Black Sea–Caspian Steppe The Manych Depression is not much more than 65 feet above sea level and the area around Astrakhan and part of Kalmykia is below sea level. Rivers: Through the center runs the northwest-tending Kuma-Manych Depression. This was once a strait connecting the Black and Caspian Seas and is now marked by the Manych River which is basically a chain of lakes. It will probably be the route of the Eurasia Canal if that great engineering work is ever built. In the south the rivers that flow north from the Caucasus are caught by the west-flowing Kuban River and the east-flowing
Black Sea and Caspian Squadron Black Sea and Caspian Squadron The Black Sea and Caspian Squadron also known as the Black Sea and Marmora Force and the Black Sea and Marmora Division was naval formation of the British Mediterranean Fleet from 1918 to 1919. On 19 December 1918 the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet instructed Rear-Admiral Michael Culme-Seymour then commanding British Aegean Squadron that he was to be re-assigned to a new command appointment. On 1 January he transferred his current command to Commodore Maurice Fitzmaurice and assumed authority for the Black Sea, Caspian Sea, Sea of Azov and Sea of Marmora.. The squadron was involved in