Taman Bay Research Articles

Киммерийская фортификация

Early examples of northern Iranian fortification date back to the Cimmerian era. Thus, the fortifications on the modern Kerch and Taman peninsulas, made up of a system of ramparts and ditches that fenced off the Bosporus from the steppe barbarians, were called “Cimmerian” by ancient authors. The Cimmerians are the most ancient people of southeastern Europe known to us. Their country Cimmeria covered the modern Crimean and Taman peninsulas, the Northern Black Sea region, the Azov region and the Northern Caucasus. During the Central Asian campaigns, the Cimmerians had to confront the advanced armies of that time - Assyrian and Urartian, with their perfect fortresses (in particular, the so-called “Cyclopean”, in the shape of a circle or square), which required the development of siege and assault techniques (polyorcetics), which were successfully used during hostilities. The Cimmerian Wall crosses the middle of the Kerch Peninsula (between the Kerch Peninsula and the rest of Crimea) at its narrowest point and has a length of 40-42 km. The shaft or its individual fragments are also called Asandrov, Uzunlarsky, Turkish, Akkozsky, etc. The rampart (circa 400 BC), reinforced with stonework running along its crest, reached a width of 20 m at the base, a height of up to 7-8 m, and its ditch, 5 m deep, had a width of 10-15 m. Along the entire length of the rampart, the same type of square tower-forts measuring approximately 10x12 m were erected, at a distance of about 2.5 km from each other. Roads run along the rampart, and in the rampart itself there are about a dozen passages, fortified with stone and flanking towers. The Cimmerian Wall on the Taman Peninsula began at the northeastern protrusion of the Taman Gulf and stretched for about 7 km to the shore of the Sea of Azov. According to other materials, it had a length of about 40 km and ran along the bottom from the center of the Taman Bay about 20 km to the northeast, and continued the same amount along the land part, ending before reaching the shore of the Temryuk Bay. The remains of this fortification were noted on topographic maps of the second half of the 20th century as the Cimmerian Val. The аrticle, based on dаta from аrchaeologicаl and written sources, аnаlyzes Cimmerian fortificаtion and polyorcetics. The most significant defensive structures of the Cimmeriаns are exаmined; the most charаcteristic аrchitectural forms аnd construction techniques are noted.

Межэкотопические различия в видовом составе растительных сообществ с низким и высоким участием доминирующих видов

Межэкотопические различия в видовом составе растительных сообществ с низким и высоким участием доминирующих видов

Bottom Biocenoses of Taman Bay (Sea of Azov)

In this research, the species composition and structure of macrophytobenthos, macrozoobenthos, and bottom sediments of the Taman Bay, one of the areas of the Sea of Azov where the seagrass Zostera marina L. forms underwater meadows. The material was collected in 2008–2009 before of the Sea of Azov salinization. Three main zones with different types of bottom sediments (sands, sands with shells and silts) were identified, within which four main macrobenthic biocenoses were located (unvegetated coastal biocenosis, mosaic macrophyte communities outside the surf zone, Z. marina underwater meadows and the central regions’ biocenosis with the dominance of mobile forms of macrozoobenthos and a low abundance of macrophytes). The main environmental factor associated with this distribution of macrophytobenthos was the content of silt (with a granule size of less than 0.001 mm). The spatial structure of the macrozoobenthos correlated with the projective cover of Z. marina. Possible reasons for the revealed regularities in the distribution of communities are discussed.

Influence of Zostera marina L. and Z. noltei Hornem. (Zosterales: Liliopsida) on the composition, species richness and coenotic diversity of the phytobenthos of the Azov Sea

The influence of marine higher plants Zostera marina and Z. noltei on the composition, species richness and coenotic diversity of the phytobenthos of sandy and silty soils of the Taman Bay in the Azov Sea at the depths from 0.5 to 3 m has been investigated. It is shown that 1) macrophytobenthic communities with a high degree of Z. noltei and Z. marina dominance (DD), both at very small and relatively large sites, are characterized by lower species richness than the communities with low DD; 2) that being said, for the majority of co-occurring species it is possible to grow in coenoses with any DD; 3) accordingly, about the same number of species can grow at the small community sites with low DD and at the larger sites with high DD; 4) DD has little to no influence on the species diversification of coenoses. However, both the growth of Zostera marina and Z. noltei and the decrease in their participation can lead to considerable drop in occurrence of some macroalgae species or to disappearance of those species from a community.

Results of Ultra-High-Resolution Seismoacoustic Survey Offshore Taman Bay in the Area of the Ancient City of Phanagoria

The first data on the eastern part of Taman Bay are based on an ultra-high-resolution seismic survey. The seismoacoustic complexes of a profile are compared with Novochernomorsk and Karangat sediments to Lower Chauda sediments of the Quaternary age. The fold structure of Quaternary sediments of this area is confirmed. An analysis of the bedding of the newest marine sediments of the bottom and the submergence of the ancient city of Phanagoria in the beginning of the 1st century AD indicate the Late Holocene tectonic activity of the Taman Bay depression. Two profile areas exhibit signal coherence gaps interpreted as areas of gas accumulations. The gas emissions are probably morphologically related to a wing of the adjacent Akhtaniz Anticline and are interpreted as a result of clay diapirism of the Maikop Group.

The resilience of macrozoobenthos of boreal coastal lagoons to non-indigenous species invasion: A case study of Taman Bay (the Sea of Azov)

The aim of the present study is to reveal the consequences of the blood ark (Anadara kagoshimensis) invasion of Taman Bay (the Sea of Azov), one of the biggest boreal brackish coastal lagoon. Anadara kagoshimensis was found there for the first time in 2003. During our work from 2003 to 2013, the blood arks were found at eleven of 83 stations in the bay. The invader was observed at 0.5–6 m depths in two habitat types: unvegetated muddy bottom and sparse Phragmithes sp. vegetation. The occurrence of both A. kagoshimensis and indigenous dominant species in the same localities varied from year to year. The ES100 index and taxonomic composition did not significantly differ between stations with and without the arks. The variation in the macrozoobenthos species abundance did not depend on whether the alien or indigenous species were dominant. The arks have integrated into the local communities with dominating native macrozoobenthos organisms. This scenario contrasts with the blood arks’ invasion into the Adriatic, Black and Azov Seas, and the adjacent Kerch Strait. There, distinct ark communities have replaced disturbed communities with native dominant species. The main factors that determine the resilience of macrozoobenthos in Taman Bay are: no pressure from the Rapa whelk (Rapana venosa); no persistent disturbances and the eurybiontic type fauna of the bay.

Крупномасштабная геоботаническая карта Тузлинской косы и острова Тузла (Керченский пролив)

During an ecological expertise the vegetation of Tuzla Spit and Tuzla Island, located in the middle part of the Kerch Strait (Fig. 1), was studied. This area is unique in terms of biological diversity and a presence of rare species (Ermolaeva et al., 2018). The study is based on 150 geobotanical relevés. Field data, topographic maps, and high-resolution satellite images were used in the vegetation mapping. The total area of the study is 383 hectares. There are the following hierarchical levels in the legend to the vegetation map: types of vegetation and classes of associations. A mapping unit is an association described according to the Braun-Blanquet system (Braun-Blanquet, 1964). The highest divisions of the legend are the types of vegetation: aquatic, coastal-aquatic, halophytic, psammophytic, steppe; they are given according to the ecological-phytocoenotic classification. Within the types of vegetation, classes of associations are given according to the ecological-floristic classification. 26 main numbers of the legend display the vegetation cover on the map. Geobotanical map reflects the state of vegetation in 2015 (Fig. 2). The vegetation of the island is heterogeneous. Plant communities as narrow stripes replace each other depending on the degree of moisture, salinity and orography. The sea currents have a great influence on the vegetation. In the southern part of the Taman Bay, suspension flows are directed from the South to the North and round the island, which leads to the “washing-up” of the southeastern part of the island represented by shallow waters and estuaries. It is occupied mainly by halophytic vegetation, the main dominants of plant communities are Juncus maritimus, Phragmites australis, Puccinellia distans, Bassia hirsuta, Salicornia pe­rennans, S. prostrata, Suaeda salsa, Elaeagnus angustifolia, Elytrigia elongata, Tripolium vulgare. The northwestern part of the strait is occupied by the area of jet streams of suspensions coming from the North to the South from the Sea of Azov. This caused the accumulation of sand-shell material in the northern and northwestern parts of the island forming raised areas co­vered by psammophytic and steppe communities. The main dominant species here are Crambe maritima var. pontica, Cakile euxina, Eryngium maritimum, Lactuca tatarica, Salsola tragus, Leymus sabulosus, Artemisia arenaria, Gypsophila perfoliata. As a result of the transport crossing construction, the vegetation cover was heavily transformed. The vegetation map of Tuzla Spit and Island for 2019 shows the changes that have occurred — the drainage of the territory and the reduction of the vegetated area (Fig. 3). Distribution of weed species, in particular Ambrosia artemisiifolia, is noted. The remained vegetation in the southern part of the Tuzla Spit and the southern part of the Tuzla Island has a great nature conservation value; there are unique plant communities and rare plant species listed in the Red books of different ranks (Red..., 2007, 2008, 2015): Cakile euxina, Crambe maritime, Glaucium flavum, Euphorbia paralias, E. peplis, Eryngium mari­timum, Astrodaucus littoralis, Asparagus maritimus, Centaurea arenaria, Argusia sibirica, Astragalus varius, Verbascum pinnatifidum, Leymus racemosus subsp. sabulosus, Secale sylvestre. There is an obvious need to organize a specially protected natural area in these areas.

Simulation of Formation and Melting of Ice in the Kerch Strait

The optimized (all iterative procedures are excluded) local one-dimensional thermody-namic model of the formation and melting of ice is proposed. The numerical computation of ice cover evolution in the Kerch Strait under the influence of thermodynamic factors for the period of 5 months is carried out for the real conditions of winter of 2011/12. Thec results agree well with the available obser-vational data on the timing of ice formation and on ice thickness in the southern part of the Sea of Azov and in the Taman Bay. In combination with the full three-dimensional hydrodynamic model and taking into account diurnal variations in external factors, the model simulates the spatial distribution of ice cover formation.

Thermal Evolution of the Sea Ice in the Taman Bay and the Dinskoy Gulf

Thermal Evolution of the Sea Ice in the Taman Bay and the Dinskoy Gulf

Termicheskaya evolyutsiya morskogo l'da v Tamanskom i Dinskom zalivakh

Termicheskaya evolyutsiya morskogo l'da v Tamanskom i Dinskom zalivakh

The trophic position of the alien crab Rhithropanopeus harrisii (crustacea decapoda panopeidae) in the Taman Bay, Sea of Azov community

This work concerns the trophic web positioning of the alien crab Rhithropanopeus harrisii and other common marine invertebrate species and fishes in the benthic ecosystem of the shallows of Taman Bay, Sea of Azov. The base of the trophic web in this system is composed of phytoplankton, macrophytes (algae and marine grasses), and reeds that use atmospheric carbon for photosynthesis. Analysis of the isotopic composition of nitrogen and carbon has shown that although marine grasses are dominating primary producers in the shallows of the bay, primary consumers (such as Cerastoderma glaucum, Porifera gen. sp., Gammarus aequicauda, Deshayesorchestia deshayesii and Idotea balthica) only partially use this organic source; instead, they use a combination of different sources of primary production. It has been shown that the food source of the alien crab is primarily of animal origin. In Taman Bay, R. harrisii is on the same trophic level as other carnivores/scavengers: benthic fishes Syngnathus nigrolineatus, Gobius spp. and native crab Pilumnus hirtellus and shrimp Palaemon adspersus.

Contemporary condition of macrozoobenthos in ultrashallow zone of Taman Bay, Sea of Azov

The distribution of macrozoobenthic communities was studied in a vast ultrashallow (0–1.2 m deep) zone of northwestern Taman Bay (separated from the Kerch Strait by Chushka spit) in 2008–2009. Fifty-two species of benthic invertebrates were recorded. The species number, as well as Shannon and Pielou diversity indices, increased along Chushka spit from base to tip. The usual inhabitants of lagoons and estuaries of the Mediterranean Basin and the open Sea of Azov dominated in benthic communities: mollusks Abra segmentum and Hydrobia acuta and polychaetes Heteromastus filiformis and Hediste diversicolor (the latter only in summer). Changes in the community structure were largely determined by the seasonal dynamics of dominant species populations, which was similar to their dynamics in certainother transitional water bodies of the Mediterranean Basin. These changes indicate normal running of seasonal processes in the macrobenthic communities of Taman Bay in 2008 rather than the consequences of a catastrophic black oil spill in the Kerch Strait in November 2007.

PHOTOGRAMMETRIC TECHNIQUES FOR 3 – D UNDERWATER RECORD OF THE ANTIQUE TIME SHIP FROM PHANAGORIA

Abstract. Phanagoria – the largest known ancient Greek settlement on the territory of Russia is situated on the Taman peninsula on the southern side of the Taman bay. The unique feature of the site is that about 1/3 of the settlement of Phanagoria is currently flooded by waters of the Taman bay due to the transgression of the Black sea level since antiquity. In 2012 in the course of underwater prospection of the Taman bay a wooden ship buried under the 1.5 m thick bottom sediments was discovered in situ. The unique feature of the ship is excellent preservation of its wooden parts, which makes it one of the few finds of this kind ever made on the territory of Russia. This paper presents a case-study of application of photogrammetry technique for archaeological field documentation record in course of underwater excavations of the Phanagorian shipwreck. The advantages and possible underwaterspecific constraints of automated point cloud extraction algorithm which was used in the research are discussed. The paper gives an overview of the practical aspects of the workflow of photgrammetry technique application at the excavation ground: photo capture procedure and measurement of control points. Finally a resulting 3-D model of the shipwreck is presented and high potential of automated point cloud extraction algorithms for archaeological documentation record is concluded.

Comprehensive studies in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov in the Summer of 2012

The shelf zones of the Black Sea, Taman Bay, and the Sea of Azov are currently subjected to gross load related to the impact of invasive species, large-scale construction activities near the coast, intensive recreation activity, water pollution in large cities and ports, active navigation, unreasonable coastal arrangement, and dam construction. Another factor substantially affecting the composition of bottom sediments and, thus, the benthos environment is the terrigenous material carried by rivers in the course of catastrophic overflows. An example is the Kubansk flood in 2012, which significantly affected the sea coast near Novorossiysk, Gelendzhik, and Divnomorsk. The intensive onshore dumping results in the delivery of abundant allochthonous material, bottom silting causing changes in the dominants in the benthos associations, a decrease in the photic layer and the death of the phytobenthos, and also debris formation at the bottom. Debris can play the role of artificial reefs contributory for the formation of periphytic biocoenoses.

Distribution of macroalgae and seaweed in the Azov Sea, Kerch Strait, and Taman Bay

The analysis of the macroalgae distribution along the salinity gradient in the Azov Sea, the Kerch strait, and Taman Bay during the summer allowed finding two macroalgae complexes. The first complex (brackish) is formed by algae belonging to the Enteromorpha, Cladophora, Rhizoclonium, and Chaetomorpha genera in the Taganrog Gulf. The second complex (marine) with dominating algae belonging to the Enteromorpha, Chaetomorpha, Ceramium, and Polysiphonia inhabits the littoral part of the Azov Sea itself, the Kerch Strait, and Taman Bay. The saprobe analysis of the flora showed that the majority of macroalgae species inhabiting the Azov Sea are represented by meso- and polysaprobes and a small number of oligosaprobe species inhabit the Kerch Strait. The biggest species diversity of macroalgae was noted in the southwestern part of the sea; the value of Shannon’s index was 0.65 in the Taganrog Gulf, 1.04 in the Azov Sea, 1.38 in Taman Bay. The leading role in the littoral communities of Taganrog Gulf belongs to aquatic flowering plants with Potamogeton perfoliatus being dominant; as the salinity increases, the share of such species as P. pectinatus, Zostera marina, Z. noltii, Ruppia maritime, and Zannichellia major starts to increase.

Peculiarities of long-term effect of hydrosulfide-enriched seawater on a copper alloy

Copper specimens (coins) found at the bottom of Taman bay, which lied in water for about 1600 years, manifested a very high corrosion resistance. The uniqueness of the phenomenon is attributed to the heightened concentration of hydrogen sulfide caused by the activity of mud volcano in this region. Under the layer of insoluble corrosion products, namely copper sulfides and disulfides, the items preserved the original surface relief.