Brief History of the Black Sea and Scientific Research

Abstract

The Black Sea name (Black Sea, Mer Noire, Mare Nero, Schwarze Mer, Cernoe More, Kara Deniz) is given recently, dating since the 14th century and has no connection with the Ancient names. In the early Greek antiquity, the Black Sea was called Pontus Axeinus (“inhospitable sea”) and later was called Pontus Euxinos (“hospitable sea”). The first accurate bathymetric surveys of the Black Sea were executed by R. Gotie in 1820 and 1821, the results being published in 1822. The 1970s witnessed the impressive monographs The Black Sea. Geology, Chemistry and Biology, edited under the coordination of Egon T. Degens and David A. Ross, as well as the results of Glomar Challenger expedition. One of the first and most interesting syntheses on Black Sea is owed to Grigore Antipa who, in 1942, published the first volume of Black Sea monography. The Knorr expedition of 1988 was the first one to deepen the knowledge on Black Sea based on a thorough measurement. Currently, research of the Black Sea ecosystem is being undertaken in the framework of national, regional and international projects.