Dvinskaya Bay is a bay of the White Sea. Located in the north of the Russian Federation, in the Arkhangelsk region. It got its name from the Northern Dvina river, which carries its waters into it. It belongs to the four largest bays of the White Sea and is located on its southeastern side.
White Sea
This is an inland sea on the territory of the Russian Federation (the basin of the Arctic Ocean). In ancient times, it was considered a bay of the ocean and was called Gandvik. It was also called the Arctic Ocean. This is a small sea of Russia, only Azov is smaller than it. On its surface, which has an area of less than 90 thousand kilometers, there are many small islands. Of these, the most famous are the Solovetsky.
The White and Barents Seas are connected by a strait called Throat, which Pomors call "girl". The central part of the White Sea, where the Dvina Bay flows into, is a closed basin with a maximum depth of 340 meters. In Gorla, which connects the two seas, there is a threshold that closes the exchange of deep waters. The water in the sea is slightly s alty. This is due to the fact that therea large inflow of water from rivers and almost no inflow from the Barents Sea.
It has four large bays - Onega, Dvina, Mezen Bay, Kandalaksha Bay. The shores of the Onega and Kandalaksha bays are indented by numerous small bays. The western shores are steep, precipitous, the eastern shores are gentle and low. In the very center of the sea there is a circular current, directed counterclockwise.
Characteristics of the Gulf
The bay of the White Sea, called the Dvina Bay, is formed by two capes - Zimnegorsky and Gorboluksky. It has the following dimensions: length 93 kilometers, width at the entrance - 130 km. In the northeast it is bounded by the Winter Coast, in the southeast by the Summer Coast. The first is along the entire length of the cliffs, consisting of argillaceous sandstones and formed by the Winter Mountains, which decrease to the south of Cape Zimnegorsky. Further to the mouth of the Northern Dvina, the area is a flat lowland.
The summer coast is also low, and only to the west, after flowing into the bay of the Solza River, it becomes higher, and not far from the coast there are small, up to 80 meters high, hills. The islands formed by the Northern Dvina delta, as well as the entire shore of the bay, are covered with forest, most of which is coniferous.
Gulf depths and bottom topography
The greatest depth of the Dvinskaya Bay is 100 meters (in its middle). As you approach the shores, the height from the surface to the bottom decreases markedly. The deepest coastal strip is in the southwestern and northeastern parts of the bay. The most even relief, which does not pose a particular danger when swimming, has the middle part of the lip. The rest of the bottom poses a certain danger. The ground surface in the middle of the bay is silty, sandy near the Winter Coast, sandy soil mixed with small stones near the Summer Coast.
Ebb and flow
Tides enter the bay from the northwest (NW) and move down the middle of the bay to the southeast (SO). This makes it possible to stop or reduce the rise in the water level (the so-called maniha) in the bars of the Northern Dvina. Ebb currents run in the opposite direction. It is noted that no tides are observed during high water. During low tides, the speed of the river increases greatly.
Freeze up
The northwest of Russia, where the Dvinskaya Bay is located, is subject to severe frosts in winter, so most water surfaces are covered with a thick layer of ice. In the bay, it initially becomes from the beginning of November to the south of Cape Kerets and to the north of it, and throughout the entire bay, this process lasts until early December. The breakup of the ice cover in the bay occurs from the end of April to the first days of May. Navigation opens after cleaning the Throat, located in the White Sea. A large number of ice floes can concentrate here.
Places suitable for mooring ships
Vessels with a large draft for parking can use places located 3-5 km from the coast between Cape Zimnegorsky and the mouth of the riverNorthern Dvina. The most convenient anchorages in the Dvina Bay are the places near Cape Kerets, near the settlements of Kuya and Bolshie Kozly, in the north-west of the southern tip of Mudyug Island, in the branches of the Northern Dvina.
Rivers carrying water to the Dvina Bay
The bay got its name from the Northern Dvina River, the largest water artery flowing into the White Sea. In addition to it, many rivers and streams of the region flow into the bay, such as Solza, Chukcha, Syuzma, Nenoksa, Mudyuga and many others. All rivers, except for the Northern Dvina, have no navigational value; the entrance along them to the bay can only be made by boats or boats.
Northern Dvina Delta
This is the largest river flowing into the Dvina Bay. After the confluence of the Pinega River, the Northern Dvina forms numerous channels with a large number of islands, which form the river delta when it flows into the bay. The largest width of the delta is 18 kilometers, its total area is approximately 900 square kilometers.
Novodvinsk is located at the very beginning of the delta. At the confluence of the Northern Dvina into the Dvina Bay of the White Sea, there are two large cities in the north-west of Russia - Arkhangelsk and Severodvinsk. Moreover, near the city of Arkhangelsk, the Northern Dvina gathers into a single channel, and below the city it forms a delta, consisting of several large branches flowing into the Dvina Bay.
History of development of the region
The territory of the Summer Coast in the XI-XIV centuries was part of Zavolochye,located from the northeast of Lake Onega to the north of the White Sea along the rivers Pechera, Northern Dvina, Mezen. This land has always been rich in game animals, including furs, as well as fish, s alt lands. The riches of the northern nature attracted Russians to these lands. Novgorodians have known this region since the 11th century. The White Sea was of great importance for trade navigation. In the 15th century, this territory became part of the Muscovite state.
The earliest settlement near the sea coast - Kholmogory, located on the Northern Dvina. It was from here in 1492 that Russian merchant ships departed, heading to Denmark, loaded with grain. They were sent by the ambassadors of Tsar Ivan III, who carried news of the appearance of a port on the Northern Dvina, which flows into the White Sea. The first foreign ship to reach the shores of the Dvinskaya Bay and the settlement of Kholmogory was the ship of England "Eduard Bonaventure", the commander of which, upon arrival, went to Moscow and was at the reception of Ivan the Terrible.
In 1584, on the territory located on the delta of the Northern Dvina River, which flows into the White Sea, the city of Novye Kholmogory was built, which was later renamed Arkhangelsk. Until the advent of St. Petersburg and Murmansk with access to the ice-free Kola Bay, it remained the main port through which trade was carried out with Europe. The big disadvantage of the trade route through the White Sea was that it was covered with ice for almost five months of the year.
