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. Belongs to the four largest bays of the White Sea and is located on its southeast side.
White Sea
This is the inland sea on the territory of the Russian Federation (the Arctic Ocean basin). In ancient times, it was considered the gulf of the ocean and was called Gandvik. The Arctic Ocean was also called. This is a small sea of Russia, only the Azov Sea is smaller than it. On its surface, with an area of less than 90 thousand kilometers, there are many small islands. Of these, the most famous are the Solovetsky.
The White Sea and the Barents Sea are interconnected by a strait called the Throat, which the Pomors call the “Girl”. The central part of the White Sea, where the Dvina Bay flows, is a closed basin with a maximum depth of 340 meters. In the Throat, connecting the two seas, there is a threshold that closes the exchange of deep waters. The water in the sea is slightly salted. This is due to the fact that there is a large influx of water from the rivers and there is practically no influx from the Barents Sea.
It has four large bays - Onega, Dvina, Mezen Bay, Kandalaksha Bay. The shores of Onega and Kandalaksha bays are indented with numerous small bays. The western shores are steep, steep, and the eastern shores are gentle and low. In the very center of the sea there is a circular flow directed counterclockwise.
Bay Characteristics
The White Sea Bay, called Dvinskaya 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 over the entire length of the cliffs, consisting of clay sandstones and formed by the Winter Mountains, which south of Cape Zimnegorsky are reduced. Further to the mouth of the Northern Dvina, the area is a flat lowland.
The summer coast is also low-lying, and only to the west, after flowing into the Gulf of the Solza River, it becomes higher, and not far from the coast there are small hills up to 80 meters high. The islands formed by the Northern Dvina Delta, as well as the entire coast of the bay, are covered with forest, most of which are conifers.
Bay depths and bottom topography
The largest depth of the Gulf of Dvina Bay is 100 meters (in its middle). As you approach the coast, the height from the surface to the bottom decreases markedly. The most in-depth coastal strip is in the southwestern and northeastern parts of the bay. The most even relief, not particularly dangerous when swimming, has the middle part of the lip. The rest of the bottom is a certain danger. The ground surface in the middle of the bay is silty, sandy at the Winter coast, sandy ground at the Summer coast interspersed with fine stone.
Ebbs and flows
Tides come to the bay from the northwest (NW) and move in the middle of the bay to the southeast (SO). This makes it possible to suspend or reduce the rise in water level (the so-called Manicha) in the bars of the Northern Dvina. Ebb currents go in the opposite direction. It is noticed that during high water tides are not observed. During the passage of low tides, the speed of the river increases.
Icing
In the north-west of Russia, where the Dvinskaya Bay is located, it is subject to severe frosts in winter, so most water surfaces are covered with a thick layer of ice. In the gulf, it initially begins from the beginning of November south of Cape Kerets and north of it, and throughout the gulf this process lasts until the beginning of December. Opening of the ice cover in the bay takes place from late April to early May. Navigation opens after cleaning the Throat, located in the White Sea. A large number of ice floes can be concentrated here.
Parking spaces
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 Severnaya Dvina River. The most convenient anchorage in the Gulf of Dvina are places near Cape Kerets, at the settlements of Kuya and Big Kozly, in the north-west of the southern tip of the island of Mudyug, in the arms of the Northern Dvina.
Rivers carrying water to Dvina Bay
The bay received its name from the Severnaya Dvina River, the largest waterway that flows into the White Sea. In addition to it, many rivers and rivulets of the region flow into the lip, such as Solza, Chukchi, Suzma, Nenoksa, Mudyuga and many others. All rivers, except the Northern Dvina, have no navigational significance; entry into them in the bay can only be done on boats or boats.
Delta of the Northern Dvina
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 that form a river delta when it flows into the bay. The largest width of the delta is 18 kilometers, its total area approximately reaches 900 square kilometers.
At the very beginning of the delta is the city of Novodvinsk. 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 is going into a single channel, and below the city it forms a delta, consisting of several large branches that flow into the Dvina Bay.
History of land development
The territory of the Summer Coast in the XI-XIV centuries was part of the Zavolochye, located from the north-east of Lake Onega to the north of the White Sea along the rivers Pecher, Northern Dvina, Mezen. This land has always been rich in game animals, including for furs, as well as fish and salt lands. The riches of the northern nature attracted Russians to these lands. This land has been known to Novgorodians since the 11th century. The White Sea was of great importance for trade navigation. In the XV century, this territory entered the Moscow state.
The earliest settlement near the sea coast is Kholmogory, located on the Northern Dvina. It was from here in 1492 that Russian merchant ships departed, holding their way to Denmark, loaded with grain. The ambassadors of Tsar Ivan III set off for them, carrying 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 Dvina Bay and the settlement of Kholmogory was the ship of England, Eduard Bonaventure, whose commander set off for Moscow upon arrival and was received by Ivan the Terrible.
In 1584, the city of Novye Kholmogory was built on the territory located on the delta of the Northern Dvina River, which flows into the White Sea, which was later renamed Arkhangelsk. Until the appearance of St. Petersburg and Murmansk with access to the ice-free Kola Bay, it remained the main port, through which trade with Europe was carried out. A major drawback of the trade route through the White Sea was that it was covered with ice for almost five months a year.