Dozens of ancient ships that have survived to this day are stored in this region.
Hundreds of sunken ships rot in the depths of the sea, the legendary Titanic dissolves and disappears in the Atlantic Ocean, but there is one mysterious place where the remains of ships have been stored for centuries – this is the Black Sea.
Scientists consider one stretch of the Black Sea to be a “dead zone” where 2,400-year-old ships are frozen in time on the seafloor.
In August 2016, a group of researchers sent a robot to the bottom of the Black Sea and were amazed by what they saw.
What they found was a medieval ship that had been more than 800 meters underwater for about 800 years. A ship of this type has not previously been found in its entirety.
“Araeologists have never seen anything like this. We couldn’t believe our eyes. A medieval ship dating back to the 13th or 14th century shed new light on the sailing ships that conquered the New World,” said expedition member Rodrigo Pacheco-Ruiz.
It was one of more than 60 ships discovered off the coast of Bulgaria. The ships are thousands of years old and are in such good condition that intact coils of rope and rudders can be seen.
The oldest intact wreck discovered in 2017 dates back to 400 BC!
Others range from the late 800s, when the Byzantine Empire was in full bloom, to the Ottoman Empire in the 16th and 18th centuries.
How the “dead zone” was formed in the Black Sea
Scientists believe that the “dead zone”, located at a depth of 150 to 2200 meters, is associated with the unique composition of this part of the Black Sea.
When the Ice Age ended about 12,000 years ago, the Black Sea was a lake. As global temperatures rise and sea levels rise, salt water from the Mediterranean Sea has begun to flow into the rivers that feed the Black Sea.
Freshwater and salty rivers flowing into the Black Sea formed two levels of water – the upper, less saline layer is rich in oxygen, and the lower one does not contain it. Therefore, bacteria and creatures that destroy the remains of ships cannot survive there.
