Caspian Sea

14 Nov 2024 12:06:05 pm

Tags : Caspian Sea

Topic: Physical Geography

Why in the news?

The Caspian Sea has been shrinking since the mid-1990s, but the rate at which it\'s disappearing has sped up since 2005.

Source: The Hindu

About Caspian Sea:

It is the world’s largest inland body of water, covering a total surface area of about 386,400 sq.km.
It is located between Asia and Europe.
It lies to the east of the Caucasus Mountains and to the west of the vast steppe of Central Asia.
It is bordered by:
- Russia and Azerbaijan on the west
- Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan on the north and east
- Iran on the south.
It is named after the Kaspi, ancient peoples who once lived on its western shores.
It is a lake and not a sea, as it is an enclosed water body without any direct outlet to the ocean.
- About 5.5 million years ago, it was part of the ancient Paratethys Sea (an ancient sea in the Tethys Ocean) and got landlocked as a result of tectonic uplift and sea-level fall.
- Hence, its seafloor is composed of oceanic basalt and not continental granite.
Its composition of the water varies from almost fresh in the northern parts of the lake to saltier southwards.
Its mean salinity is about one-third that of the oceans.
Three major rivers, Volga, Ural and Tarek, empty into the Caspian from the north.
Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, is the largest city on the Caspian. Another important city along the Caspian is Iran’s Nowshahr.
It is known for its abundance of energy resources (oil and natural gas reserves in offshore fields and onshore on the coast of the sea).