Features and temperature of water in the Azov Sea

What is the water temperature in the Sea of Azov? And in Black? Where should I go? Probably, now all these questions are not topical. It's time for summer holidays and everyone wants to go to the sea for at least a week, take a break from the city bustle, din and constant rush.

The water temperature in the Sea of Azov. General description of the object

If you delve deeper into history, you can quickly find out that in ancient times no Azov Sea existed, and the river Don simply fell into the Black Sea at the site of the present Kerch Strait.

In ancient times, the Greeks called it the Meotian Lake, a little later the Romans renamed the eponymous swamp.

Throughout history, the sea has been renamed repeatedly: Balyk-dengiz, Mayutis, Saksinsky Sea, Salakar, Samakush, Chabak-dengiz. And only in the second half of the 18th century the name Azov Sea was established behind the reservoir, which probably occurred on behalf of the prince Azuma (Azuf), killed on his shores, Polovtsian.

The Sea of Azov can be classified as the inner seas located in the eastern part of Europe. According to experts, only after understanding its nature and characteristics, it is possible to draw the right conclusion about the temperature differences of a given reservoir.

First of all, it should be noted that the Sea of Azov is considered to be the smallest in the world, its depth does not exceed fourteen meters, while the average, fluctuating within the limits of marks of 6.8-8 meters, is 7.4 m.

The water temperature in the Sea of Azov. What is it caused by?

From the point of view of scientists, this object is characterized by both high temporal and spatial variability of the basic thermal conditions. This feature can be explained by the presence of several factors:

• Geographical position, because The sea is located just on the border of two types of seas: freezing and non-freezing;
• Significant shallow water;
• Sufficient ruggedness of the coast;
• Low salinity.

The main source of heat, which is abundantly supplied to the sea surface, is solar radiation. If to count as a whole, Azov for a year is capable to absorb 4000 MJ / m2 of energy of a heavenly luminary. Of this amount, 2200 MJ / m2 is needed for evaporation, 1500 MJ / m2 is used for effective radiation and only 300 MJ / m2 goes to contact heat exchange with the environment.

A significant role is played also by water exchange with the Black Sea next to it, as well as by the flow of two full-flowing rivers, the Kuban and the Don. Although their influence is different. For example, the Kuban and the Black Sea make the waters of Azov warmer, but the Don, on the contrary, significantly cool.

Not so long ago, scientists conducted a random analysis of data in various squares of the reservoir. As a result, it was found out that the water temperature on the Azov Sea can be characterized also from the point of view of the vertical thermal structure. The most stable indicators were observed from May to July, when the water, beginning with shallow water, gradually warmed up, reaching its maximum value. Further, a process of stable cooling is observed, and finally, in October, stratification becomes unstable at all.

The water temperature in the Azov Sea in the warm and cold season

Monthly temperature values of water are very variable, in contrast to the average annual, which, according to experts, are fairly stable. The temperature of the Azov Sea water is controlled by two hydrometeorological stations located in Berdyansk and Mysov. The installed modern instruments show that the standard monthly deviations range from 0.7 to 2.2 ° C.

Their largest coefficients fall in April and October, that is, precisely at the time when the most intense seasonal temperature changes are observed.

The smallest can be noted in the summer and early in the autumn. At this time, the rate of seasonal changes in water temperature is understated. The same situation is observed in January-February, but only in Berdyansk, tk. Here the ice cover significantly stabilizes the temperature.

It should be noted that the highest temperature values of water are in the range of 29.3-32.8 ° C. The lowest ones are from about -2.4 ° C in Genichesk to about -0.5 ° C in Taganrog.