The surface layer is black sea ​​water- to a depth of about 100 meters - mainly of river origin. At the same time, more salty (heavier than fresh) water from the Sea of ​​Marmara enters the depths of the sea - it flows along the bottom of the Bosphorus Strait (lower Bosphorus current) and sinks deeper. Therefore, the salinity of the bottom layers is higher.

Two masses of surface water are formed with a lower salt content - lighter and closer in temperature to air (in summer it is warmer than deep waters, and colder in winter), and deep - more salty and heavy, with a constant temperature.

The change in the properties of water with depth is not smooth. From the surface up to 50-100 meters salinity changes rapidly, and to the bottom it increases evenly. The density of water also changes with salinity.

Hydrogen sulfide is one of the most mysterious properties in Black Sea. At a depth of about 150 to 200 meters - there is no oxygen in the Black Sea water - neither animals nor plants can live there. At depths from 200 meters to the very bottom of the Black Sea, only bacteria that emit hydrogen sulfide live.

The sea surface temperature is always determined by the air temperature. And the temperature of the deep waters of the Black Sea - all year round+7+8 degrees Celsius.

A layer of water from 50 to 100 meters is called a boundary layer - this is the boundary between two masses of Black Sea water, the boundary that prevents mixing is always colder than deep waters, since, cooling down to + 5 + 6 degrees Celsius in winter, it does not have time to warm up over the summer.

Stratification - the stratification of Black Sea water by salinity, density and temperature - prevents the vertical mixing of the sea and the enrichment of the depths with oxygen.

The farther from the sea surface, the less oxygen remains in the water. In the aphotic zone, the sea (where it does not penetrate sunlight), under a cold intermediate layer - below a 100-meter depth, oxygen is no longer formed, only consumed.

There is enough oxygen for the life of animals and plants only in the upper 150 meters Black Sea. Its concentration decreases with depth, the bulk of life in the sea is concentrated above 100 meters deep.

Below 200 meters there is no oxygen, only anaerobic bacteria live there, decomposing the remains of the living, sinking from the upper layer of the sea.

90% water mass Black Sea- are almost lifeless, but in any other sea or ocean, all life is concentrated in the upper, 100-200-meter layer of water.
In summer, especially near the coast, a changeable summer thermocline is formed - the boundary between the sun-warmed surface water, in which people bathe, and cold deep water. The thermocline drops as the water warms up in summer, sometimes reaching depths of more than 40 meters in August.
Summer thermocline is a thin layer of water, from several centimeters to several meters thick; often - it is clearly visible under water, and very well felt by divers - diving a few meters in the direction of the bottom, you can get from 20-degree to 12-degree water. The thermocline is easily destroyed by a storm or a strong offshore wind.

The bottom relief of the Black Sea

Black Sea- deep, the central part of its bottom is occupied by a silty abyssal (deep) plain lying at a depth of two kilometers, and the slopes of the Black Sea basin are steep. Max Depth Black Sea- 2210 m.

Shelf Black Sea- a gentle underwater slope, the continuation of the coast under water to a depth of 100-150m - near the mountainous coasts (Caucasus, Crimea, Anatolia) - no more than a few kilometers from the coastline. Further - a very steep (20-30 degrees) continental slope follows - a cliff to depths of more than 1000 meters. The exception is the shallow Northwestern part Black Sea- it all belongs to the shelf zone, and, in fact, is not part of the Black Sea basin.

Such a bottom topography contributes little to the intensive exchange of water between the depths of the sea and its surface, since the surface of the sea turns out to be small relative to its volume. The smaller the surface of the sea for a given volume, the less oxygen per unit volume of the sea enters the sea from the air and is created by algae in the illuminated water layer. Therefore - and the shape of the cavity Black Sea does not favor the enrichment of its depths with oxygen.

Bottom sediments Black Sea: no matter what the shores and beaches are - sandy, pebbly, or rocky - starting from a depth of 25-50 meters, at the bottom Black Sea- sand or gravel. With increasing depth, the surface is covered by fragments of mussel valves, and even deeper - by the modiolus Modiolus phaseolinus, which form the phaseolin silt of the shelf. The thickness of the accumulated sediments on the abyssal plain is from 20 to 80 centimeters in different areas bottom.

In 1890, a Russian oceanographic expedition proved that in the depths of the Black Sea there is a lot of dissolved hydrogen sulfide, a poisonous gas with the smell of rotten eggs. It soon became clear that hydrogen sulfide is present in the entire deep water area of ​​the Black Sea, approaching the surface by about 100 m in the center of the sea and up to 300 m off the coast. Sometimes the upper boundary of the hydrogen sulfide “zone” briefly rises and falls due to ascending and descending movements of water, caused, for example, by wind.

Oxygen reacts rather quickly with hydrogen sulfide, eventually oxidizing it to sulfates. Therefore, dissolved oxygen in the waters of the Black Sea is only in the surface layer. Below, in the hydrogen sulfide zone, only anaerobic bacteria and some species of marine worms live.

Hydrogen sulfide in sea water unique property Black Sea. Quite extensive zones contaminated with this gas are in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans, sometimes appear in the Caspian and other seas and even in freshwater lakes.

Today, three main sources of hydrogen sulfide pollution of water bodies are known. The first recovery of sulfates by sulfate-reducing bacteria during the decomposition of dead organic matter. Secondly, hydrogen sulfide is simply released during the decay of sulfur-containing organic residues. And finally, thirdly, it can come from the depths earth's crust with hydrothermal waters and through seabed crevices. *

Whether hydrogen sulfide will accumulate in water or not depends on the rate of its oxidation by the oxygen contained here and on the intensity microbiological processes. The influx of oxygen into the hydrogen sulfide zone is due to the rate of exchange between the lower, heavier, and upper layers of water. The more sharply the density changes with depth, the less oxygen inflow.

Fresh river water flows into the Black Sea and - through the Bosphorus - the heavier salty water of the Mediterranean Sea. As a result, a sharp jump in density occurs in the thickness of the Black Sea waters - a halocline. It does not stand still - under the influence of currents it fluctuates, then rising in some places, then falling in others. As a rule, the hydrogen sulfide zone begins immediately below the halocline, which prevents the access of oxygen from the upper layers. Because of this, much less hydrogen sulfide is consumed in the Black Sea than is generated. Over the past 6-7 thousand years, a hydrogen sulfide stratum has formed here, occupying 90 ° of the volume of the sea.

Due to fluctuations in the level of the World Ocean, communication with mediterranean sea through the Bosphorus it disappeared, then reappeared. When the Bosphorus closed, the Black Sea desalinated, hydrogen sulfide disappeared in it. With the next breakthrough of salty Mediterranean waters, they accumulated at the bottom of the Black Sea basin, and the hydrogen sulfide zone grew.

Sometimes hydrogen sulfide is kept not only at depth, but also off the coast. And here, at depths of about 40 m, deadly, oxygen-free water masses can appear, floating to the surface, where they are quickly saturated with oxygen, hydrogen sulfide is oxidized in them and disappears.

Behind upper bound The hydrogen sulfide zone is considered to be the depth where the gas concentration is close to the accuracy of its analytical measurement - about 0.1 ml / l. Below, oxygen is adjacent to hydrogen sulfide within the so-called coexistence layer. Over the past forty years, it has risen from the depths by about 40-50 m, and the limits of fluctuations in its thickness have increased by 5-6 times.

The upper limit of hydrogen sulfide can rise under the influence of two circumstances - either vertical movements of water masses, or an increase in total hydrogen sulfide in the deep layers. However, both causes can operate at the same time.

Hydrogen sulfide splashes into the upper, oxygen-enriched waters are fraught with mass death sea ​​inhabitants. So, in the early 1950s in Walvis Bay ( Atlantic coast Southwest Africa), the current carried a hydrogen sulfide “cloud” from the depths to the surface. On the coast, up to forty miles inland, the smell of hydrogen sulfide was felt, the walls of houses darkened. Hydrogen sulfide is also poisonous to people, the sensation of its smell already means exceeding the MPC - the maximum permissible concentration.

In the Black Sea, there are also ascending currents (upwellings) near the Crimean and Caucasian coasts. And they can also carry poisoned hydrogen sulfide waters from the depths, however, with a rather rare combination of meteorological and oceanological factors (as, for example, when tornadoes occur on land). Such destructive surges cannot be predicted only on the basis of the average indicators of the state of the sea, which are now accepted. We need special and constant monitoring of the hydrogen sulfide zone.

Studies of the Black Sea in the largest volume, of course, are carried out by oceanological institutions located on its coast: the Marine Hydrophysical Institute and the Institute of Biology southern seas(Sevastopol) with its Odessa branch - as part of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, the Sevastopol branch of the State Oceanographic Institute, the Azov-Chernomorsky branch of the All-Russian Research Institute of Marine fisheries and Oceanography (Kerch), Southern Branch of the Institute of Oceanology of the USSR Academy of Sciences (Gelendzhik).

According to these institutions, over the past decade and a half, the environmental situation in the Black Sea has seriously deteriorated. Not only in coastal areas, but also in open waters sea, an excess of organic matter was found. There have been changes in the structure of biological communities - predatory fish have practically disappeared, the number of dolphins has decreased, the aurelia jellyfish and the nightweed algae have unusually multiplied, the near-bottom, previously extensive field of phyllophora algae disappears ... In the northwestern shallow zone of the sea, extensive dead zones appear annually in summer. That is, the expansion of hydrogen sulfide into ever higher layers is taking place against the backdrop of a deterioration in the overall environmental situation.

It is clear that the hydrogen sulfide balance of the Black Sea is under strong pressure human activity, but to what extent the negative development of the hydrogen sulfide zone is caused by natural, and to what extent by anthropogenic factors is still unknown. In order to understand the current situation and at least preliminary assess it, in 1985-86. Under the auspices of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, an interdepartmental expedition worked on the Black Sea, the main purpose of which was to forecast the evolution of the hydrogen sulfide zone.

Theoretical computer modeling and field studies point to the reduction of sulfates by microorganisms as the main source of replenishment of hydrogen sulfide in the Black Sea. The centers of microbiological sulfate reduction are confined to the places where dead organic matter enters from coastal waters.

There were no excessively high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide in the bottom samples. This means that the contribution of deep geological sources to the content of H2S is very modest. Once again, it was confirmed that the main reasons for the existence of the hydrogen sulfide zone in the Black Sea are the stable vertical stratification of waters and the large supply of biogenic substances by rivers.

On the one hand, the regulation of river flow reduces the volume of fresh water entering the upper layer of the sea, improving vertical water exchange. On the other hand, industrial, domestic and agricultural effluents increase the amount of dead organic matter and, accordingly, hydrogen sulfide. In a word, main reason expansion of the hydrogen sulfide zone - eutrophication of the sea, an increase in the content of organic substances in it. And since the lion's share of them is formed in a relatively narrow coastal zone, it is its ecosystem that determines the content of hydrogen sulfide in the depths of the Black Sea.

Every year, about the same amount of pollutants enters the oxygen zone of the sea as hydrogen sulfide is oxidized here by atmospheric oxygen (both values ​​in terms of H2S are about 10 t/year). A lot of industrial, domestic, drainage runoff from irrigation fields enters the northwestern shallow part of the sea. Due to the increase in the consumption of the Danube and Dniester waters for irrigation and further urbanization of the coast, the flow of pollutants will increase even more.

It can be said that virtually the entire Black Sea is “shallow” - the oxygen zone on average stays at a depth of about 160 m. If in real shallow seas there is a solid bottom, then in the Black Sea instead of it there is a shaky border of the hydrogen sulfide zone, greedily absorbing oxygen. That is why our main resort sea is so sensitive to pollution.

http://school316.spb.ru/chemistry/amp/page4.html

Usually scientists, explaining the presence of a huge mass of hydrogen sulfide in the Black Sea (BS), explain this by the uniqueness of this reservoir. The following arguments are given:


  1. The Black Sea is a closed basin, it is connected to the world ocean by narrow straits.

  2. Large rivers are dumped in the World Cup a large number of organics.

  3. The FM has great depth and a sharp drop from continental shelf to depth.

  4. The high salinity of the deep layers of the Black Sea does not allow oxygen to penetrate down and this contributes to the formation and accumulation of hydrogen sulfide.

  5. Due to the unique hydrology of the Black Sea, there is no mixing of layers in it.

Fig 1. Section of the Black Sea.

Looking at this map, we quickly see that the characteristics of the World Cup are not unique.


Rice. 2 Reliefs of the seas.
The Mediterranean Sea (SM) also has a closed character and is connected to the ocean by a relatively narrow Gibraltar. At the same time, the maximum depth of the SM is 5121 m, which significantly exceeds the depth of the SM (2210 m). The average depths of both seas are approximately same value- 1240 and 1541 m. At the same time, the map shows that the depth differences in the SM are almost greater than in the World Cup.
Regarding salinity, the salinity of the SM is much higher than the salinity of the FM (36-39.5 ‰ versus 15-18 ‰), which will undoubtedly hinder the penetration of oxygen to a greater extent. At the same time, the contribution of organic matter by the rivers of the Mediterranean basin is undoubtedly greater, not even because of the fact that it flows into it. more rivers, but because on the shores of this basin there are industrial the developed countries EU. They are densely populated, carry out intensive agricultural work, and big cities dumping huge amounts of waste. At the same time, in the EU countries there was no such drop in all economic indicators, as in the countries former USSR and Eastern Europe.
Despite all this, hydrogen sulfide reserves are not formed in the SM.
But let's take the Caspian Sea (KM). It is generally a salt lake.


Fig.3 Caspian Sea.

The depth of the KM is quite decent - 1025 m. At the same time, we observe a significant difference in depths, almost a cliff in the confluence of the Kura River. Yes, and in the middle part of the pool, too. There is no doubt about organics - in drains mighty Volga, Kura and Ural are added pollution from oil production. But there are no deep layers of hydrogen sulfide in the CM! Although the salinity in the southern part of the sea reaches 28 ‰.
There remains one and the last argument of the uniqueness of the FM - the absence of mixing layers. Why do they mix in other seas, but not in the Black Sea? It should be noted that the very method of determining the parameters of sea water, deep currents and salinity is very complicated. The fact is that such work requires significant costs. The operation of oceanographic vessels is fabulously expensive. Where better to spend money on the construction of cruise ships, a kind of floating paradises, then to sink and burn them in order to receive insurance.


Rice. 4 Oceanographic vessels.

In addition, the volume of such studies is extremely large. With great difficulty, we had some idea only about the surface of the oceans and seas, and if we also take their thickness .... this is a colossal amount of information. Often even submarines die due to lack of such knowledge. They fall into the deeper layers with a lower density, as if breaking through the ice of a denser layer. How these layers are formed, where they are located and why - all this is still a mystery to oceanology.
Therefore, it is premature to state with certainty that there is no vertical mixing of layers in the FM for such and such a reason. But it is missing, and this is a fact.
However, hydrogen sulfide is successfully formed in other seas and basins. An accelerated formation of hydrogen sulfide has been noticed, for example, in the Norwegian fjords. Driving by car to Odessa past the estuaries, we are forced to plug our noses and close the windows of the car - it stinks unbearably of hydrogen sulfide. This gas is also formed in other seas and even in lakes.
Not far from the resort of Playa del Carmen is a filled fresh water Cave of Cenote Angelita. Lost in the impenetrable jungle of Mexico, the cave is fraught with many surprises, one of which is an amazing underwater lake! At the bottom of this lake there is also a hydrogen sulfide layer.


Rice. 5 An underwater lake in Mexico.

From this we can conclude that the ChM is absolutely not a unique basin in this regard, and the presence of 3.1 billion tons of hydrogen sulfide in it is due to other reasons.
Here I would like to mention one more strange event. Recently, the American Landstat satellite took another picture Dead Sea(MM), which shocked scientists. In just one orbital revolution, the color of this reservoir changed to completely black. Oceanologists came to the conclusion that the sea instantly "turned over". The surface layers went down, and those saturated with hydrogen sulfide surfaced.


Rice. 6 Dead Sea.

This can happen when a critical density gradient is reached and is quite possible with our FM. Water saturated with hydrogen sulfide is black in color. Here is an explanation for you - why the World Cup is called black. But before it was called Russian, the Greeks called it hospitable. Only then did it suddenly turn black. Didn't the “reversal” of the layers happen in ancient times?
It is worth noting, and scientists always point to this, that the bottom of the ChM does not have a solid granite slab. That is, the ChM lies directly on the basalts of the mantle and is a remnant of the ancient ocean. The true depth of the ChM in this case reaches 16 km., The depression is filled with sediments.
A simple calculation shows that the volume of sedimentary substances is:
The area of ​​the deep-water part is 211,000 sq. km. * the thickness of the sedimentary layer is 16 km. = 3 million 376 thousand cubic meters. km.
Which exceeds the volume of the entire World Cup by more than 6 times.
At the same time, studies by the expedition of J. Murray in 1910, part of the Meteor expedition, studies on the cable steamer Lord Kelvin, the expedition of W. Snell and many others showed that the layer of sedimentary substances on the bottom of the oceans is 23-35 cm. That is, precipitation accumulate very slowly and slowly.
How could a layer of sediments 16 km thick accumulate in the CM?
At the same time, it should be noted that even at the beginning of the 20th century, hydrogen sulfide was located much deeper. In 1891, Professor A. Lebedintsev raised the first water sample from the depths of the Black Sea. The test showed that the water below 183 meters is saturated with hydrogen sulfide. In our time, poisonous and explosive gas is located at depths of 18 m, and sometimes even breaks to the surface, as happened during the Crimean earthquake of 1927. Then a whole flotilla of fishermen burned down in a flame on the surface of the sea.


Rice. 7 World Cup.
This means that the process of formation of hydrogen sulfide continues and goes quite quickly. And this is not due to an increase in the discharge of organic substances into the FM - it even decreased. This is the result of rotting without access to oxygen of the huge amount of sediment that ended up in the ChM is unknown, as in the recent past.
We know that the breakthrough of the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles occurred in the historical period, this is noted in the annals. It is also known that on ancient maps the World Cup is depicted as a rounded basin, without peninsulas, and the Crimea as a flat coast.

There is no need to make idiots out of our ancestors, as if they, drawing the Crimea, did not see that this is a peninsula that protrudes 300 km into the sea. Just on old maps the World Cup is depicted as it was. And it was a lake in the deep part of the modern World Cup. I already wrote (http://alexandrafl.livejournal.com/5078.html) that, presumably, as a result of a huge tsunami, and even more likely - hyper-precipitation, super-powerful rains, all biomass from the Central Russian Upland, the southern part of Ukraine, was washed away into Black Sea basin. As a result, we have the absence of thick layers of fertile soils in the Non-Chernozem region, wide floodplains of the rivers that do not correspond to their geological history, accumulations of chernozem in places where it was reclaimed, the absence of trees in steppe zone Ukraine, a thick layer of sediments in the steppe part of the Crimea.
At the bottom of the World Cup lie the remains of our ancient civilization. There is vegetation, soil, dead animals and people, flooded cities and riverbeds. Once wooded, full of living creatures, the fertile south of Ukraine has turned into a dry steppe. This happened not so long ago, as scientists would like to inspire us. You can still find references to this fertile region in historical documents. Our ancestors tried to protect themselves from the elements, they built along major rivers colossal hydraulic structures - Zmiyevy Valy, which are now trying to pass off as defensive structures against small nomads who can only gather in a gang, but not in an army.


Rice. 8 Serpent shafts.

The Crimean Isthmus was also dug up, a shaft was made separating the Kerch Peninsula. All for protection from mighty mudflows and floods.
The remnants of our civilization continue to "gas" at the bottom of the World Cup. This is precisely the uniqueness that is inherent in the former Russian, and now the Black Sea.


  • All rights reserved Alexandra Lorenz

» — sea ​​of ​​hydrogen sulfide in the Black Sea. By the way, this phenomenon makes the Black Sea double by the sea, one inside the other. So to say, nested seas 🙂 Such nested seas are rare in nature. And the enclosed sea of ​​hydrogen sulfide is not found at all, except in the Black Sea.

The sea of ​​hydrogen sulfide in the Black Sea lies for a reason and does not touch anyone. If that were the case, then it would be quite possible that no one would ever know about it. But the sea of ​​hydrogen sulfide periodically manifests itself - and not everyone likes this manifestation. So, imagine a picture - you are relaxing in a resort. And you decide to get up early in the morning, look at the sea dawn. You dress up, go to the sea - and see something unimaginable! The entire coast is covered with fish, jellyfish, some kind of generally unseen animals. It's scary to approach. Corpses, corpses... And the smell of decay in the air.

But if you sit by the shore, look at this miracle, you will notice that Marine life on the shore occasionally move, twitch. And if you look even longer, you can see that they are gradually shifting back to the sea. And by eight or nine o'clock, when most of the vacationers go to the sea, the coast is already empty and no longer resembles a worldwide catastrophe.

What happened? There was a rather rare, but usual thing for the Black Sea - a small release of hydrogen sulfide. The smell of which you may have smelled.

Due to the fact that the upper layer of the Black Sea water is weakly mixed with the lower one, oxygen rarely reaches the sea bottom. And where there is no oxygen, decay begins there. One of the results of decay is the release hydrogen sulfide.

Well, since the upper, fresher layer of water rarely mixes with the lower, more salty one, this poisonous gas accumulates at the bottom of the Black Sea in huge quantities. And occasionally, when its amount exceeds conceivable limits, it comes out in the form of huge bubbles.

As the bubble passes through the upper, inhabited layer of the Black Sea, it poisons fish, jellyfish and other living creatures. And in an unconscious state they are taken ashore by the sea. Well, then, when they leave on land, the fish and shrimps run back to the sea.

Measurements showed that in the center of the Black Sea, the hydrogen sulfide zone approaches the surface by about 50 meters, closer to the coast, the depth from which the hydrogen sulfide sea begins increases to 300 meters. As we have already said, in this sense the Black Sea is unique, it the only sea in the world without a hard bottom.

Curious readers may ask: "Why does the gas, which is lighter than water, not immediately float up?" But this is who just belongs to the section "". Scientists believe that the pressure of the upper layers of water is to blame - 200 meters of water is no joke. And if at least part of this water disappeared, the Black Sea would boil from the hydrogen sulfide released in the form of gas.

Why do hydrogen sulfide emissions occur from the depths? For two reasons - an excessive increase in the content of this poison and underwater earthquakes. A small displacement of the earth's crust is enough, and the shock wave raises a huge gas bubble from the bottom of the sea. So, during the Crimean earthquake of 1927 in Yalta, residents watched the sea burn - hydrogen sulfide, which rose from below, interacted with the air and flared up.

Although, according to other sources, it was not hydrogen sulfide, but methane. And the concentration of hydrogen sulfide in water is so low that it cannot form gas bubbles, boil and poison animals. So it seems that there are no hydrogen sulfide bubbles ...

But it is up to scientists to determine what will happen if hydrogen sulfide decides to rise to the surface. We just need to know that there is not a single recorded case when hydrogen sulfide from the bottom of the Black Sea led to the death of people. Or even simple poisoning.

By the way, there is another question that has not yet been solved: “Why is it suddenly that there is a sea of ​​hydrogen sulfide in the Black Sea, but there is no sea of ​​hydrogen sulfide in other seas and oceans?” In fact, there are still 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.

Although in this case another logical question arises: “Where in the Black Sea so many organic matter? To which there is no answer yet. But there is an interesting assumption: for example, one of the hypotheses for the emergence of the Black Sea says that 7500 years ago it was deepest freshwater lake on earth, the level was lower than the modern one by more than a hundred meters. At the end ice age The level of the oceans rose and the Isthmus of the Bosphorus was broken. A total of 100 thousand km² were flooded (the most fertile lands, already cultivated people). The flooding of these vast lands may have become the prototype of the myth of the Flood. The emergence of the Black Sea, according to this hypothesis, was supposedly accompanied by the mass death of the entire freshwater living world of the lake (the same organics), the decomposition product of which - hydrogen sulfide - reaches high concentrations at the bottom of the sea

Other scientists adhere to the hydrothermal hypothesis, that is, the supply of hydrogen sulfide from cracks in seabed as a result of volcanic activity. But even this version of the development of events does not explain why only the Black Sea was awarded such an honor - to be a double sea.

Partially, this distribution can be explained by the fact that the Black Sea is arranged in such a way that its water exchange with the Mediterranean Sea goes through the shallow Bosporus Threshold. The Black Sea water, desalinated by river runoff, and therefore lighter, goes into the Sea of ​​​​Marmara and further, and towards it, or rather 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.

Thus, the average concentration of hydrogen sulfide in the Black Sea is 5.73 mg/l at a depth of 1240 m, and the approximate amount of hydrogen sulfide in the Black Sea is 3.1 billion tons. Some Research recent years allow us to speak of the Black Sea as a giant reservoir of not only hydrogen sulfide, but also methane, most likely also released during the activity of microorganisms, as well as from the bottom of the sea

By the way, this hydrogen sulfide can not only harm or threaten. It can significantly help by improving the energy sector of the Black Sea countries. So, since hydrogen sulfide is a combustible gas, it can be burned - and due to this, energy can be obtained. Perhaps, economically, this is not very justified (although when there are thousands of tons of free fuel ...), but at the same time with an environmental result, this procedure could well help Ukraine with its lack of gas.

In order to clarify, one more detail needs to be clarified: when reading the article, it may seem that at the depth of the Black Sea there is not a solution of hydrogen sulfide in water, but a huge bubble of pure hydrogen sulfide gas, which, for unknown reasons, cannot float to the surface on its own and can explode ... In fact, things are simple there hydrosulphuric acid solution, i.e. there just mineral water. The same as in many hydrogen sulfide mineral springs that hit the surface and at the same time do not explode anything around.

So, as you can see, there are many opinions on this matter.

But, nevertheless, the sea of ​​hydrogen sulfide in the Black Sea is a mystery that has not yet been solved. But it shows up from time to time.

Based on materials http://voda.blox.ua/2008/07/Zagadka-Chernogo-morya.html

In September 1927, residents of the Crimea watched the Black Sea burn in literally words. "Like a fire was burning, bright light which passed through a smokescreen,” wrote hydrologist P. Dvoichenko. Columns of flame, according to eyewitnesses, rose to a height of 500-800 meters. At the same time, the smell of rotten eggs was felt on the coast. This is exactly what hydrogen sulfide smells like, which is found in abundance in the Black Sea.

In those days, an earthquake occurred near Yalta. Its hearth was located under the seabed, and a thunderstorm raged in the sky. According to experts, as a result of seismic tremors, hydrogen sulfide escaped from the bottom and caught fire from a lightning bolt.

big sump

Gennady Bugrin lived in the USA for 6 years, worked as a foreman on the construction of roads - perfectly smooth autobahns, which are made almost using jewelry technologies. In Russia, as you know, roads are one of the two main troubles. Returning to his homeland, Bugrin set about building a high-quality highway using ... Black Sea hydrogen sulfide: “Suggestions on how this gas can be used in national economy have sounded before. In the USSR there was even a scientific Government program on this occasion. The inventor Lev Yutkin, who is considered the “Russian Tesla”, proposed a project in 1979: to raise the bottom layers of the Black Sea water and subject it to electro-hydraulic shocks, releasing hydrogen sulfide. Burn the resulting gas. Burning, a kilogram of hydrogen sulfide gives about 4 thousand kcal. Calculations show that such a technology would satisfy the needs of the entire country for electricity.”

The project of Bugrin himself is not limited. From the Black Sea water, he argues, you can get a whole range of useful products. First, it is hydrogen - an environmentally friendly fuel, the demand for which is growing. The Institute for Hydrogen Economics has already expressed its interest in buying it. Nizhny Novgorod region. Secondly, the rare earth elements of the periodic table. Third, gold and silver.

If you extract all the silver from the Black Sea, its weight will be 540 thousand tons. Gold - 270 thousand tons, - says Bugrin. - And when the installation is brought to its design capacity, it will be able to produce up to a ton of heavy water every day. There are enough people who want to buy it both in Russia and abroad. Heavy water is used in any nuclear reactor: it slows down the reaction and serves as a coolant.

And yet, the main thing that Gennady Bugrin needs from the Black Sea water is sulfur. It is used in Europe and North America as an astringent. Thanks to sulfur, bitumen costs are reduced by 25-35%, and the strength of the coating and its heat resistance increase. In our weather conditions this is especially important: the addition of sulfur to the roadway will significantly increase its service life.

Thus, due to hydrogen sulfide from the Black Sea in any direction. First of all, of course, to Moscow, - continues the engineer. - We will receive important ingredients for construction from water (including a derivative for concrete), electricity and, along the way, clean the sea, preventing a natural disaster. Economic effect in the first year should amount to 625 million dollars.

The details of the technology have not yet been disclosed. Victor Klimenko, chemist, candidate of technical sciences, it is only admitted that this is a plasma torch method: “A special device will be installed on the platform in the sea - a plasma torch. With the help of electricity, hydrogen sulfide molecules will be "cut" in it into two elements - sulfur and hydrogen. By the way, such pure sulfur can be used in medicine and various industries, and not only in road construction.”

Klimenko is one of Gennady Bugrin's like-minded people, whom he has already recruited a whole team. There is an agreement with two enterprises where they are ready to take on the first plasma torch, and in Krasnodar Territory promise to allocate land for production. It remains to find investors - and this is more difficult. But he does not give up, knocks on the thresholds of bureaucratic offices. And, like all Russian Kulibins, he hopes that he will be heard "at the very top."