What does hydrogen sulfide look like in the Black Sea. Deep secrets of the Black Sea. An explosion of hydrogen sulfide is possible in the depths of the Black Sea. The lad warned. How the Black Sea burned

Black Sea. It would seem so familiar and absolutely safe. Nothing like this. In its waters, not only poisonous Marine life, but there is a more serious threat - suffocating poisonous fumes.

Dead zone

Not everyone knows that 90% of the Black Sea waters are saturated with hydrogen sulfide. This discovery was made back in 1890 by the Russian geologist Nikolai Andrusov. In some places hydrogen sulfide layer is located at a distance of 50 meters from the surface of the sea, and it constantly continues to strive upward. Periodically, a liquid lens of "dead" water approaches very close to the surface layers, which has a detrimental effect on the inhabitants of the underwater world.

However, there is still life in the hydrogen sulfide cloud, although in the absence of oxygen, only some species can exist here. sea worms and anaerobic bacteria involved in the decomposition of the remains of living organisms.

Hydrogen sulfide in water is not a unique phenomenon; it is also found in other seas and oceans. But given that the Black Sea is actually isolated from the World Ocean by the shallow Bosphorus and there is practically no normal water exchange, the concentration of hydrogen sulfide here is off scale.

Sometimes, as a result of storms, hydrogen sulfide vapors break out, and then there is a specific smell in the gas outlet zone. rotten eggs. This is extremely dangerous. If a large amount of hydrogen sulfide comes into contact with air, an explosion can occur. According to experts, the explosion of all hydrogen sulfide contained in the Black Sea can be compared with the consequences of the fall of an asteroid weighing half the mass of the moon.

But something like that already happened. Late at night on September 12, 1927, the Crimean peninsula experienced the full power of an 8-magnitude earthquake. The epicenter lay 25 kilometers south of Yalta, giant landslides were recorded, almost the entire crop died, many buildings were destroyed.

As eyewitnesses testified, earth's surface accompanied by a disgusting stench and flashes, soaring from the surface of the sea to the sky. Pillars of fire, shrouded in smoke, reached several hundred meters in height. So the Black Sea burned. Most scientists have no doubt that hydrogen sulfide was to blame.

Experts are seriously puzzled by the problem of hydrogen sulfide accumulating in the surface layers of the Black Sea. Any tectonic shift can lead to the release of a huge amount of toxic substances, and then the consequences can be much more serious than during the Crimean earthquake.

Oceanologist Alexander Gorodnitsky is convinced that such a threat is quite real: “The Black Sea is seismically active region, there are earthquakes that provoke emissions of gas hydrates - compressed under high pressure accumulations of methane and other combustible gases.

In an unfavorable scenario, tons of concentrated sulfuric acid will enter the atmosphere: thousands of people will die from suffocation, millions will have to move away from the coast, but even there they will be overtaken by hydrogen sulfide, spilling acid rain.

A few years ago, a hydrogen sulfide release was recorded at the Koblevo resort in the Nikolaev region (Ukraine). At that time, more than 100 tons of dead fish turned out to be on the shore. Engineer Gennady Bugrin, who participated in the aftermath of the disaster, warns that such an emergency could happen again at any time and on a larger scale.

Toxic water

The situation with the ecological situation in the waters of the Black Sea is no better, primarily because of the constantly incoming waste from the Danube, Prut and Dnieper. Industrial enterprises and public utilities without a twinge of conscience pour tons of production and human waste into rivers, which leads to the gradual extinction of many species of flora and fauna of the Black Sea. coastal waters. In Russia, the most polluted maritime zone is located in the area of the ports of Novorossiysk and Taman.

Together with river water, pesticides, heavy metals, phosphorus, nitrogen enter the Black Sea, as a result of which phytoplankton rapidly reproduces and the water begins to bloom. And this leads to the destruction of bottom microorganisms, which in turn causes hypoxia and the subsequent death of many inhabitants. seabed- squid, mussels, oysters, young sturgeons, crabs. According to environmentalists, the kill area sometimes exceeds 40 thousand square meters. km.

Of course, all this does not pass without a trace for a person. Head of the Department of Extreme Natural Phenomena and man-made disasters YUNC candidate biological sciences Oleg Stepanyan warns and reminds that the Black Sea is not a pool with filtered water and you need to choose the right places for swimming, because often even on city beaches you can see how they are poured into the sea wastewater from nearby cafes and eateries.

And although, according to Stepanyan, special services monitor the cleanliness of the beaches, the bacterial situation on them, it is important to be vigilant. Especially dangerous in such cases are sandy and pebbly beaches of large resort towns, where the process of self-purification of water is slowed down.

Deputy Coordinator public organization"Environmental Watch in the North Caucasus" Dmitry Shevchenko notes that there are such polluted areas in the Black Sea, for example, in the Gelendzhik or Anapa bays that it is simply risky for health to enter the water.

Today, a constant problem for the Black Sea has become mass development green filamentous and lamellar algae, including the so-called sea lettuce (Ulva). Eating such algae is fraught with serious poisoning, since they grow in places overcrowded organic matter coming through wastewater.

Doctors also warn about possible harm for the body of mussels and rapans caught in the large port waters of Novorossiysk, Tuapse, Sevastopol. Mussels actively filter poisoned sea water, and rapans are predators that eat them. But if, nevertheless, someone decides to feast on Black Sea delicacies, then one should pay attention to the color of their meat. Light yellow or pinkish indicates, most likely, its suitability for eating, but blue, black or just very bright indicates that the mollusks have accumulated heavy metals, oil hydrocarbons and other toxicants.

Dangerous inhabitants

In the waters of the Black Sea, of course, there are no such a number of poisonous inhabitants as in tropical seas However, even here, extreme caution must be exercised. First of all, it is about large jellyfish diameter greater than 30 cm. In no case should they be touched, as you can get burned from stinging cells. A "kiss" of such a jellyfish in the throat or chest area can cause respiratory paralysis or heart failure.

In the sandy shallow waters of the Anapa bank, in the area from the village of Volna to the village of Blagoveshchensky, a stingray is often found, the poisonous spike of which can pierce even a thick rubber coating and inflict a very sensitive wound, followed by swelling of the damaged part of the body.

A small scorpion fish is also a serious danger, or, as it is also called, sea ruff. She mainly hunts among the rocks, and hypothetically, she can be stepped on. A prick of its poisonous thorns will be very painful and it will take several weeks to heal the wound.

The sea dragon, although it does not look intimidating, carries no less of a threat than a stingray or scorpionfish. Poison glands are located on its first dorsal fin. Fishermen or divers sometimes inadvertently grab a thorn, and as a result, excruciating sharp pains in the wound area and a feverish state, accompanied by a rise in temperature. In this case, it will not be possible to do without a doctor.

Looking at the azure surface of the Black Sea, it is hard to even imagine that in its waters, from a depth of 200 meters to the very bottom, there is a layer of hydrogen sulfide, which is deadly for all living things. And if dolphins, fish and other marine organisms live in the upper layers of the sea, then the remaining 90% of the water is almost lifeless. Only a few types of bacteria are able to exist in such unbearable conditions.

The Black Sea has a very interesting structure. The fact is that the water column in it is divided into several layers that do not mix with each other. The thin surface layer of the sea is fresher, it is rich in oxygen and organic matter. It is here that all the diversity of the Black Sea fauna is concentrated. But, starting from a depth of 100 meters, there is a decrease in the amount of dissolved oxygen, and from about a depth of 200 meters the Black Sea is a toxic hydrogen sulfide environment.

The basin of the sea looks like a bowl up to 2000 meters deep, the entire water mass of which communicates with mediterranean sea through the narrow and shallow Bosporus Strait. The food of the sea is precipitation and the fresh water of the tributaries flowing into it. Not so long ago, scientists discovered an underwater river that carries its waters at a speed of about 6.5 km / s from Sea of Marmara to the central parts of the Black Sea basin and increases the salinity of the bottom layer to 30‰. At the same time, in the surface part there is a watercourse that carries water from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean and further to the Atlantic. But this water exchange, as it turned out, is not enough to reduce the concentration of hydrogen sulfide in most of the sea.

The content of hydrogen sulfide increases with depth and reaches a maximum at around 2000 meters - 9.6 mg/l of water. Further at the very bottom, gradually dropping to 5.7 mg / l. According to experts, this caustic gas with the smell of rotten eggs in the Black Sea is about 3 billion tons, more than in any other sea on the planet. Accumulations of hydrogen sulfide are also found in ocean trenches, but nowhere is there such a large number of people inhabiting the shores of the reservoir, as is the case with the Black Sea coast.

Some studies indicate that the Black Sea, in addition to hydrogen sulfide, also contains a large number of methane. Due to slow water exchange, these gases rarely come to the surface, although cases of poisoning of marine life are sometimes noted in the shallow part of the sea. But at least one large-scale case has been reliably recorded when deadly gases came to the surface. This happened in 1927 during the Crimean earthquake, when, due to fluctuations in the earth's surface, the balance between the layers was disturbed and the gas cloud burst out. Eyewitnesses felt a strong smell of hydrogen sulfide, and also observed huge flames above the surface of the sea. The fact is that during the earthquake there was a thunderstorm, from which, in all likelihood, the gases that rose to the surface ignited. But the mixture of hydrogen sulfide with air is itself explosive, and the presence of methane could play a role in this ignition.

But where did so much hydrogen sulfide come from in the water of the Black Sea? There are several theories on this subject, and all of them have the right to exist.

According to one version, hydrogen sulfide is formed at the bottom during the decay of organic residues. And for a reason poor circulation water accumulates there in large quantities. Moreover, the source of organic matter in this case is not so much animal world Black Sea, how much anthropogenic load on the reservoir. According to experts, organic matter coming with the waters of the Danube, Dnieper and other tributaries has a significant Negative influence on the ecological state of the reservoir.

According to another version, hydrogen sulfide is released from faults earth's crust at the bottom of the sea. And the third version boils down to the fact that the culprit of such a high concentration dangerous gas became anaerobic sulfate-reducing bacteria that convert sulfates from organic residues into hydrogen sulfide.

Today, specialists dealing with the problem of hydrogen sulfide and methane in the Black Sea are concerned about the increasing cases of these gases coming to the surface. Such phenomena can pose a danger not only to the Black Sea fauna, but also to the inhabitants of the coast, if the event assumes alarming proportions, as it happened in 1927.

Interestingly, as one of the solutions to the hydrogen sulfide problem of the Black Sea, a method is proposed for using this gas as a source of electricity.

All directions and atlases indicate that average depth Black Sea 1300 meters. From the surface of the water to the bottom of the sea basin, indeed, on average, almost one and a half kilometers, but what we used to consider the sea has a depth that is several times less, about 100 meters. Below lurked a lifeless and deadly poisonous abyss.

This discovery was made by a Russian oceanographic expedition in 1890. Soundings have shown that the sea is almost entirely filled with dissolved hydrogen sulfide, a poisonous gas with the smell of rotten eggs. In the center of the sea, the hydrogen sulfide zone approaches the surface by about 50 meters; closer to the shores, the depth from where the dead zone begins increases to 300 meters. In this sense, the Black Sea is unique, it is the only one in the world without a solid bottom.

A liquid convex lens of dead water underlies a thin upper layer, where all sea life. The underlying lens breathes, swells, breaking through to the surface from time to time due to driving winds. Major breakthroughs are less common, the last one occurred during the Yalta earthquake of 1928, when even far from the sea there was a strong smell of rotten eggs and thunder lightning flashed on the sea horizon, leaving burning pillars in the sky (H2S hydrogen sulfide is a combustible and explosive poisonous gas).

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 the seabed.

However, there seems to be no contradiction here. both reasons apply. The Black Sea is arranged in such a way that its water exchange with the Mediterranean goes by sea through the shallow Bosphorus threshold. 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.

http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_sea
On October 31, 1996, Bulgaria, Georgia, Russia, Romania, Turkey and Ukraine adopted the Strategic Action Plan for the Protection and Restoration of the Black Sea. In memory of this event, on October 31, the countries of the Black Sea region celebrate the International Day of the Black Sea, a campaign is being carried out to clean the beaches, other environmental actions. According to a number of experts, the ecological state of the Black Sea has deteriorated over the past decade, despite the decline in economic activity in a number of Black Sea countries. President of the Crimean Academy of Sciences Viktor Tarasenko expressed the opinion that the Black Sea is the dirtiest sea in the world

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/m3. The maximum permissible concentration of hydrogen sulfide in the air of populated areas is 0.008 mg/m3. 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 settlements, inhabited by organisms no longer marine, will also turn into fraternal cemeteries. 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 resource economy, businessmen from the state of Russia, in agony and in desperation, threw high-pressure pipes for the fuel pipeline right along the bottom of the Black Sea to the bottom . It was hard to expect more obscurantism!

http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Stream
Blue Stream is a gas pipeline between Russia and Turkey, laid along the bottom of the Black Sea. The total length of the gas pipeline is 1213 km. The Blue Stream pipeline was built as part of the Russian-Turkish agreement of 1997, according to which Russia is to supply Turkey with 364.5 billion cubic meters. m of gas in 2000-2025.

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 comment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Stream
South Stream (eng. South Stream) is a Russian-Italian-French-German gas pipeline project that is being laid along the bottom of the Black Sea from the Anapa region to the Bulgarian port of Varna. Further, its two branches will pass through Balkan Peninsula to Italy and Austria, although their exact routes have not yet been approved. The construction of the gas pipeline began on December 7, 2012 and is scheduled to be completed in 2015. The planned capacity of the South Stream is 63 billion cubic meters of gas per year. The estimated cost of the project is 16 billion euros. May 15 - construction of the CS (compressor station) "Kazachya" began in Krasnodar Territory. The total design capacity of the Kazachya station will be 200 MW, from which gas at a pressure of 11.8 MPa (!) will be supplied to the Russkaya CS, and from there it will be sent to South Stream.

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 cities, mass diseases of residents of the coastal zone may begin with deaths. 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 questions environmental safety. 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 industrial way, according to their special technologies, only Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania extract silver and gold from the waters of the Black Sea. (Why not Ukraine and Russia?)

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 \u003d 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+S3

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 \u003d 2H2O + 2SO2,
then by burning the resulting sulfur dioxide:
SO2+? O2 = SO3
then by the interaction of three sulfur oxides 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.

http://www.aif.ru/techno/article/54243/4

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. When we open a 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 column of water from the pipe for the first time - this will 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. A very revealing example, when the existence of life is under threat, the planet is saved by a bunch of lone heroes, who, in addition, are hindered by the government and everything around. And where is the entire 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 the children's poems of 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, a sulphuric acid. 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. Electrical conductivity aqueous solution H2S is higher than 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 of fresh water to the Azov-Black Sea basin. By the beginning of the 1980s, this volume had decreased to 19 km3: the metallurgical industry, irrigation facilities, field irrigation, and city water pipes. The commissioning of 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 was a sharp reduction in biological organisms. 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, sea stars, 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, harvested since ancient times, disappeared back in the 1990s as a 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 movements of 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. Almost all biological forms on earth have a 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 completely isolated conditions 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. Mankind is rushing headlong towards what is called catastrophe.

Bonus: More about the secrets of the Black Sea:

The millionth treasure of the lost ship

In 1854, the ship with the romantic name "Black Prince" went to Black Sea. There was a lot of gold on board, intended to pay the soldiers who participated in Crimean War. During a storm, the ship was wrecked. The news of a sunken ship with an invaluable treasure spread throughout Europe. But numerous searches have not been successful. Jewels still rest at the bottom of the Black Sea. http://faktu-week.ictv.ua/ua/index/view-media/id/37647

giant waves

As you know, the waves of the Black Sea are famous for their relatively calm character. Their height does not exceed 1-2 m, and the length reaches a maximum of 14 m. http://faktu-week.ictv.ua/ua/index/view-media/id/37649 But in the twentieth century, the Black Sea decided to show its character - scientists recorded waves 25 m high and 200 m long. Scientists then emphasized the unusual nature of such waves: "The Black Sea has too small an area for the waves in it to reach high speed And high altitude. Others believe that strong underwater earthquakes sometimes occur in the Black Sea, which cause giant waves; the nature of such shocks, scientists have not fully investigated to this day. "In turn, any waves over 8 meters carry a catastrophic danger to oil and gas platforms on the Black Sea shelf.
http://faktu-week.ictv.ua/ua/index/view-media/id/37650

The materials published in this post are an online review of funds mass media about the Black Sea. http://planeta.moy.su/blog/v_glubinakh_chernogo_morja_vozmozhen_vzryv_serovodoroda/2011-11-15-9793

Black Sea. It would seem so familiar and absolutely safe. Nothing like this. In its waters, not only poisonous marine life awaits you, but there is a more serious threat - suffocating poisonous fumes.

Dead zone

Not everyone knows that 90% of the Black Sea waters are saturated with hydrogen sulfide. This discovery was made back in 1890 by the Russian geologist Nikolai Andrusov. In some places, the hydrogen sulfide layer is located at a distance of 50 meters from the sea surface, and it constantly continues to strive upward. Periodically, a liquid lens of "dead" water approaches very close to the surface layers, which has a detrimental effect on the inhabitants of the underwater world.

However, there is still life in the hydrogen sulfide cloud, although in the absence of oxygen, only certain types of marine worms and anaerobic bacteria can exist here, which are involved in the decomposition of the remains of living organisms.

Sometimes, as a result of storms, hydrogen sulfide vapors break out, and then in the gas outlet zone there is a specific smell of rotten eggs. This is extremely dangerous. If a large amount of hydrogen sulfide comes into contact with air, an explosion can occur. According to experts, the explosion of all hydrogen sulfide contained in the Black Sea can be compared with the consequences of the fall of an asteroid weighing half the mass of the moon.

As eyewitnesses testified, the vibrations of the earth's surface were accompanied by a disgusting stench and flashes that soared from the surface of the sea to the sky. Pillars of fire, shrouded in smoke, reached several hundred meters in height. So the Black Sea burned. Most scientists have no doubt that hydrogen sulfide was to blame.

Oceanologist Alexander Gorodnitsky is convinced that such a threat is quite real: "The Black Sea is a seismically active region, there are earthquakes that provoke the release of gas hydrates - accumulations of methane and other combustible gases compressed under high pressure."

Toxic water

The situation with the ecological situation in the waters of the Black Sea is no better, primarily because of the constantly incoming waste from the Danube, Prut and Dnieper. Industrial enterprises and public utilities without a twinge of conscience pour tons of production and human waste into rivers, which leads to the gradual extinction of many species of flora and fauna of the Black Sea coastal waters. In Russia, the most polluted maritime zone is located in the area of the ports of Novorossiysk and Taman.

Together with river water, pesticides, heavy metals, phosphorus, nitrogen enter the Black Sea, as a result of which phytoplankton rapidly reproduces and the water begins to bloom. And this leads to the destruction of bottom microorganisms, which in turn causes hypoxia and the subsequent death of many inhabitants of the seabed - squid, mussels, oysters, young sturgeon, crabs. According to environmentalists, the kill area sometimes exceeds 40 thousand square meters. km.

Of course, all this does not pass without a trace for a person. Oleg Stepanyan, PhD in Biology, Head of the Department of Extreme Natural Phenomena and Man-made Disasters, Oleg Stepanyan warns and reminds that the Black Sea is not a pool with filtered water and you need to choose the right places for swimming, because often even on city beaches you can see how sewage is poured into the sea water from nearby cafes and eateries.

Dmitry Shevchenko, deputy coordinator of the public organization Environmental Watch in the North Caucasus, Dmitry Shevchenko, notes that there are such polluted areas in the Black Sea, for example, in the Gelendzhik or Anapa bays that it is simply risky for health to enter the water.

Today, the massive development of green filamentous and lamellar algae, including the so-called sea lettuce (Ulva), has become a constant problem for the Black Sea. Eating such algae is fraught with serious poisoning, since they grow in places overflowing with organic substances coming through sewage.

Doctors also warn about the possible harm to the body of mussels and rapans caught in the large port waters of Novorossiysk, Tuapse, and Sevastopol. Mussels actively filter poisoned sea water, and rapans are predators that eat them. But if, nevertheless, someone decides to feast on Black Sea delicacies, then one should pay attention to the color of their meat. Light yellow or pinkish indicates, most likely, its suitability for eating, but blue, black or just very bright indicates that the molluscs have accumulated heavy metals, oil hydrocarbons and other toxicants.

Dangerous inhabitants

In the waters of the Black Sea, of course, there are not as many poisonous inhabitants as in tropical seas, but still, extreme caution must be exercised here. First of all, we are talking about large jellyfish with a diameter exceeding 30 centimeters. In no case should they be touched, as you can get burned from stinging cells. A "kiss" of such a jellyfish in the throat or chest area can cause respiratory paralysis or heart failure.

A small scorpion fish, or, as it is also called, sea ruff, is also a serious danger. She mainly hunts among the rocks, and hypothetically, she can be stepped on. A prick of its poisonous thorns will be very painful and it will take several weeks to heal the wound.

Man is an integral part of nature. She can be favorable, friendly to us. We drink water, breathe air, get heat and food from environment. This is the source of our life.

But our planet can not only give its wealth to people, but also bring destruction, misfortune and deprivation. Earthquakes, fires and floods, tornadoes and volcanic eruptions claim the lives of many people. natural disaster can become hydrogen sulfide in the Black Sea. There are a lot of them in these waters.

The proximity to the Black Sea can cause tragedy for many people. What are the options for the development of events, as well as how to avoid them, scientists find out. It is interesting to know about their opinion to every inhabitant of our country and the whole world.

What is hydrogen sulfide?

Without going into chemical formulas, you should consider what properties hydrogen sulfide has. It is a colorless gas, which is characterized by stable and hydrogen. It is destroyed only at temperatures above 500 ºС.

It is poisonous to all living organisms. Only a few types of bacteria survive in this environment. The gas is known for its peculiar smell of rotten eggs. There is no flora and fauna in the water in which hydrogen sulfide is dissolved. The waters of the Black Sea contain it in huge quantities. The hydrogen sulfide zone is simply impressively huge.

It was discovered back in 1890 by N.I. Andrusov. True, in those days it was not yet known exactly in what quantities it was contained in these waters. The researchers lowered metal objects to different depths. In hydrogen sulfide water, the indicators are covered with a black sulfide layer. Therefore, there is an assumption that this sea got its name precisely because of this feature of its waters.

Features of the Black Sea

Some people have a question: where does hydrogen sulfide come from in the Black Sea? But it should be noted that this is not an exclusive feature of the presented reservoir. Researchers find this gas in many seas and lakes around the world. It accumulates in natural layers due to the absence of oxygen at great depths.

Organic remains, sinking to the bottom, do not oxidize, but rot. This contributes to the formation of poisonous gas. In the Black Sea, it is dissolved in 90% of the water mass. Moreover, the layer of occurrence is uneven. Off the coast, it begins at a depth of 300 m, and in the center it occurs already at a level of 100 m. But in some areas of the Black Sea, the layer clean water even less.

There is another theory of the origin of hydrogen sulfide. Some scientists claim that it is formed due to the tectonic activity of volcanoes active at the bottom. But there are still more adherents of the biological theory.

Movement of water masses

In the process of mixing, hydrogen sulfide is processed and changes its form in the Black Sea. The reasons why it nevertheless accumulates are the different levels of salinity in the water. The layers mix very little, since the sea does not have sufficient communication with the ocean.

Only two narrow straits contribute to the process of water exchange. The Bosphorus Strait connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles with the Mediterranean. The closure of the reservoir leads to the fact that the Black Sea has a salinity of only 16-18 ppm. Oceanic masses are characterized by this indicator at the level of 34-38 ppm.

The Sea of Marmara acts as an intermediary between these two systems. Its salinity is 26 ppm. The water of Marmara enters the Black Sea and sinks to the bottom (since it is heavier). The difference in temperature, density and salinity of the layers leads to the fact that they mix very slowly. Therefore, hydrogen sulfide accumulates in the natural masses.

Ecological catastrophy

Hydrogen sulfide in the Black Sea has become the subject of close attention of scientists for a number of reasons. The ecological situation here has deteriorated significantly in recent decades. Mass discharges of waste of various origins led to the death of many species of algae and plankton. They began to sink to the bottom faster. Also, scientists found that in 2003 a colony of red algae was completely destroyed. This representative of the flora produced about 2 million cubic meters. m of oxygen per year. This curbed the growth of hydrogen sulfide.

Now the main competitor of poisonous gas simply does not exist. Therefore, environmentalists are worried about the current situation. So far, it does not threaten our safety, but over time, a gas bubble may come to the surface.

When hydrogen sulfide comes into contact with air, an explosion occurs. It destroys all living things in the radius of destruction. No ecosystem can withstand human activity. This brings a possible catastrophe closer.

Explosion at sea

Sad incidents are known in history when the waters of the sea blazed with fire. The first recorded case occurred in 1927, 25 kilometers from Yalta. At this time, the city was destroyed by a powerful earthquake of eight points.

But it was also remembered by the affected residents by a terrible fire that engulfed the expanses of water. People then had no idea why the Black Sea was burning. Hydrogen sulfide, the explosion of which was caused by tectonic activity, came to the surface. But such incidents can happen again.

Hydrogen sulfide, coming to the surface, comes into contact with air. This results in an explosion. It can destroy entire cities.

The first factor of a possible explosion

An explosion that can take the lives of thousands, millions of people and all living organisms in the affected area can occur with a high degree of probability. And that's why. In the Black Sea, hydrogen sulfide is not processed, accumulating under the ever-decreasing thickness of clean water. Humanity treats this problem irresponsibly. Instead of using technology to process poisonous gas, we dump waste into the water. The decay process is getting worse.

Telephone, oil and gas pipelines run along the bottom of the Black Sea. They are damaged, fires occur. This may cause an explosion. Therefore, human activity can be considered the first factor in a possible catastrophe.

The second cause of the explosion

Natural disasters can also trigger an explosion. Tectonic activity in the area is not uncommon. Hydrogen sulfide at the bottom of the Black Sea can be disturbed by an earthquake or volcanic eruptions. Scientists argue that if the same disaster occurred today as in September 1927, the explosion would be so strong that a huge number of people would die. Further, a huge amount of sulfur would have fallen into the atmosphere. would do a lot of harm.

The thin layer of pure water is getting smaller. Hydrogen sulfide comes especially close to the surface in the southeast of the Black Sea. With rocks in this area, a terrible catastrophe is possible. But today, an explosion is possible in any area.

The third cause of the disaster

The thinning of a clean layer of sea water can lead to a spontaneous release of a bubble of poisonous gas from the bowels. Why there is so much hydrogen sulfide in the Black Sea is not surprising. The main factors of environmental degradation were considered earlier.

Scientists say that if all the hydrogen sulfide resting on the bottom rises to the surface, the explosion will be comparable to the impact of an asteroid the size of half the moon. This would change the face of our planet forever.

In some areas, it approaches the surface at a distance of 15 m. Scientists say that at this level, hydrogen sulfide disappears on its own during autumn storms. But this trend is still alarming. As time goes by, the situation, unfortunately, only gets worse. From time to time, a huge amount of dead fish washed up to the shores, caught in a hydrogen sulfide cloud. Plankton and algae also die. This is a formidable warning to mankind of an impending catastrophe.

Similar disasters

Toxic gas is found in many bodies of water around the world. This is far from unique phenomenon, which characterizes the bottom of the Black Sea. Hydrogen sulfide has already shown its destructive power to people. From history you can learn about such misfortunes.

For example, in Cameroon, in a village on the shores of Lake Nyos, the entire population died due to gas rising to the surface. The people who were caught by the disaster were found after a while by the guests of the village. This misfortune claimed the lives of 1,746 people in 1986.

Six years earlier, in Peru, fishermen going out to sea returned empty-handed. Their ships were black due to the oxide film. People were starving as a large population of fish died.

In 1983 for unknown reasons dead water the sea darkened. It seemed to be turned over, and hydrogen sulfide from the bottom rose to the surface. If such a process took place in the Black Sea, all life in the surrounding areas would die as a result of an explosion or poisoning with poisonous fumes.

The real situation today

In the Black Sea, hydrogen sulfide constantly makes itself felt. Upwellings (updrafts) lift gases to the surface. They are not uncommon in the Crimean, Caucasian regions. Near Odessa, there are frequent cases of mass death of fish that fell into a hydrogen sulfide cloud.

Very when such emissions occur in a thunderstorm. Lightning caught in a large hearth provokes a fire. The smell of rotten eggs that people feel indicates that the permissible concentration of a toxic substance in the air has been exceeded.

This can lead to poisoning and even death. Therefore, the deterioration of the ecological situation should be noticed by us. It is necessary to take measures to reduce the concentration of hydrogen sulfide in the waters of the Black Sea.

Ways to solve the problem

Specialists are developing several methods to eliminate hydrogen sulfide in the Black Sea. A group of Kherson scientists proposes to use gas as a fuel. To do this, lower the pipe to the depth and once raise the water to the surface. It will be like opening a bottle of champagne. Sea water, mixing with gas, will seethe. Hydrogen sulfide will be extracted from this stream and used for economic purposes. When burned, the gas releases a large amount of heat.

Another idea is to carry out aeration. To do this, deep-passing pipes are pumped fresh water. It has a lower density and will contribute to the mixing of marine layers. This method has been successfully used in aquariums. When using water from wells in private homes, it is sometimes necessary to purify it from hydrogen sulfide. In this case, aeration is also successfully applied.

Which way to choose is not so important. The main thing is to work on a solution environmental problem. In the Black Sea, hydrogen sulfide can be used for the benefit of mankind. The problem cannot be ignored. Complexity in its decision will be the most reasonable action. If the right steps are not taken now, a big disaster can happen in time. It is in our power to prevent it and save ourselves and other living organisms from death.