Caspian Sea the east often changed course to empty into the Caspian through a now-desiccated riverbed called the Uzboy River, as did the Syr Darya farther north. The Caspian also has several small islands; they are primarily located in the north and have a collective land area of roughly . Adjacent to the North Caspian is the Caspian Depression, a low-lying region below sea level. The Central Asian steppes stretch across the northeast coast, while the Caucasus mountains hug the western shore. The biomes to both the north and east are characterized by cold, continental deserts. Conversely, the climate to the southwest
Caspian Sea Monster fly high. In the 1980s, after the KM was already destroyed, the United States discovered it was a large ekranoplan. The development of ground effect vehicles was not as widespread in the West as in the Soviet Union. Caspian Sea Monster The KM (Korabl Maket) (Russian: Корабль-макет, literally "Ship-prototype"), known colloquially as the Caspian Sea Monster, was a Soviet experimental ground effect vehicle (ekranoplan) developed by the Central Hydrofoil Design Bureau in the 1960s. The KM began operation in 1966, and was continuously tested by the Soviet Navy until 1980, when it was destroyed in a testing accident and sank