The Falling Level of the Caspian Sea in Relation to Soviet Economy

Abstract

N THE last 20 years remarkable changes have been taking place in the configuration of the Caspian Sea. The very fact that they can be shown on so small-scale a map as Figure i attests their magnitude and suggests their economic significance. Maps have been compared dating from nearly a century ago up to the latest available to us, for Ig50 and I95I.' Since our concern is with the relation of the Caspian level to the economy of the U.S.S.R., we shall ignore the Iranian part of the shore line, where, moreover, coastal waters are almost everywhere deep and change is not so readily apparent. Starting, then, in the southwest corner, we note these changes: i. In Kirov (Kizil-Agach) Bay several islands have merged and have gradually become united with the mainland, and the Kura spit has been formed. Most of the changes do not appear on the maps before I949. 2. Passing the Kura River delta, where changes are caused by the river itself and are therefore of only local significance, we come to the Apsheron Peninsula, important because of its oil deposits. The coastal slope is steep, and depths are considerable along the shore. In the southeast, however, changes