DEFINITION OF CASPIAN SEA, TRAPPED OCEANIC CRUST?

The Caspian is a large, shallow, and salty inland sea, located between southern

Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran, and Azerbaijan. It

measures 144,444 square miles (373,000 km2), and its surface

rests 92 feet (28 m) below sea level. It has a maximum depth

of only 3,280 feet (1,000 m) in the south and is very shallow

in the north with an average depth of only 16.5 feet (5 m).

Thus, changes in the level of the sea result in large changes in

the position of the shoreline. These historical changes in the

shoreline position are evident in the lowland continuation of

the Caspian depression in the Kalymykiya region to the northwest

of the sea. More than 75 percent of the water flowing

into the Caspian is from the Volga River, which flows in from

the north, draining the western side of the Urals and the European

plains. Other rivers that flow into the Caspian include

the Ural, Emba, Kura, and Temek, but there is no outlet. The

Caucasus Mountains strike into the sea on the west, and the

Elbruz Mountains line its southern border.

The Caspian is mineral rich, blessed with large oil and

gas deposits in several regions, and it is one of the most active

exploration areas in the world. It is estimated that the Caspian

may hold as much as 200 billion barrels of oil, as much as

Iraq and Iran combined. Rich petroleum deposits off the

Apseran Peninsula on the west led to the development of

Baku, where the Nobels made their fortune at the end of the

19th century. Unfortunately, decades of careless environmental

practices associated with state-run oil extraction have led

to widespread pollution and contamination, only recently

being cleaned up.

The origin of the Caspian depression is somewhat controversial,

but many geologists believe that much of the basin

is ocean crust trapped during closure of the Tethys Ocean,

then deeply buried by sedimentary sequences that host the

many petroleum deposits in the area. The sea is also rich in

salt deposits and is extensively fished for sturgeon, although

the catches have been dramatically declining since the early

1990s. The reasons for the fish decline include loss of spawning

grounds, extensive poaching, overfishing, and pollution. A

single large (typically up to 15 feet) female Beluga sturgeon

may weigh 1,300 pounds and carry 200 pounds of roe, which

retailers can sell as caviar for $250,000 in the United States.

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