Fact #36
One of the largest deserts in Europe is located in Ukraine.
There is a desert in Ukraine. And this desert occupies 210,000 hectares.
Oleshkiv sands consist of boundless dunes (local residents call them “kuchugurs”) about 5 m high with sparse vegetation. These sands are located in the Tsyurupin district (the old name Tsyurupinska – Oleshki), 30 kilometers east of Kherson.
The Dnieper sands have existed for a long time, but the Oleshkiv desert in its current form appeared relatively recently: due to the grazing of huge flocks of sheep in the 19th century, which destroyed the grass, the sands were freed, and wind erosion gave them the opportunity to expand.
Oleshkiv sands can be attributed to semi-deserts based on the temperature regime and the amount of precipitation.
In summer, the sand heats up to 70 degrees. Sandstorms happen here. In the desert at a depth of 300-400 m there is a fresh underground lake with very tasty water. However, scientists have researched that it is not possible to extract water from here on a large scale, because the water level will decrease, and the forests that are planted around the desert will not be able to contain the sand. The nearest settlement is about seven kilometers away.
Fact #37
The only underwater river in the world.
The world’s only underwater river was discovered in the Black Sea. British scientists have found the only underwater river in the world ocean at the bottom of the Black Sea. This discovery was made by scientists from the English University of Leeds, who conducted scientific research here.
The river was found to be 37 nautical miles long, over half a mile wide, and flowing at 4 miles per hour (about 7.5 km/h). The river carries colossal volumes of water – 22,000 cubic meters per second. If this river were on land, it would rank sixth in the world according to this indicator.
Fact #38
The longest plaster cave in the world.
The longest gypsum cave in the world and the second in length (second only to the Mammoth Cave in the USA) is called “Optimistic” and is located in Podilla. This is a gypsum cave at a depth of 20 m and a length of 216 km.