Kronstadt Sea-gauge

Categories / Army. Navy/Baltic Fleet
KRONSTADT SEA-GAUGE, a metal rod with marks for measuring the Baltic sea level. It was installed at the beginning of the 19th century on the abutment of the bridge across Obvodny (Provodnoy) Canal in Kronstadt. Kronstadt sea-gauge is an important reference mark for depth measurements in Russia, and one of the world's oldest in the international network of waters depth gauges. The first published results of the water level monitoring using the Kronstadt sea-gauge date back to 1804. Since 1841 zero-points on Kronstadt sea-gauge have been synchronized with the average depth level of the Baltic sea (the latter was calculated by M.F. Reinecke based on the research data obtained in 1825-40 in Kronstadt and sealed with a special sign on the abutment of the same bridge). Prior to 1898, the observations using the Kronstadt sea-gauge were conducted daily at the fixed time. Since 1898, they have been conducted by a floating gauge (mareograph), located near Kronstadt sea-gauge. The zero-point of Kronstadt sea-gauge has been taken as the initial (zero) level for surveying river depths in Russia. During the construction of protective structures, alternative sea-gauges were built to preserve the level of Kronstadt sea-gauge zero-point: the reference mark in Shepelevo village and three reference rods in Lomonosov, Kronstadt and Shepelevo. In 1982, on the recommendation of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, the Leningrad executive committee adopted the resolution to found the Leningrad Earth Geodynamic and Sea Level Research Facility based on these precise benchmarks; specializing in the study of sea level fluctuations, plate tectonics, geophysical parametre variations caused by different geodynamic factors.