East China Sea: geographical characteristics, climate, features

Donghai, Namhae, Dong Hai, Pinyin - this water area of the Pacific has many names. Three ancient civilizations of mankind were born on its shores and reached their heyday: Chinese, Japanese and Korean. Its shelf is rich in huge reserves of gas and oil. Who will develop this wealth, depends on how the issue of belonging to some islands will be decided, and what the political map will look like. The East China Sea, in whose waters lobsters and giant crabs are caught, gather trepal and algae where pearls are grown and salt evaporation is a real natural treasure. Let's get acquainted with this water area closer.

East China Sea on the map

This sea is part of the Pacific Ocean. It is located at the eastern coast of Asia. If we ask ourselves whether this is an internal sea, the map shows us that it is semi-enclosed. From the main part of the Pacific Ocean it is separated by the Japanese islands of Ryukyu and Kyushu. In the west, China's coast is the natural boundary. The southern cordon is the island of Taiwan. If you look to the north, then from this side the East China Sea through the Korean Strait connects with the Yellow and Japanese. It should be said that the straits near the Ryukyu islands are very deep - up to 1572 meters. On the political map of the world, the sea is located between China, Korea and Japan. This explains the many names of the water area. After all, every nation calls it depending on its location relative to the country. Chinese word "Donghai" means "East Sea", Korean "Namha" - "Southern". And the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan since 2004 calls this water area very flamboyant. Because of territorial disputes with the PRC because of Senkaku Island, and with Korea because of Socotra, it is referred to in official documents as "The East's Sea".

Geographical characteristics

The area of the water area is more than eight hundred and thirty thousand square kilometers. At an average depth of 349 meters, the bottom is very uneven. In the west, reefs, shallows, banks are not rare. Compounding the complexity of navigation and the turbidity of the Yangtze - the most abundant and longest river of the Eurasian continent. Reefs and bottom sediments, which are rich in the western part of the East China Sea, are difficult to map on a map. There are often earthquakes that not only change the relief of the shelf, but also cause a tsunami. In addition, about three to four times a year, typhoons sweep through the water area causing major destruction. Maximum depth (2719 meters) in the east of the sea. The average salinity of water is 33 ppm, at the mouth of large rivers this figure drops to 5 ‰. On the west coast, there are semidiurnal tides up to seven and a half meters.

Climate

In the subtropical belt, where the East China Sea is located, the water never freezes. Even in its northern part in winter, the temperature does not drop below +7 ° C. The coldest thing here is in February. But even then in the south of the water the water has a temperature index of +16 ° C. But in August it warms up to + 27-28 ° C. But the weather here is very changeable. The warm current of the Kuroshio and cold masses of air from the mainland create fogs, rains, drizzle during the winter. In the summer, the East China Sea is in the area of monsoons. In the tropical belt, typhoons are emerging, which move in a northerly direction, causing heavy winds, storms and torrential rains. This greatly complicates the navigation. But nevertheless, the water area is the most important transport artery. Through it pass the way to the Yellow, Japanese and Philippine seas. Therefore, because of him, and there are conflicts.

Biological resources

Thanks to the warm climate, the East China Sea can boast of a species diversity of flora and fauna. The abundance of phytoplankton, as well as green, red and brown algae increases from west to east. For a long time fish industry, extraction of pearls and molluscs have been conducted in this area. On an industrial scale here are caught tuna, sardines, mackerel, herring, flounder, many species of sharks. Especially prized is the local "dairy" fish of Hanos with very tender meat. It is even grown in artificial conditions. The East China Sea is also rich in waterfowl mammals. Among them, mention should be made of dugongs, seals and numerous species of dolphins. But since the water area is poor in plankton, the waters of the sea never attract blue whales.