Bay of Baku

Baku Bay and the city center of Baku

The Bay of Baku ( Azerbaijani Baki körfəzi ) is a natural harbor of the Caspian Sea, which is located on the south coast of the Absheron Peninsula in Azerbaijan. Are the International Seehandelshafen of Baku, the naval base of Azerbaijani Naval Forces and the local yacht club on the bay.

Description

The length of the coastline is 20 km. The bay is bordered to the east of Cape Sultan Burnu, southwest of the Cape Schichow and east and southeast of the islands Pestschany, Dasch Sirja and Bojuk Sirja. These islands are part of the Baku Archipelago, which extends for the most part by the bay. During heavy storms, the wave amplitude can be up to 1.5 m in the Gulf. On the shore of the Bay of Baku Baku Boulevard beach Bulvar runs.

History

The Bay of Baku was silted up from 1 AD to 7th century BC and today's islands were connected to the mainland. On maps of Ptolemy in the 2nd century Baku was far shown from the sea. After the 7th century to the 9th century, the sea level began to rise and it formed the Bay of Baku. During the Middle Ages from the 10th to the 13th century, the level of the Caspian Sea rose by about 10 m. The Italian geographer of the 14th century Marino Sanudo stated: " The Caspian Sea is increasing every year by Handesbreite and many good cities are already sunk ." According to a report by the geographer Abd al-Rashid al - Bakui from 1403 parts of Baku were flooded and the water was near the Mohammed Mosque. At that time, the sea was at the foot of the Jungfrau tower and covered already fully Sabayil the castle, which was built on a rock in the Bay of Baku. The following 600 years, the sea level fluctuated at this high level before it began to fall at the beginning of the 20th century.

Suspicions that deformations of the seabed could be the cause of the fluctuations have been refuted. The most likely cause of this phenomenon include climate change. The sea has no connection to the oceans, the water balance is regulated solely by rivers and rainfall and evaporation. Thus, in the time of the surge in inflows was higher. Particular importance has the Volga, whose inflow quantity makes up about 80%. This amount, in turn, is largely determined by the annual snowmelt. It has been calculated that the sea supplies in years with lots of snow the river about 300 to 350 km3 of water and the water level rises in those years. In weak years, the figure is only 150 to 200 km3 and the sea level falls. On the other hand introduces water rise to floods, so that an increase in the water surface and a higher evaporation rate. The Soviet geographer L.S. Berg noted that in periods of warming of the Arctic, the sea level of the Caspian Sea and the fall of the Aral Sea rises. Conversely, increases in cooling of the Arctic, the level of the Caspian Sea and the Aral Sea drops.

Ecology

The Bay of Baku is very dirty. The reasons for the deteriorating environmental condition of the bay are diverse. In particular, waste of coastal industrial, residential and service objects, the ship's operation as well as deposits by the petroleum and natural gas contribute decisively. Exploration work on the seabed of the bay began after 1996. Between 2007 and 2009 the water in a large scale of metal structures, sunken vessels, unused hydro-technical facilities and underwater tubes has been cleared. A total of about 4,500 tons of scrap metal and 412 tonnes of wood waste were recovered.

Ports and bridges

The Seehandelshafen extends along the northern and western shores of the bay. In the north- western part is the ferry port. It is planned to build a 14 km long bridge across the bay to the value of U.S. $ 2.5 billion by Korean experts to relieve the coast road. It should be built on high pillars to continue to provide for ship traffic.

Gallery

Seaport

Yacht club