----------------------------Original message---------------------------- Yes, there is a Manych Depression (Manychskaya Vpadina in Russian). It is located in southern Russia, a bit north of the Caucasus Mountains. The depression runs in a northwest-southeast direction roughly parallel to the mountains. A Lake Manych (46 degrees 15 minutes North, 42 degrees 45 minutes East) approximately midway between the Caspian Sea and Sea of Azov is about mid-point. It is not a deep depression, so it does not show on many maps. A Russian geography text by Theodore Shabad mentions that the soviets actually began trying to dig a canal between the two seas, only to have the project interrupted by World War II. Dean Westmeyer [log in to unmask]