Russia, U.K. spar over Black Sea incident

What is the News? 

Russia has accused the UK of spreading lies over a warship confrontation in the Black Sea.It has warned Britain that it would respond more firmly to any further provocative actions by the British Navy off the coast of Russia-annexed Crimea. 

About Black Sea:

• Black Sea is a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean. It is located between Eastern Europe and Western Asia 
• Border countries: Black Sea is bordered by six countries – Romania and Bulgaria to the west; Ukraine, Russia and Georgia to the north and east and Turkey to the south. 

Connecting water bodies: 

• The Black Sea ultimately drains into the Mediterranean Sea via the Turkish Straits and the Aegean Sea.  
• The Bosporus Strait connects it to the small Sea of Marmara which in turn is connected to the Aegean Sea via the Strait of the Dardanelles.  
• To the north, the Black Sea is connected to the Sea of Azov by the Kerch Strait. 

 Meromictic Basin:  

• The Black Sea is the world’s largest body of water with a meromictic basin. 
• A meromictic lake has layers of water that do not intermix. The deep waters do not mix with the upper layers of water that receive oxygen from the atmosphere. 
• As a result, over 90% of the deeper Black Sea volume is anoxic water. Anoxic waters are areas of sea water, fresh water or groundwater that are depleted of dissolved oxygen. 
• Hence, anoxic layer is responsible for the preservation of ancient shipwrecks which have been found in the Black Sea. 

Source: The Hindu