Kuma-Manych Depression

a troughlike tectonic depression separating the Ciscaucasian area from the steppes and semi-deserts in the southern part of the East European Plain and connecting the Kuban’-Azov and Caspian lowlands. Width, 20-30 km, decreasing to 1-2 km in the central part. In the Anthropogene it was a sea strait connecting the ancient Black Sea and Caspian Sea basins. At present the depression is occupied by a system of lakes and reservoirs, including Lake Manych-Gudilo (the largest and a saltwater lake) and the Veselyi Reservoir with the drainage of the Manych River into the lower course of the Don. The Kuma-Manych Canal has been dug to the east where the periodically dry channel of the Vostochnyi Manych had been. The easternmost part of the Kuma-Manych Depression is occupied by the lower course of the Kuma River.