The White Sea is the only one of all the Arctic seas, most of which is located south of the Arctic Circle. Its water area consists of several basins: Kandalaksha Bay, Onega Bay, Dvina Bay, Throat, Mezen Bay, Funnel. This article is devoted to the description of the Mezen Bay. Did you know that in this bay the tides reach a level of over ten meters (the highest in 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 to the east of its other counterparts - the Dvina Bay, the Onega Bay and the Kandalaksha Bay - south of the Kanin Peninsula, in the north-west of the Russian Federation. This geographical object administratively belongs to both the Arkhangelsk region and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug.
Description
The length of the Mezen Bay (photos are presented in the article) is 105 km, the depth is from 5 to 25 meters, the widthreaches 97 km. The water area is about 6630 sq. km. Morzhovets Island is located at the entrance to the bay.
The largest rivers flowing into the Mezen Bay are the Mezen and the Kula. The water area is also filled with the waters of smaller rivers and rivulets - Nes, Chizhi, Nizhi, Koyda and others.
The bay is bordered by two shores - from the east - Konushinsky, in the south - Abramovsky. From the sea, the water area of the bay is limited by a line connecting capes Voronov and Konushin. The most notable here are the Yurovaty, Cherny Nos, Abramovsky and Nerpinsky capes. In winter, the water in the Mezen Bay freezes, but the tides often break the ice cover. The transparency of the water in the bay is weaker than in other areas of the White Sea. This is explained by the fact that a rather muddy Mezen flows into it.
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 figure on the entire Russian coast of the Arctic.
It is known that it is planned to build a tidal power plant on the Mezenskaya Bay, the capacity of which, in accordance with the project, will reach 11.4 GW. The total construction period of the station is expected to be eleven years. Currently, fishing is actively conducted in the bay (herring, navaga), as well as hunting for sea animals.
Coasts and island of Morzhovets: relief and soil
The southern shore of the Mezen Bay from the Mezen River to Cape Voronov is called the Abramovsky Coast. To the east - from Cape Konushin to the Mezen River - the Konushinsky coast stretches. Reliefboth coasts, as well as the coast of the island of Morzhovets, are distinguished by the predominance of uplands and significant steepness, however, lowlands are 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 constant 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 coastline of the Mezen Bay and Morzhovets Island is riddled with cliffs and landslides.
Almost on all banks the surface is covered with tundra vegetation. The exceptions are the areas of the mouths of the rivers: Upper and Lower Mgla, Mezen and Kuloi. Here the forests approached the very sea.
Shoal
The shores of the bay are bordered by a wide shoal, the depth of which is 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 shoal is subjected to continuous drying. The greatest width of drying is observed near the eastern coast.
South Shore
The Abramovsky coast stretches for 39 miles in the direction of WNW (west-north-west) from the port of Mezen to Cape Voronov. In some places it is distinguished by hills and cliffs, in some places there are also lowlands. In some places the surface of the coast is covered with undersized forest. The most shallow is the area between capes Yurovaty and Nerpinsky. Here, a shoal with many depths of less than 5 meters extends from the shore for a distance of up to nine miles. North of this shoallie extensive, drying (partially) banks. This shallow water area, which extends north of the coast for a distance of about 20-22 miles, is called the Abramovsky shallow water. To the west of Cape Yurovaty, the coast becomes steeper. Along the Abramovsky coast to the port of Mezen runs the South Mezen fairway, the depth of which reaches seven to ten meters.
East Coast
Konushinsky coast stretches from Cape Konushin to the Mezen River stretches for 68 miles to the south. The coast is steep throughout its length, the height of the coast in different areas is not the same. 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 is low-lying. In the area of the Shemoksha River, the bank again turns into a hill, which persists until the Chizha River itself. The relief of the entire coast is characterized by the same unevenness. Almost the entire length of the Konushinsky coast is shallow and bordered by a drying strip of considerable width. The most shallow is the area between the Nes River and Cape Konushin. The ground near the eastern shore is predominantly sandy or rocky.
Relief and bottom soil
On the coastal shallows, the bottom topography is characterized by significant unevenness and the presence of extensive shallow and drying banks. The bottom relief in the bay itself is also quite uneven, constantly changing due to the influence of ebbs and flows, currents and storms.
In the middle part of the Mezen Bay, the soil is represented by stone, silt with stone, and also stone withsand, 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 small stones, and only in some places you can find sand.
Characteristic of tidal currents
These phenomena in the Mezen Bay are notable for their considerable strength. The tidal current enters the bay from the White Sea (its northern part), dividing into two branches near Morzhovets Island. The main one moves in the middle of the bay and gradually narrows, its final point is the Mezen River. The other passes along the Morzhovskaya Salma Strait, moving to the east and southeast. Having rounded the island of Morzhovets, it joins in the bgo-east of it with the main branch of the tidal current, strengthening it. Along the Abramovsky coast, the current moves to the southeast and further to the Kuloy River. At the mouth of the Mezen River, its branches join, forming rather strong rips. At the Konushinsky coast, the tide is directed south along the coastal shallows. When the height of the tidal wave begins to exceed their height, the tide, flooding the shallows, rushes over them with great force to the shore. This phenomenon is called rolling. Less intense run-ups occur in the shallows of the mouths of the Mezen and Kuloi rivers and on drying banks to the east of Morzhovets Island. The ebb current moves in the opposite direction, it forms even weaker ripples than the tide.
About anchor points
For vessels with a draft of up to three meters, there are anchorages at the mouths of the rivers Chizhi, Nes, Upper and Lower Mglaa, Mezen, Kuloi, as well as off the coast of Morzhovets Island. Shallow draft ships can anchorand at the mouths of other rivers.
