblical hell.

Speaking of hell.
According to legend, the land of Gaia and the sky of Uranus descended from the sky to the Crimean coast ... They got married and began to live on a beautiful picturesque coast ... They had 6 brothers-titans (Hyperion, Iapetus, Coy, Crius, Kron and Ocean) and 6 daughters-titanides (Mnemosyne , Rhea, Teia, Tethys, Phoebe and Themis). They intermarried and produced a new generation of titans. Then, at the instigation of his mother Gaia, Cron killed his father Uranus and took the place of the supreme God among the titans. His sister Rhea bore him a son, Zeus, who deprived his father of power and cast all the titans of the first generation into Tartarus. Ancient hell. Spaces in the bowels. In the bowels of the Black Sea. If you look at photographs and filming from the bottom of the Black Sea, then we can say that the similarity in the descriptions of medieval hell with what is at the bottom is striking.

Until now, there are disputes about the source of hydrogen sulfide in the depths of the Black Sea. Some consider the reduction of sulfates by sulfate-reducing bacteria during the decomposition of dead organic matter as the main source. Others adhere to the hydrothermal hypothesis, i.e. hydrogen sulfide inflows from cracks in seabed. However, there are no contradictions here, apparently, both reasons are at work. The Black Sea is arranged in such a way that its water exchange with mediterranean sea goes through the shallow Bosphorus rapids. The Black Sea water, desalinated by river runoff, and therefore lighter, goes into the Sea of ​​​​Marmara and further, and towards it, more precisely under it, through the Bosphorus threshold into the depths of the Black Sea, saltier and heavier Mediterranean water rolls down. It turns out something like a giant sump, in the depths of which hydrogen sulfide has gradually accumulated over the past six to seven thousand years. Today, this dead layer makes up over 90 percent of the volume of the sea. In the 20th century, as a result of sea pollution with organic anthropogenic matter, the boundary of the hydrogen sulfide zone rose from the depth by 25–50 meters. Simply put, oxygen from the upper thin layer of the sea does not have time to oxidize the hydrogen sulfide that supports it from below. Ten years ago, this problem was considered one of the priorities in the countries of the Black Sea region.

Hydrogen sulfide is a highly toxic and explosive substance. Poisoning occurs at a concentration of 0.05 to 0.07 mg / m ^ 3. The maximum permissible concentration of hydrogen sulfide in the air of populated areas is 0.008 mg/m^3. According to a number of experts and scientists, a charge equivalent to Hiroshima is enough to detonate hydrogen sulfide in the Black Sea. At the same time, the consequences of the catastrophe will be comparable to those if an asteroid with a mass 2 times less than the mass of the Moon crashed into our Earth. Total hydrogen sulfide in the Black Sea is more than 20 thousand cubic kilometers. Now the problem has been forgotten due to unclear circumstances. True, this problem has not disappeared.

In the early 1950s, in Walvis Bay (Namibia), an upwelling current (upwelling) brought a hydrogen sulfide cloud to the surface. Up to a hundred and fifty miles inland, the smell of hydrogen sulfide was felt, the walls of houses darkened. The smell of rotten eggs already means exceeding the MPC (maximum permissible concentration). In fact, the inhabitants of South West Africa survived then a "soft" gas attack.

In the Black Sea, a gas attack could be much more severe. Suppose someone comes up with the idea of ​​mixing the sea, or at least part of it. Unfortunately, this is technically feasible. In the relatively shallow northwestern part of the sea, somewhere halfway between Sevastopol and Constanta, you can conduct an underwater nuclear explosion relatively low power. On the shore, it will be noticed only by instruments. But after a few hours there, on the shore, they will smell rotten eggs. Under the most favorable set of circumstances, in a day, two-thirds of the sea will turn into a fraternal cemetery of marine organisms. In case of unfavorable conditions, coastal cemeteries will also turn into fraternal cemeteries. settlements where non-marine organisms live. In the previous two phrases, the evaluative adjectives “prosperous” and “unfavorable” can be interchanged, this is from what position to look. If from the position of a person or a group of people who set themselves the goal of paralyzing the peoples of half a dozen countries at once with horror, then it is necessary to change.

However, the greed of the oil and gas companies is worse than any Ben with his Frankincense. Feeling that the end of the era of hydrocarbon raw materials is very close, and is measured in a couple of decades, after which the era of total stagnation will come, and the complete decline of the raw materials economy, businessmen from the state in agony and in desperation threw pipes to hell high pressure for a fuel pipeline right along the bottom of the Black Sea. Greater obscurantism was hard to expect. This is such a one-time weekend construction, which cannot be repaired and prevented in the conditions of explosive hydrogen sulfide. Everyone still remembers the Adler-Novosibirsk passenger train, which burned down completely due to a fuel line failure. You don't have to be an expert chemist or physicist to understand what will happen if a fuel line breaks in the deep layers of hydrogen sulfide in the Black Sea. No comments.

Thousands of businessmen who make resort money on the exploitation of the Black Sea do not suspect that their business will soon end, and the Black Sea coast will turn from a resort zone into an ecological disaster zone dangerous for human habitation. This is especially true of the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, where, according to scientists, a large amount of hydrogen sulfide is most likely to be released into the atmosphere. Twenty years ago, having familiarized themselves with the calculations of scientists on the Black Sea, scientists built a graph of the decrease in the surface layer of water from 1890 to 2020.

The continuation of the graph curve reached 15 meters of layer thickness by 2010. And it was already noted near the Caucasus in 2007. This was even reported on May 30, 2007 on the radio in Sochi. There were reports about mass death dolphins in the Black Sea. And the local people themselves felt a certain dead spirit from the sea. In the area of ​​New Athos, the sea is already different than it was 20-30 years ago, in the afternoon the water is muddy, yellow, dead fish and even dead animals. Many businessmen realized the whole pointlessness of their ideas of participation in investing in the resort business on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus. No one thinks about the fact that a catastrophe is coming, and it is not far off, but very close. Many local residents the feeling that the 2014 Olympics will be held as a parting of an unreasonable person with the Black Sea. Millions of people living on Black Sea coast will be forced to move away from the coast because of the danger of dying as a result of suffocation from hydrogen sulfide and lack of oxygen in the air. And before this total flight of residents from resort towns, mass diseases of residents of the coastal zone with fatal outcomes may begin. The end of the Black Sea resorts will come! This will be a worthy retribution of people for their admiration for the power of the Golden Calf, for their contempt for nature, for their ignorance of environmental safety issues.

Indeed, with a reasonable approach to business, it is possible to turn the threatening troubles to the benefit of the economy and energy.

The water of the Black Sea contains silver and gold. If we extract all the silver in the water of the Black Sea, then this would amount to approximately 540 thousand tons. If all the gold was extracted, it would amount to approximately 270 thousand tons. Methods for extracting gold and silver from the waters of the Black Sea have long been developed. The very first primitive installations were based on ion exchangers, special ion-exchange resins that are capable of attaching ions of substances dissolved in water to themselves. But only Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania extract silver and gold from the waters of the Black Sea in an industrial way, using their own special technologies.

It is known that at a depth below 50 meters, the deep layers of the Black Sea are a colossal storehouse of hydrogen sulfide (about a billion tons). Hydrogen sulfide is a combustible gas that, when burned, gives a corresponding amount of heat. In other words, it is a fuel that can and should be used. During the combustion of hydrogen sulfide according to the reaction: 2H2S + 3O2 = 2H2O + 2SO2 heat is released in an amount of about 268 kcal (with an excess of oxygen). Compare with the amount of heat released during the combustion of hydrogen in oxygen according to the reaction: H2 + 1/2 O2 >H2O(about 68.4 kcal/mol is released).

Since sulfur dioxide (a harmful product) is formed in the first reaction, it is of course better to use hydrogen as a fuel in the composition of hydrogen sulfide, which can be obtained by heating hydrogen sulfide according to the reaction: H2S H2^+S (3)

For the decomposition of hydrogen sulfide, its slight heating is required. Reaction (3) will also make it possible to obtain sulfur from the Black Sea water. If we carry out reactions for the combustion of hydrogen sulfide in atmospheric oxygen: 2H2S + 3O2 = 2H2O + 2SO2, then by burning the resulting sulfur dioxide: SO2+? O2 = SO3, then by the interaction of sulfur trioxide with water: SO3 + H2O = H2SO4, then, as you know, we can get sulfuric acid with the associated production of heat in the appropriate amount. In the production of sulfuric acid, about 194 kcal / mol is released.

Thus, either hydrogen and sulfur or sulfuric acid can be obtained from the water of the Black Sea with the associated production of heat in the appropriate amount. It remains only to extract hydrogen sulfide from the deep layers of the sea. This is confusing at first.

One of the scientific developments proceeds from the fact that in order to lift the deep layers of sea water saturated with hydrogen sulfide, it is not at all necessary to expend energy on pumping it. According to this scientific development, it is proposed to lower a pipe with strong walls to a depth of up to 80 meters and once raise water from a depth through it in order to obtain a gas-water fountain in the pipe due to the difference in the hydrostatic pressure of water in the sea at the level of the lower cut of the channel and the pressure of the gas-water mixture at that the same level inside the channel (recall that every 10 meters the pressure in the sea rises by one atmosphere). This is an analogy with a bottle of champagne. By opening the bottle, we lower the pressure in it, because of which the gas begins to be released in the form of bubbles, and so intensely that the bubbles, as they rise, push the champagne in front of them.

Pumping out the first time a column of water from the pipe - this will just be the opening of the cork. It is reported that a group of scientists from Kherson conducted a ground experiment back in 1990, confirming the operation of such a fountain until hydrogen sulfide in the sea runs out. The full-scale marine experiment also ended successfully. Very case in point When the existence of life is under threat, the planet is saved by a bunch of lone heroes, to whom, in addition, the government and everything around are placed. And where is the whole state potential, with its scientific power, computers, programs, being asked at this time? Skeptics can easily check the data on their fingers by sailing further into the sea and lowering a thick hose with a load on the end into the water. It is not only recommended to smoke at this time, so that it does not work out, as in Chukovsky's poems.

Many probably remember the words of Korney Chukovsky's poem: "And the chanterelles took matches, went to the blue sea, lit the blue sea." But few people know that children's poems by Korney Chukovsky are very carefully studied by astrologers: as in the quatrains of Michel Nostradamus, these poems contain a lot of interesting predictions. Leonid Utyosov helped with geo-referencing of the "place of arson": "The bluest in the world is my Black Sea!" Until recently, this sea was practically the only resting place for residents. whole country- THE USSR. Even the great strategist, Ostap Bender, marked himself there in search of twelve chairs. And he did not pay for the small with his life in Yalta at the time of the famous Crimean earthquake of 1928. Coincidentally, there was a thunderstorm at the time of the earthquake. Lightning struck everywhere. Including at sea. And suddenly something completely unexpected happened: columns of flame began to break out of the water to a height of 500-800 meters. Here are such matches and chanterelles.

Chemists know two types of hydrogen sulfide oxidation reactions: H2S + O = H2O + S; H2S + 4O + to = H2SO4. As a result of the first reaction, free sulfur and water are formed. The second type of H2S oxidation reaction proceeds explosively during the initial thermal shock. As a result, sulfuric acid is formed.

It was the second course of the H2S oxidation reaction that was observed by the inhabitants of Yalta during the earthquake in 1928. Seismic tremors stirred deep-sea hydrogen sulfide to the surface. The electrical conductivity of an aqueous solution of H2S is higher than that of pure sea water. Therefore, electric lightning discharges most often fell into areas of hydrogen sulfide raised from the depth. However, a significant layer of pure surface water extinguished the chain reaction. By the beginning of the 20th century, the upper inhabited water layer in the Black Sea was 200 meters.

Thoughtless technogenic activity has led to a sharp reduction in this layer. Currently, in some places its thickness does not exceed 10-15 meters. During a severe storm, hydrogen sulfide rises to the surface, and vacationers can smell a characteristic smell. At the beginning of the century, the Don River supplied up to 36 km3 to the Azov-Black Sea basin. fresh water. By the beginning of the 1980s, this volume had decreased to 19 km3: the metallurgical industry, irrigation facilities, field irrigation, and city water pipes. Entering the Volgodonsk nuclear power plant took another 4 km3 of water. A similar situation occurred during the years of industrialization in other rivers of the basin. As a result of the thinning of the surface inhabited water layer, there has been a sharp reduction in biological organisms in the Black Sea. So, for example, in the 50s, the number of dolphins reached 8 million individuals. Nowadays, meeting dolphins in the Black Sea has become a rarity. Fans of underwater sports sadly observe only the remnants of miserable vegetation and rare flocks of fish, rapans have disappeared.

Few people think, for example, that all marine souvenirs sold along the Black Sea coast (decorative shells, mollusks, starfish, corals, etc.) have nothing to do with the Black Sea. Traders bring these goods from other seas and oceans. And in the Black Sea, even mussels have almost disappeared. Since ancient times, sturgeon, horse mackerel, mackerel, and bonito, which have been harvested since ancient times, disappeared back in the 1990s as commercial species. (That is, there are no longer scows full of mullet that Kostya brought to Odessa, and in general, no one has adored anyone for a long time).

But this is not the worst! If the Crimean earthquake happened today, then everything would end in a global catastrophe: billions of tons of hydrogen sulfide are covered by the thinnest water film. What is the scenario of a probable cataclysm? As a result of the primary thermal shock, a volumetric explosion of H2S will occur. This can lead to powerful tectonic processes and shifts. lithospheric plates, which in turn will cause devastating earthquakes throughout the globe. But that is not all! As a result of the explosion, billions of tons of concentrated sulfuric acid will be released into the atmosphere.

It will no longer be modern weak acid rain after our plants and factories. Acid showers after the explosion of the Black Sea will burn out all living and non-living things on the planet! Or almost everything.

Nature is wise! The origin of life on the planet is too expensive from an energy-informational point of view. Virtually everyone biological forms on earth - the carbon basis of the structure of the organism, and DNA with left polarization. But there are, as modern microbiologists know, 4 types of bacteria with right-handed DNA polarization.

These bacteria "live" on the planet in conditions completely isolated from other forms. They were found in the sour boiling water of volcanoes! Apparently, it is these bacteria that will give a new impetus to the development of life on Earth if our civilization fails to become intelligent and still ends up with global suicide! Attempts to wise up are still hard to see. Humanity is rushing headlong to what the ancient prophets called the End of the World.