Gulf of Finland

Gulf of Finland
Basin countries Russia, Finland, Estonia
Max. length 400 km (250 mi)
Max. width 130 km (81 mi)
Surface area 30,000 km2 (12,000 sq mi)
Average depth 38 m (125 ft)
Max. depth 115 m (377 ft)
Settlements Saint Petersburg, Helsinki, Tallinn

The Gulf of Finland (Finnish: Suomenlahti; Russian: Финский залив, Finskiy zaliv; Swedish: Finska viken; Estonian: Soome laht) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland (to the north) and Estonia (to the south) all the way to Saint Petersburg in Russia, where the river Neva drains into it. Other major cities around the gulf include Helsinki and Tallinn. The eastern parts of the Gulf of Finland belong to Russia, and some of Russia's most important oil harbors are located farthest in, near Saint Petersburg (including Primorsk). As the seaway to Saint Petersburg, the Gulf of Finland has been and continues to be of considerable strategic importance to Russia. Some of the environmental problems affecting the Baltic Sea are at their most pronounced in the shallow gulf.

Contents

Extent

The International Hydrographic Organization defines the western limit of the Gulf of Finland as "A line running from Spithamn Point (59°13'N), in Estonia, through the island of Odensholm from SE to NW and on to the SW extreme of Hangöudde (Hangö Head, 22°54'E) in Finland".[1]

Description

Geological history

In Paleozoic, 300–400 million years ago, the entire territory of the modern Gulf of Finland was covered by a sea. Modern relief was formed as a result of the glacier activities. Its retreat formed Littorina Sea, which water level was some 7–9 meters higher than the present level of the Baltic Sea. Some 4,000 years ago the sea receded and shoals in the gulf have become its islands.[2][3] Later uplifting of the Baltic Shield skewed the surface of the gulf; for this reason, its northern shores are significantly higher than the southern ones.[4].

Topography and hydrography

Major islands

Gulf of Finland
Satellite image showing the gulf entirely frozen over in January 2003.

The area of the gulf is 30,000 km2 (12,000 sq mi).[5] The length (from the Hanko Peninsula to St. Petersburg) is 400 km (250 mi) and the width varies from 70 km (43 mi) near the entrance to 130 km (81 mi) on the meridian of the island Moshnyi; in the Neva Bay, it decreases to 12 km (7.5 mi). The gulf is relatively shallow with the depth decreasing from the entrance to the gulf to the continent. The sharpest change occurs near Narva-Jõesuu, which is why this place is called Narva wall. The average depth is 38 m (125 ft) with the maximum of 100 m (330 ft). The depth of the Neva Bay is less than 6 m; therefore, a channel was dug at the bottom for safe navigation. Because of the large influx of fresh water from rivers, especially from the Neva River (2/3 of the total runoff), the gulf water has very low salinity – between 0.2 and 5.8 ‰ at the surface and 0.3–8.5 ‰ near the bottom. The average water temperature is close to 0 °C in winter; in summer, it is 15–17 °C (59–63 °F) at the surface and 2–3 °C (36–37 °F) at the bottom. The gulf is usually frozen from late November to late April; the freezing starts in the east and gradually proceeds to the west. Complete freezing is usually reached by late January, and it might not occur in mild winters.[6] There are frequent strong western winds causing waves, surges of water and floods.[4][7] (see Floods in Saint Petersburg).

The northern coast of the gulf is high and winding, with abundant fjords and skerries only a few large bays (Vyborg) and peninsulas (Hanko and Porkkala). The coast is mostly sloping; there are abundant sandy dunes, with occasional pine trees.[4] The southern shores are smooth and shallow, but along the entire coast runs the Baltic Klint with the height up to 40 m (130 ft).[8] In the east, the gulf ends with Neva Bay and on the west merges with the Baltic Sea.

The gulf contains numerous banks, skerries and islands. The largest include Kotlin Island with the city of Kronstadt (population 42,800), Beryozovye Islands, Lisiy Island, Maly Vysotsky Island with the nearby city of Vysotsk (population 1706), Hogland (Suursaari), Moshnyi Island, Bolshoy Tyuters (Tytärsaari), Sommers, Naissaar, Kimitoön, Kökar, Seskar, Lavansari (Lavansaari), Grachevo (Seiskari), Pakri Islands and others.[9]

Starting from 1700, nineteen artificial islands with fortresses were built in the gulf by Russia. Their purpose was defense from attacks from water and their construction was urged by the Great Northern War of 1700–1721. Those include Fort Alexander, Krasnaya Gorka, Ino, Totleben, Kronshlot and others.[10]

The largest rivers flowing into the gulf are Neva (from the east) and Narva, Keila, Pirita, Jägala, Kunda, Luga, Sista and Kovashi from the south. On the north flows the Sestra River, and the Saimaa Canal connects the gulf with the Saimaa lake.[9]

Komarovo bereg.jpg
Ryssänsaari IM 2619 C.JPG
Finnish gulf near Tallinn.JPG
Finland gulf.jpg
Gulf Coast near Komarovo Islands near Helsinki View on the bay from the St. Olaf's church, Tallinn Fishermen on the Gulf of Finland
Haven Kronstadt 20080403 3.JPG
San Petersburgo, panorámica del Rio Neva.JPG
Suursaari.jpg
Kronstadt and in the winter Panorama of Neva River from the Gulf View on the island of Hogland by Kotka

Flora and fauna

Most of the gulf coast is covered with taiga consisting of forests, meadows and marshes. The major forest trees are pine, fir, birch, willow, sorbus, aspen, black and gray alder. Vegetation of the marshy areas consists mainly of bulrush and reeds, as well as aquatic plants, such as white and yellow lilies and Slim Sedge. Aquatic plants in the shallow waters of the gulf include ditch grasses and spiny naiad.[11]

Fish species of the gulf include Atlantic salmon, viviparous eelpout, goby, moderlieschen, weatherfish, European chub, redbelly dace, Silver Bream, common dace, ruffe, Crucian carp, stickleback, European smelt, common rudd, brown trout, tench, pipefish, burbot, perch, gudgeon, lumpsucker, roach, lamprey, European cisco, garfish, whitefish, bream, wels catfish, sander, ide, pike, Spined loach, sprattus, sabre carp, common bleak, European eel and Atlantic cod.[12] Two species are endemic to the Baltic - Baltic herring and Baltic cod. Commercial fishing is carried out in spring and autumn. Gray seal and ringed seal are sometimes observed on the shores; however, those species are very rare in the gulf.[11]

Ecology

Ecological condition of the Gulf of Finland, Neva Bay and Neva River is unsatisfactory. There is significant contamination by ions of mercury and copper, organochlorine pesticides, phenols, petroleum products and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Cleaning of waste water in St. Petersburg was started in 1979 and by 1997 about 74% of wastewater was purified. This number rose to 85% in 2005, to 91.7% by 2008, and is expected to reach 100% by 2011 with the completion of the expansion of the main sewerage plant.[13]. Nevertheless, in 2008, the Federal Service of St. Petersburg announced that no beach of St. Petersburg is fit for swimming.[14]

Fish catchment decreased 10 times between 1989 and 2005. Apart from pollution, another reason for that is hydraulic and engineering works. For example, construction of new ports in Ust-Luga and Vysotsk and on Vasilievsky Island adversely affected the spawning of fish. Extraction of sand and gravel in the Neva Bay for the land reclamation destroy spawning sites of European smelt.[15]

Construction of the Saint Petersburg Dam reduced water exchange of the Neva Bay with the eastern part of the gulf by 10–20% that increased the contamination level of Neva Bay. The largest changes occur within 5 km from the dam. Some shallow areas between St. Petersburg and the dam are turning into swamps. Waterlogging and the associated rotting of plants may eventually lead to eutrophication of the area.[16] Also worrying is expansion of oil ports in the gulf[16] and the construction of a treatment center for spent fuel from the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant.[17]

The port of Kronstadt is currently serving as a transit point for the import in Russia of radioactive waste through the Baltic Sea. The waste, mostly depleted uranium hexafluoride, is further transported through St. Petersburg to Novouralsk, Angarsk and other cities of eastern Russia. This transit point will be moved from St. Petersburg to the port Ust-Luga within the Border Security Zone of Russia, as decided by the Russian government in 2003 (Order No. 1491-r of 14 October 2003). This step should reduce the ecological risks for St. Petersburg.[18]

Important historical events

Before 1700

See also: History of Finland and History of Estonia

Many ancient sites were discovered on the shores of the gulf dated to up to nine thousand years old. Humans began to inhabit these places soon after the ice age glaciers have retreated and the water level of the Littorina Sea lowered to reveal the land. Remains of about 11 Neolithic settlements were found since 1905 in the mouth of the river Sestra River (Leningrad Oblast). They contain arrow tips and scrapers made of quartz, numerous food utensils and traces of firecamps – all indicative of hunting rather than agricultural or animal husbandry activities.[8]

Overseas Guests by Nicholas Roerich, 1899

The gulf coast was later populated by Finno-Ugric peoples. Eesti (or Chud) inhabited the region of the modern Estonia, Votes were living on the south of the gulf and Izhorians to the south of Neva River. Korela tribes settled to the west of Lake Ladoga.[19] In the 8–9th centuries, the banks of Neva and of the Gulf of Finland was populated by East Slavs, in particular by Ilmen Slavs and Krivichs. They were engaged in slash and burn agriculture, animal husbandry, hunting and fishing. During the 8–13th centuries, the Gulf of Finland and Neva were parts of the waterway from Scandinavia, through by Eastern Europe to the Byzantine Empire.

From the 9th century, the eastern coast of the gulf belonged to Veliky Novgorod and were called Vodskaya Pyatina. As a result of the 1219 crusade and the Battle of Lyndanisse, the Northern Estonia became part of Denmark (Danish Estonia).[20] In 12 century, the city Reval (Latin: Revalia, Russian: Колывань) was established on the territory of modern Tallinn.[21] As a result of the Estonian uprising in 1343, the Northern Estonia was taken over by the Teutonic Order and sold by Denmark in 1346. In 1559, during the Livonian war, the Bishop of Ösel-Wiek in Old Livonia sold his lands to King Frederick II of Denmark for 30,000 thalers. The Danish king gave the territory to his younger brother Magnus who landed on Saaremaa with an army in 1560.[22] The whole of Saaremaa became a Danish possession in 1573, and remained so until it was transferred to Sweden in 1645.[23][20]

In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Finnish tribes on the north of the gulf were conquered by the Swedes who then proceeded to the Slavs. The first encounter is attributed to 1142 when 60 Swedish ships attacked 3 Russian merchant vessels. After a Swedish attack in 1256, the Russian army of Alexander Nevsky crossed the frozen gulf and raided the Swedish territories in the modern Finland. In 1293, the Vyborg Castle and city of Vyborg was founded by the Swedish marshal Torkel Knutsson. The castle was fought over for decades between Sweden and the Republic of Novgorod. By the Treaty of Nöteborg in 1323, Vyborg was finally recognized as a part of Sweden. It withstood a prolonged siege by Daniil Shchenya during the Russo–Swedish War of 1496–1499. The town's trade privileges were chartered by King Eric of Pomerania in 1403. Vyborg remained in Swedish hands until its capture by Peter the Great in the Great Northern War (1710).[24]

In 1323, the Treaty of Nöteborg set the border between Sweden and Russia along the river Sestra. In 15th century, the Izhorian lands of the Novgorod Republic were attached to the Grand Duchy of Moscow. In 1550, Gustav I of Sweden founded a city on the site of modern Helsinki.[21] As a result of the Russian defeat in the Ingrian War (1610–1617) and the Treaty of Stolbovo (1617) the lands on the Gulf of Finland and Neva River became part of the Swedish Ingria. Its capital Nyen was located in the delta of Neva River.[24]

Russian period

Russia reclaimed the eastern part of the gulf as a result of the victory in the Great Northern War (1700–1721). On 16 May 1703, St. Petersburg was founded in the mouth of Neva River, not far from Nyen, and in 1712 it became Russia's capital. To protect the city from the Swedish fleet, the Kronshlot fortress was built on an artificial island near the Kotlin Island in May 1704. By 1705, five more such forts were built nearby composing the city Kronstadt. These fortifications, nicknamed by the contemporaries "by Russian Dardanelles, were designed to control the gulf waterway.[25]

In 1710, Petergof and Oranienbaum cities were founded on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland. On 27 July 1714, near Cape Gangut (Hanko peninsula), the Russian fleet defeated the Swedish fleet for the first time in history.[19] The Russo-Swedish war ended in 1721 by the Treaty of Nystad, by wich Russia received all the lands along the Neva and the Gulf of Finland, as well as Estland, Swedish Livonia and western part of Karelian Isthmus including Vyborg. However, Finland was returned to Sweden.[26] The war resumed in (1788–1790), and a major battle occurred on 6 July 1788 near the island Gogland. Both the battle and the war were relatively minor and indecisive, with the outcome of Russia retaining its territories.[19]

The next Russo-Swedish war was fought in (1808–1809). It ended with the Treaty of Fredrikshamn giving the Russia rights on the territory of Finland and Åland Islands. The newly established in 1809 Grand Duchy of Finland received broad autonomy within the Russian Empire, and on 6 December 1917, the Parliament of Finland declared the Finnish Declaration of Independence. As a result of the first Soviet-Finnish War of 1918–1920, Finland acquired Western Karelia up to the river Sister. This area was returned to the Soviet Union after the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939–1940.[19]

Estonia declared independence on 24 February 1918 and fought a similar war of independence. The republic existed until 1940 and then was annexed by the Soviet Union.[20]

Czar Peter en route to the newly built fregate 'Peter and Paul'.jpg
Gangut.jpg
Hoglandbattle.jpg
Russian victory vyborg.jpg
Peter the Great on the frigate "Peter and Paul".
Abraham Storck. 1708		 Battle of Gangut Battle of Hogland Sea battle at Vyborg
Ivan Aivazovsky, 1846
See also: Siege of Leningrad

Gulf of Finland had major naval operations during World War II. In August 1941, during the evacuation of the Baltic Fleet from Tallinn to Kronstadt, Germans sank 15 Russian military and boats (5 destroyers, 2 submarines, 3 guard ships, 2 minesweepers, 2 gunboats and 1 Motor Torpedo Boat) as well as 43 transport and support ships. Several tens ships still remain on the gulf bottom near Cape Juminda, and a monument was raised there in memory of those events.[27][28]

In 1978, construction was started of the Saint Petersburg Dam aiming to protect St. Petersburg from the frequent floods. The work was halted at 60% completion in the late 1980s, due to the financial problems related to the breakup of the Soviet Union; it was resumed in 2001 and is still on-going.[4][29]

Economy

The southern coast of the gulf contains the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant and a network of ports and unique natural and historical places. Navigation has long been the dominant activity in the gulf. The major port cities and their functions are, in Russia: St. Petersburg (all kinds of goods), Kronstadt (container shipping), Lomonosov (general cargo, containers, metals), Vyborg (general cargo), Primorsk (oil and petroleum products), Vysotsk (oil and coal), Ust-Luga (coal, timber, containers);[30] in Finland: Helsinki (containers), Kotka (containers, timber, agricultural products; it is the main transhipment cargo port for Russia), Hanko (containers, vehicles), Turku (containers, rail ferry);[31] in Estonia: Tallinn (grains, refrigerators, oil), Paldiski, Sillamäe. Gulf of Finland is also part of the Volga-Baltic Waterway and White Sea – Baltic Canal. Important goods include apatite from the Kola Peninsula, Karelian granite and greenstone, timber from Arkhangelsk Oblast and Vologda, ferrous metals from Cherepovets, coal from Donetsk and Kuznetsk Basins, pyrite from Ural, potassium chloride from Solikamsk, oil from Volga region, and grains from many regions of Russia.[32]

Passenger transport on the gulf includes a number of ferry lines which connect the following ports: Helsinki and Hanko (Finland), Mariehamn (Åland Islands), Stockholm and Kappelsher (Sweden), Tallinn and Paldiski, Rostock (Germany), St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad (Russia), as well as many other cities.[33][34][35]

Another major and historical activity in the gulf is fishing, especially on the northern coast near Vyborg, Primorsk and on the southern coast near Ust-Luga.[7] Commercial fish species are herring, sprats, European smelt, whitefishes, carp bream, roaches, perch, European eel, lamprey and others.[36] In 2005, the catchment was 2000 tons by the ships of St. Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast alone.[15]

In September 2005 the agreement was signed on the construction of the Nord Stream offshore gas pipeline on the Baltic Sea, from Vyborg to the German city of Greifswald. The first line should become operational in 2011.[37]

St Petersburg port scene.jpg
Tallinn port.jpg
Central Helsinki from plane.jpg
Stroy-b-3.JPG
Big port of Saint Petersburg Near the harbor of Tallinn Aerial view of Helsinki Saint Petersburg Dam

Archaeology

The bottom of the gulf is one of the world's largest ship cemeteries. Because of the low salinity and cold waters, the ships are relatively well preserved. Since the 6th century, major waterways were running through the gulf, and only in the 8th through 10th centuries, about 3,000 tonnes of silver was transported there. Later, the gulf was actively used by Sweden and Russia for transport of goods. Every year saw dozens of lost ships. In the fall of 1743, 17 Russian warships returning from Finland sank in just 7 hours, and in the summer of 1747, 26 merchant vessels sank within 4 hours near Narva. A record was set in 1721 when during the evacuation of Russian troops from Finland, more than 100 vessels were lost within 3 months, including 64 in a single night.[38]

By the end of 1996, about 5000 submerged objects were identified in the Russian part of the gulf, including 2500 ships, 1500 airplanes and small items such as boats, anchor, tanks, tractors, cars, cannons and even naval mines, aerial bombs, torpedoes and other ammunition. The ships belonged to Russia (25%), Germany (19%), United Kingdom (17%), Sweden (15%), Netherlands (8%) and Finland (7%). The remaining 9% are from Norway, Denmark, France, US, Italy, Estonia and Latvia.[39] These objects present potential hazards to navigation, fishery, coastal construction, laying of submarine pipelines and cables and the environment. Mines were laid in the gulf during World War I (38,932 units), Russian Civil War and the Soviet-Finnish War of (1939–1940) with an estimated total number of 60,000; about 85,000 more mines were set during World War II, and only a fraction of all those was eliminated after the wars.[40][41]

Major cities

  • Lomonosov
  • Loviisa
  • Maardu
  • Narva-Jõesuu

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Limits of Oceans and Seas, 3rd edition". International Hydrographic Organization. 1953. http://www.iho-ohi.net/iho_pubs/standard/S-23/S23_1953.pdf. Retrieved 6 February 2010. 
  2. ↑ Gerold Wefer (2002). Climate development and history of the North Atlantic realm. Springer. pp. 217–219. ISBN 3540432019. http://books.google.com/books?id=LElrclnl0C8C&pg=PA217. 
  3. ↑ Darinskii, A.V. (1982). Geography of Leningrad. Lenizdat. pp. 12–18. http://books.google.com/books?id=KuRdPAAACAAJ. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 St. Petersburg: Encyclopedia. - Moscow: Russian Political Encyclopedia. 2006 ISBN 5-8110-0107-X
  5. ↑ Gulf of Finland Encyclopedia Britannica
  6. ↑ Operational oceanography: the challenge for European co-operation : proceedings of the First International Conference on EuroGOOS, 7-11 October, 1996, The Hague, The Netherlands, Volume 1996. Elsevier. p. 336. ISBN 0444828923. http://books.google.co.jp/books?id=ouOA81nGkGkC&pg=PA336&lpg=PA336&dq=gulf+%22freezes+completely%22+finland&source=bl&ots=s-7zIW7pwY&sig=t1pLOz-qisyoogKLWuTkBD5Ja44&hl=en&ei=Lo0kTOOJFYOqccWktK8C&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CB8Q6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=gulf%20%22freezes%20completely%22%20finland&f=false. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Darinskii, A. V. Leningrad Oblast. Lenizdat, 1975
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Khazanovich K. (1982). Geological Monuments of Leningrad Oblast. Lenizdat. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Atlas of the USSR. - M.: GUGK, 1984
  10. ↑ Gulf of Finland - Forts
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Gulf of Finland - Nature
  12. ↑ Fishing page of Saint-Petersburg
  13. ↑ "Within the next two years, St. Petersburg will be cleaned of almost 100% of wastewater" (in Russian). RIA Novosti. 20 November 2009. http://eco.rian.ru/shortage/20091020/189781554.html. 
  14. ↑ "Clean Neva". Greenpeace. http://www.greenpeace.org/russia/ru/save-neva/project. 
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 of ports in the Gulf of destroying fish
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Databases of the gulf ecology and their structure
  17. ↑ Stolyarova, Galina (27 July 2010). "Russia Shamed by Ecology Record on Baltic Sea". The Saint Petersburg Times. http://www.times.spb.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=32045. Retrieved 27 July 2010. 
  18. ↑ Radioactive draft from a window to Europe
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 Great Russian Encyclopedia. "Russia". 2004
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 Countries and Peoples: USSR. Baltic republics. Belarus. Ukraine. Moldova. - Moscow: Mysl, 1984.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 A. F. Treshnikov Encyclopedic Dictionary of Geography: Geographical names - Moscow: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1983.
  22. ↑ Frucht, Richard (2005). Eastern Europe. ABC-CLIO. p. 70. ISBN 1576078000. http://books.google.com/books?id=lVBB1a0rC70C&dq. 
  23. ↑ Williams, Nicola; Debra Herrmann, Cathryn Kemp (2003). Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania. University of Michigan. p. 190. ISBN 1740591321. http://books.google.com/books?q=%22Saaremaa+became+a+Danish+possession+in+1573%22&btnG=Search+Books. 
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 V. A. Ezhov Leningrad Oblast: a historical sketch, Lenizdat, 1986 (in Russian)
  25. ↑ Lisaevich, Irina Ignatyevna (1986). Domenico Trezzini. Lenizdat. pp. 20–26. 
  26. ↑ Lurie, F.M. Russian and world history in the tables: Synchronic table. - SPb.: Caravelle, 1995.
  27. ↑ Tallinn transition 1941. War at Sea
  28. ↑ Platonov, A.V. Tragedies of the Gulf of Finland. Penguin Books, St. Petersburg: Terra Fantastica, 2005
  29. ↑ Dam. A Complex of protection measures of St. Petersburg against Flood
  30. ↑ Ports of the Gulf of Finland
  31. ↑ Ports. Changes in the Finnish ports
  32. ↑ Russian river fleet and tourism, INFOFLOT.RU
  33. ↑ 20286/0/"From St. Petersburg to Helsinki ferry, 7 July 2008
  34. ↑ Ferry traffic between Finland and Russia starts in April 2010
  35. ↑ News of the week-Expert Online 2.0, expert.ru
  36. ↑ Darinskii, A.V. (1982). Geography of Leningrad. Lenizdat. pp. 30–34. http://books.google.com/books?id=KuRdPAAACAAJ. 
  37. ↑ Nord Stream
  38. ↑ Underwater discoveries in the eastern Gulf of Finland
  39. ↑ Catalog and atlas of objects on the bottom of the Baltic sea and finds of the remains of ancient ships at the bottom of the Gulf of Finland
  40. ↑ Hazardous Objects
  41. ↑ "Atlas of ships sunken in the Baltic Sea" (in Russian). Izvestia.ru. 11 January 2004. http://www.izvestia.ru/news/news70701. 

External links

Landing stages of Russian coast in Gulf of Finland
North gulf coast (Leningrad Oblast)
Miller's pier  · 1875 - 19XX  • Dubkovsky pier · 1847 - before 1870  • Tarkhovka pier • Lisy Nos pier · 1894 - 1928
 Ship and train at Miller's pier
South gulf coast (Leningrad Oblast)
Peterhof landing stage  · 1XXX
See also: ,