The White Sea is the only of all Arctic seas, most of which is located south of the Arctic Circle. Its water area consists of several pools: Kandalaksha Bay, Onega Bay, Dvina Bay, Throat, Mezen Bay, and Funnel. This article is devoted to the description of the Gulf of Mezen Bay. Do you know that in this bay the height of the tides reaches a level of over ten meters (the highest figure for the White Sea)? The article contains interesting and informative information about this amazing place.
Where is the Mezen Bay?
This bay is one of the four largest in the White Sea. The water area of the Mezen Bay is located east of its other counterparts - the Dvina Bay, Onega Bay and Kandalaksha Bay - south of the Kanin Peninsula, in the north-west of the Russian Federation. This geographical object administratively refers to both the Arkhangelsk region and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug.
Description
The length of the Mezenskaya Bay (photos are presented in the article) is 105 km, the depth is from 5 to 25 meters, the width reaches 97 km. The area of the water is about 6630 square meters. km At the entrance to the bay is located the island of Morzhovets.
The largest rivers flowing into the Mezen Bay are Mezen and Kula. The water area is also filled with the waters of smaller rivers and streams - Nesi, Chizhi, Nizhi, Koidy and others.
The bay is bordered by two banks - from the east - Konushinsky, in the south - Abramovsky. From the sea, the water area of the gulf is limited by the line connecting the capes of Voronov and Konushin. The most noticeable here are Cape Yurovaty, Black Nose, Abramovsky and Nerpinsky. In winter, water in the Mezen Bay freezes, but tides often crack the ice sheet. The transparency of the water in the bay is weaker than in other White Sea waters. This is explained by the fact that a rather muddy Mezen flows into it.
The Bay of the Mezen Bay on the White Sea is characterized by rather strong currents. The tides here last for half a day, their height reaches 10.3 meters, which is the highest rate on the entire Russian coast of the Arctic.
It is known that on the Mezen Bay it is planned to build a tidal power station, the capacity of which, in accordance with the project, will reach 11.4 GW. The total construction period of the station is designed for eleven years. Currently, the bay is actively fishing (herring, navaga), as well as hunting for sea animals.
Shores and island Morzhovets: relief and soil
The southern shore of the Gulf of Mezen Bay from the Mezen River to Cape Voronov is called the Abramovskiy shore. To the east - from Cape Konushin to the Mezen River - stretches Konushinsky shore. The relief of both coasts, as well as the coast of the island of Morzhovets, is characterized by a predominance of hills and considerable steepness, but lowlands are also often found here. The soil is clay-sandy. One of the characteristic features of the shores of the bay and the island coast is the continuous destruction of the coastline by the sea. The intensity of destruction increases during periods of autumn and winter storms. As a result, almost the entire coast of the Mezen Bay and the island of Morzhovtsa is riddled with cliffs and landslides.
Almost all coasts are covered with tundra vegetation. The exception is the areas of river mouths: Upper and Lower Mgly, Mezen and Kuloy. Here, forests have come to the very sea.
Shallow
The shores of the bay are bordered by a wide sandbank, the depths of which are less than 20 meters. The largest island - Morzhovets - lies on the shallows off the southern coast of the Mezen Bay. The coastal part of the shallows is subjected to continuous drying. The greatest width of drainage is observed near the east coast.
South coast
The Abramovsky coast stretches for 39 miles in the direction of WNW (west-north-west) from the port of Mezen to Cape Voronova. In some places it is distinguished by hills and cliffs, and in some places lowlands are also found. In some places, the surface of the coast is covered with undersized forest. The shallowest section is between Cape Yurovaty and Nerpinsky. Here, a sandbank with many depths of less than 5 meters extends from the coast for a distance of up to nine miles. To the north of this shallow are vast, shrinking (partially) banks. This shallow area, stretching north of the coast for a distance of about 20-22 miles, is called the Abramovsky shallow water. West of Cape Yurovaty, the coast becomes deep. Along the Abramov coast to the Mezen port runs the South Mezensky Fairway, whose depth reaches seven ten meters.
East coast
The Konushinsky coast stretches from Cape Konushin to the Mezen river, stretching for 68 miles in a southerly direction. The coast is steep throughout its length, the height of the coast in different areas is uneven. At Cape Konushin, the coast is quite high, further to the east its height gradually decreases. The section between the Shemoksha River and Cape Konushinskaya Korga coast is lowland. In the area of the Shemoksha River, the bank again turns into a hill, which remains until the Chizha River itself. The relief of the entire coastline is characterized by the same roughness. Almost throughout the Konushinsky shore is shallow and bordered by a strip of drainage of considerable width. The shallowest section is between the Nes River and Cape Konushin. The soil near the eastern shore is mostly sandy or rocky.
Bottom relief and ground
On the coastal shallows, the bottom relief is characterized by significant unevenness and the presence of extensive shallow and drying cans. The bottom relief in the bay itself is also quite uneven, constantly changing due to the influence of tides, currents and storms.
In the middle part of the Mezen Bay, the soil is represented by stone, silt with stone, as well as stone with sand, in the eastern part the soil is sandy. Around the island of Morzhovets, for the most part, the bottom of the bay is lined with fine stone and only in places you can find sand.
Characterization of tidal currents
These phenomena in the Mezen Bay are notable for their considerable strength. The tidal current comes to the bay from the White Sea (its northern part), splitting into two branches near the island of Morzhovets. The main one moves in the middle of the gulf and gradually narrows; its final destination is the Mezen River. Another passes through the Morzhov Strait Salma, moving east and southeast. Having circled around Morzhovets Island, it unites in the bg-east of it with the main branch of the tidal current, strengthening it. Along the Abramov shore, the current moves southeast and further to the Kuloy River. At the mouth of the Mezen River, its branches are connected, forming quite strong rips. At Konushinsky shore, the tide goes south along the coastal shallows. When the height of the tidal wave begins to exceed their height, the tide, flooding the shallows, rushes with great force over them to the shore. This phenomenon is called coasting. Less intense flows occur on the shallows of the Mezen and Kuloy estuaries and on drying banks east of Morzhovets Island. The ebb tide moves in the opposite direction, it forms even weaker rips than the tide.
