History and prospects of research of the Black Sea estuaries

Black Sea estuaries are phenomenon of geological nature and are not only an important component of the Black Sea geoecosystem, but also they are important component of local and regional ecological, socioeconomic systems of the coastal territory of Ukraine. Affecting the livelihoods and wellbeing of the population of these systems, estuaries from ancient times have attracted the attention of researchers. Unfortunately, the ecological status of these reservoirs has been worsening over the last decades because of the complex of reasons that require comprehensive study, analysis, development and implementation of a specific system of action, which cannot be realized without knowing at least the major milestones in the history of the research of these unique formations. Based on the published materials, information on the history of studies of estuaries of the northwestern Black Sea coast has been systematized. The history of the research has been reproduced in chronological order for the largest estuaries of the Black Sea, taking into account the current level of their study and identifying the main problems regarding their ecological status. The article gives a brief description of the current conditions and status of the largest Black Sea estuaries and some facts from the history of their research. In order to preserve the natural value of estuaries for their further research and rational use, the authors propose to use the methodology, the basic component of which is the geoecosystem paradigm, and henceforth study each estuary as a complete geoecological system taking into account all its components (subsystems), elements and conditions, which affect the formation and functioning of all components and the system as a whole. Geoecosystem paradigm together with a certain ecological and economic approach will allow to study in detail the geoecological conditions of water area of estuaries and adjacent territories, to evaluate their geoecological systems in terms of the prospects for their provision of certain services to the individual and / or society. Geoecosystem paradigm also allows to draw conclusions on optimizing the use of resources of these estuaries