Anthropogenic impact on the shores and the bottom of the Jebriyan bay in the Northwestern part of the Black Sea

The Jebriyan Bay is located in the northern part of the Kiliya Danube Delta, at a junction of the delta cone and the indigenous coast. This is a zone of very high anthropogenic impact on the Danube Biosphere Reserve. The two opposite shores of this bay are fundamentally different. Along the northern shore, the Northwest coastal sand sediment flows discharge from the Cape of the Great Fontanne to the Jebriyan Bay. That is why the northern coast of the bay is made up of sandy forms of coastal topography (marine accumulative terrace and spit). The southern coast is deltaic; composed of a mixture of muddy, siltstone and sandy sediments. The area of the bay is limited to isobaths –11 m and is about 80 km2. The bottom of the bay has a gentle relief, made up of smooth outlines, with an average depth of 6.2 m. The shape of the transverse profile of the underwater slope is mostly convex. The natural system of the bay was affected by fishing, recreation, shipping and industrial sand production on coastal accumulative landforms. Coastal fishing uses a system of fixed bottom seines and small motorized floating equipment. Recreational facilities are designed to serve about 350 thousand people during the warm period each year. The impact of shipping was expressed in the construction and operation of the seaport of Ust-Dunaysk, together with suitable canal and the technical canal between the sea and the branch of the delta breakthrough the system of the large Ochakov branch. The ladle port had an area of about 1.5 km2, a maximal depth of 16 m, and an average depth of 13.7 m. The trough was connected to the Ochakov branch of the Danube Delta by a technical canal with a depth of 4 m. Vessels could enter the harbor of Ust-Danube through an access navigation channel with a depth of 11–12 m and a bottom width of 125 m. The port was used for the transshipment of large containers, general forest cargo from ocean vessels (displacement of 60–100 thousand tons) on regular sea lines from the countries of Southeast Asia to the Black Sea, to the Danube and further to the countries of Central Europe and to the ports of the North and the Baltic Seas. But it was unfortunate that the port construction site did not last as expected. Between 1980–2010 the harbor and approach canal of Ust-Dunaysk were filled with Danube river sediments. The example of Jebriyan Bay has shown that when executing any type of sustainable nature management project, it is very important to take into account the natural milieu.

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Anthropogenic Impact on the Lithodynamics of the Coastal Zone of the Southern and Western Black Sea Coast (Review)

Ekologicheskaya bezopasnost pribrezhnoy i shel fovoy zon morya ◽

10.22449/2413-5577-2021-2-5-29 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

T. V. Efremova ◽

Yu. N. Goryachkin ◽

◽

Keyword(s):

Coastal Zone ◽

Black Sea ◽

Bottom Sediments ◽

Anthropogenic Impact ◽

River Flow ◽

The Black Sea ◽

Negative Consequences ◽

Coastal Zones ◽

Natural Dynamics ◽

The Impact

Anthropogenic impact on lithodynamics of the coastal zone changes the natural dynamics of bottom sediments, which leads to increased abrasion and swelling of beaches, activation of landslide processes creating a threat of destruction of the coastal infrastructure. The article aims at providing an overview of the scientific literature on the anthropogenic impact on lithodynamics of the coastal zone of the southern and western coasts of the Black Sea (shores of Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey). The work shows that with all the differences in the natural conditions of the coastal zones of these countries the types of anthropogenic effects they undergo are almost the same. These include: hydrotechnical construction without regard to the impact on the neighbouring coast sections; reduction of solid river flow due to river regulation by reservoirs; construction of capital facilities directly on the beaches; illegal extraction of sand from beaches and river beds; dredging with sale of the extracted material to construction companies; covering of cliffs by various structures; destruction of coastal dunes, etc. The main negative consequences of these actions are reflected in disruption of natural dynamics and shortages of bottom sediments, changes in the coastline, reduced aesthetic attractiveness and accessibility of shores, destruction of coastal ecosystems. The article also provides information on the legislation of these countries regarding environmental management in the coastal zone

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Spatio-temporal variations of lateral and atmospheric carbon fluxes from the Danube Delta

10.5194/bg-2020-197 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Marie-Sophie Maier ◽

Cristian R. Teodoru ◽

Bernhard Wehrli

Keyword(s):

Surface Area ◽

Black Sea ◽

Carbon Emissions ◽

Danube River ◽

The Black Sea ◽

Danube Delta ◽

Carbon Turnover ◽

Carbon Yield ◽

River Deltas ◽

Net Export

Abstract. River deltas with their mosaic of ponds, channels and seasonally inundated areas act as the last continental hotspots of carbon turnover along the land-ocean aquatic continuum. There is increasing evidence for the important role of riparian wetlands in the transformation and emission of terrestrial carbon to the atmosphere. The considerable spatial heterogeneity of river deltas, however, forms a major obstacle for quantifying carbon emissions and their seasonality. While river reaches crossing the delta can serve as reference systems, delta lakes are often dominated by aquatic production and channels act as collection systems for carbon exported from adjacent wetlands. In order to quantify carbon turnover and emissions in the complex mosaic of the Danube Delta, we conducted monthly field campaigns over two years at 19 sites spanning river reaches, channels and lakes. Here we report greenhouse gas fluxes (CO2 and CH4) from the freshwater systems of the Danube Delta and present the first seasonally resolved estimates of its freshwater carbon emissions to the atmosphere. Furthermore, we quantify the lateral carbon transport of the Danube River to the Black Sea. We estimate the delta’s CO2 and CH4 emissions to be 65 GgC yr−1, of which about 8 % are released as CH4. The median CO2 fluxes from river branches, channels and lakes are 25, 93 and 5.8 mmol m−2 yr−1, respectively. Median total CH4 fluxes amount to 0.42, 2.0 and 1.5 mmol m−2 yr−1. While lakes do have the potential to act as CO2 sinks in summer, they are generally the largest emitters of CH4. Small channels showed the largest range in emissions including a CO2 and CH4 hotspot sustained by adjacent wetlands. The channels thereby contribute disproportionately to the delta’s emissions considering their limited surface area. In terms of lateral export, we estimate the net export of the Danube Delta to the Black Sea to about 160 GgC yr−1, which only marginally increases the carbon load from the upstream river catchment (8490 GgC yr−1) by about 2 %. While this contribution of the delta seems small, deltaic carbon yield (45.6 gC m−2 yr−1, net export load/surface area) is about 4-fold higher than the riverine carbon yield from the catchment (10.6 gC m−2 yr−1).

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On the impact of local natural and climatic conditions of the North-West Caucasus on the vital activities of the population in the context of the observations of I.N. Klingen

Вестник Адыгейского государственного университета, серия «Регионоведение» ◽

10.53598/2410-3691-2021-2-279-27-35 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 27-35

Author(s):

Людмила Васильевна Бурыкина ◽

Лариса Дмитриевна Федосеева

Keyword(s):

Black Sea ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Practical Significance ◽

Nature Management ◽

Anthropogenic Activity ◽

The Black Sea ◽

Black Sea Region ◽

North West ◽

The North ◽

The Impact

В статье предпринят анализ сведений о климате Северо-Западного Кавказа на базе монографии И.Н. Клингена, основанной на материалах комиссии И.С. Хатисова - А.Д. Ротиньянца и других исследователей Причерноморья и содержавшей компетентную и ценную информацию по истории сельского хозяйства шапсугов и убыхов. Несмотря на благоприятные природно-климатические условия, данная территория очень специфична, но это была естественная среда обитания адыгских племен, разработавших самобытные приемы агротехники и особые орудия труда, позволившие им возделывать землю, как на склонах гор, так и в низинах, и собирать значительные урожаи. Адыгскими племенами были выработаны собственные формы адаптации к среде обитания, представлены оригинальные способы жизнедеятельности в сложных климатических условиях, позволившие поддерживать региональную модель стабильного социально-экономического развития со своей этнокультурной спецификой. Проблема воздействия локальных природно-климатических условий на антропогенную деятельность и его отражение на процесс формирования традиции природопользования, земледельческий опыт адыгских племен, изложенный в отчете И.С. Хатисова и монографии И.Н. Клингена, не утратили актуальности и в современных условиях, поскольку сходы селевых потоков, водная эрозия с разрушительными последствиями стали настоящим бичом для хозяйств, курортов и простых граждан. Культура земледелия причерноморских адыгов была и остается самой разумной для этой территории и имеет не только научно-познавательное, но и практическое значение. The paper undertakes an attempt to analyze information about the climate of the North-West Caucasus basing on a monograph by I.N. Klingen. This monograph was based on the materials of the Commission of I.S. Khatisov-A.D. Rotinyants and other researchers of the Black Sea region. It contains competent and valuable information on the history of agriculture of the Shapsugs and Ubykhs. Despite favorable natural and climatic conditions, this territory is very specific. In this natural habitat, the Adyghe tribes developed original techniques of agricultural machinery and special tools that allowed them to cultivate land both on the slopes of the mountains and in the lowlands, and take significant crops. The Adyghe tribes developed their own forms of adaptation to the habitat, presented original ways of living in difficult climatic conditions, which made it possible to maintain a regional model of stable socio-economic development with its ethnocultural specificity. The problem of the impact of local natural and climatic conditions on anthropogenic activity and its reflection on the process of forming the tradition of nature management, the agricultural experience of the Adyghe tribes, set out in the report of I.S. Khatisov and the monograph by I.N. Klingen, have not lost their relevance in modern conditions. Rural mudflows, water erosion with destructive consequences have become a real scourge for farms, resorts and simple citizens. The culture of agriculture of the Adyghes living in the Black Sea region was and remains the most reasonable for this territory and has not only scientific and cognitive, but also practical significance.

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Sedimentary microplastic concentrations from the Romanian Danube River to the Black Sea

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-81724-4 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Iulian Pojar ◽

Adrian Stănică ◽

Friederike Stock ◽

Christian Kochleus ◽

Michael Schultz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Black Sea ◽

Danube River ◽

The Black Sea ◽

Danube Delta ◽

Black Sea Coast ◽

River Danube ◽

Terrestrial Environments ◽

Ultimate Fate ◽

First Time ◽

Sea Coast

AbstractA multitude of recent studies have detailed microplastic concentrations in aquatic and terrestrial environments, although questions remain over their ultimate fate. At present, few studies have detailed microplastic characteristics and abundance along a freshwater–marine interface, and considerable uncertainties remain over the modelled contribution of terrestrial and riverine microplastic to the world’s oceans. In this article, for the first time, we detail sedimentary microplastic concentrations along a River–Sea transect from the lower reaches of a major continental river, the River Danube, through the Danube Delta, the Black Sea coast to the Romanian and Bulgarian inner shelf of the Black Sea. Our results indicate that isolated areas of the Danube Delta are still relatively pristine, with few microplastic particles in some of the sediments sampled.

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Spatio-temporal variations in lateral and atmospheric carbon fluxes from the Danube Delta

Biogeosciences ◽

10.5194/bg-18-1417-2021 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (4) ◽

pp. 1417-1437

Author(s):

Marie-Sophie Maier ◽

Cristian R. Teodoru ◽

Bernhard Wehrli

Keyword(s):

Organic Carbon ◽

Surface Area ◽

Black Sea ◽

Carbon Emissions ◽

Danube River ◽

The Black Sea ◽

Danube Delta ◽

Carbon Turnover ◽

Carbon Yield ◽

River Deltas

Abstract. River deltas, with their mosaic of ponds, channels and seasonally inundated areas, act as the last continental hot spots of carbon turnover along the land–ocean aquatic continuum. There is increasing evidence for the important role of riparian wetlands in the transformation and emission of terrestrial carbon to the atmosphere. The considerable spatial heterogeneity of river deltas, however, forms a major obstacle for quantifying carbon emissions and their seasonality. The water chemistry in the river reaches is defined by the upstream catchment, whereas delta lakes and channels are dominated by local processes such as aquatic primary production, respiration or lateral exchange with the wetlands. In order to quantify carbon turnover and emissions in the complex mosaic of the Danube Delta, we conducted monthly field campaigns over 2 years at 19 sites spanning river reaches, channels and lakes. Here we report on the greenhouse gas fluxes (CO2 and CH4) from the freshwater systems of the Danube Delta and present the first seasonally resolved estimates of its freshwater carbon emissions to the atmosphere. Furthermore, we quantify the lateral carbon transport of the Danube River to the Black Sea. We estimate the delta's CO2 and CH4 emissions to be 65 GgC yr−1 (30–120 GgC yr−1, a range calculated using 25 to 75 percentiles of observed fluxes), of which about 8 % are released as CH4. The median CO2 fluxes from river branches, channels and lakes are 25, 93 and 5.8 mmol m−2 d−1, respectively. Median total CH4 fluxes amount to 0.42, 2.0 and 1.5 mmol m−2 d−1. While lakes do have the potential to act as CO2 sinks in summer, they are generally the largest emitters of CH4. Small channels showed the largest range in emissions, including a CO2 and CH4 hot spot sustained by adjacent wetlands. Thereby, the channels contribute disproportionately to the delta's emissions, considering their limited surface area. In terms of lateral export, we estimate the net total export (the sum of dissolved inorganic carbon, DIC, dissolved organic carbon, DOC, and particulate organic carbon, POC) from the Danube Delta to the Black Sea to be about 160 ± 280 GgC yr−1, which only marginally increases the carbon load from the upstream river catchment (8490 ± 240 GgC yr−1) by about 2 %. While this contribution from the delta seems small, deltaic carbon yield (45.6 gC m−2 yr−1; net export load/surface area) is about 4 times higher than the riverine carbon yield from the catchment (10.6 gC m−2 yr−1).

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Danube Delta: Water Management on the Sulina Channel in the Frame of Environmental Sustainability

10.5772/intechopen.97877 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Igor Cretescu ◽

Zsofia Kovacs ◽

Liliana Lazar ◽

Adrian Burada ◽

Madalina Sbarcea ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Black Sea ◽

Environmental Sustainability ◽

Treatment Plant ◽

Seasonal Fluctuation ◽

Biosphere Reserve ◽

Danube River ◽

The Black Sea ◽

Danube Delta ◽

Limit Value ◽

Two Factors

The Danube Delta is the newest land formed by both transporting sediments brought by Danube River, which flows into the Black Sea and by traversing an inland region where water spreads and deposits sediments. Diurnal tidal action is low (only 8–9 cm), therefore the sediments would wash out into the water body faster than the river deposits it. However, a seasonal fluctuation of water level of 20 cm was observed in the Black Sea, contributing to alluvial landscape evolution in the Danube Delta. The Danube Delta is a very low flat plain, lying 0.52 m above Mean Black Sea Level with a general gradient of 0.006 m/km and only 20% of the delta area is below zero level. The main control on deposition, which is a combination of river, wind-generated waves, and tidal processes, depends on the strength of each one. The other two factors that play a major role are landscape position and the grain size distribution of the source sediment entering the delta from the river. The Danube Delta is a natural protected area in the South-Eastern part of Romania, declared a Biosphere Reserve through the UNESCO “Man and Biosphere” Programme. Water is a determining factor for all the human settlements in the Biosphere Reserve, the whole Danube Delta being structured by the three branches of the Danube (Chilia, Sulina and Sfantu Gheorghe (Saint George)). Our case study is focused on the Sulina branch, also named Sulina Channel, which offers the shortest distance between the Black Sea (trough Sulina Port) and Tulcea (the most important city of the Danube Delta from economic, social and cultural points of view) for both fluvial and marine ships. The improvement of water resources management is the main topic of this chapter, in terms of water quality indicators, which will be presented in twenty-nine monitoring points, starting since a few years ago and updated to nowadays. During the study period, significant exceedances of the limit value were detected in case of nitrate-N (3.9–4.6 mg/L) at the confluence (CEATAL 2) with the Saint George branch and in the Sulina Channel after the Wastewaters Treatment Plant (WWTP) discharge area, as well as near two settlements, namely Gorgova and Maliuc. The higher concentrations of Nitrogen-based nutrients were caused by the leakage from the old sewage systems (where these exist) and the diffuse loads.

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The Pliocene deposits of the Black Sea Shelf east of the Danube River Delta

Geological Society London Special Publications ◽

10.1144/sp505-2019-102 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. SP505-2019-102

Author(s):

Petro F. Gozhik ◽

Valery E. Rokitsky

Keyword(s):

Black Sea ◽

River Delta ◽

Danube River ◽

Core Material ◽

The Black Sea ◽

Danube Delta ◽

The Danube River ◽

Continental Deposits ◽

Circular Current ◽

The One

AbstractThis paper provides analysis of the published materials on the occurrences of the Dacian and Cimmerian molluscs in the Danube River valley as well as the results of Pliocene sediments study based on core material of the boreholes drilled at the Black Sea Shelf east of the Danube River Delta.In the early Pontian time, the Dacian Basin was a large sub-basin of Paratethys which, due to an abrupt drop in sea level, separated into the Euxinian, Dacian and Caspian basins. At the end of the Bosphorus time, the discharge of the Dacian Basin waters into the Euxinian Basin formed a wide valley from the Galati-Reni region to the east through the Galati gateway. During the Cimmerian transgression, a vast bay existed on the site of the modern Danube Delta, from which mutual migrations of the Dacian and Cimmerian molluscs took place along the runoff valley. The cessation of runoff occurred during the regressive phase of the Late Cimmerian. The rhythmically bedded thick strata originated during the existence of the runoff valley. These strata were identified as the Pridanubian Formation (Suite). The cryptogenic form of Tulotoma Tulotoma (=Viviparus) ovidii nasonis (Bogachev) is characteristic of the lower and middle parts of the suite. The presence of the Dacian and Cimmerian molluscs in this suite became the basis for the correlation of sediments of the Dacian and Cimmerian regional stages. The Duabian molluscs were registered in the Cimmerian deposits of the Transcaucasus (the Duabian layers), Priazovye and the Kerch–Taman region. The migration of these molluscs took place during the regressive phases due to the circular current in the Euxinian Basin similar to the one existing in the Black Sea today.The Pliocene formation contains marine and continental deposits of the Lower and Upper Pliocene, which are represented by the Pridanubian Formation (Lower and Upper), Cimmerian deposits (non-subdivided Lower and Middle Cimmerian), Lower Kujalnician deposits, Upper Poration deposits, complex of red-coloured palaeosols (the Upper Miocene–Lower Pliocene non-subdivided).The formation of the Pliocene sediments on the Black Sea Shelf, east of the Danube Delta, was controlled by the inter-basin connectivity of the Eastern Paratethys.

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Comprehensive studies of different types of river mouths (on the example of the river mouths in the north-western part of the Black Sea)

10.22449/978-5-6043409-2-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

R.Ya. Minkovskaya ◽

Keyword(s):

Black Sea ◽

Nature Management ◽

Anthropogenic Factors ◽

The Black Sea ◽

Northwestern Part ◽

Observation Data ◽

Monitoring And Control ◽

The North ◽

Estuarine Processes ◽

River Mouths

The development of the concept of sea estuaries as separate geographic objects based on a strategy of interdisciplinary research and about 6 million non-equidistant observation data, subject to nonstationarity of estuarine processes and unstable anthropogenic load, made it possible to propose a universal structural and hydrological typification of estuaries; to establish their maritime boundaries in terms of the minimum values of water salinityas Cv, to regionalize water areas from river to maritime boundaries and, on the this basis, to improve scientific terminology. Modern distribution schemes have been obtained and general patterns have been established for the variability of the main characteristics of the state of estuaries, depending on the variability of the river runoff and the water level of estuarine seasides, and new methods for their calculation, invariant for similar estuaries, are proposed. 54 negative phenomena are included in the catalogue; their interrelationships, causes and consequences are established. The analysis of estuarine processes has been carried out, the patterns of variability of their main characteristics from natural and anthropogenic factors have been determined. The ways of solving the problems of nature management in the estuarine regions of the northwestern part of the Black Sea are proposed. The monograph is intended for oceanographers, hydrologists, hydrochemists, ecologists, workers of environmental protection, monitoring and control organizations, as well as teachers, graduate students and students of relevant specialties.

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MONITOX international network for monitoring of environmental toxicants and risk assessment in the Black Sea basin: research and interdisciplinary cooperation dimensions

10.53937/icz10.2021.01 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Antoaneta Ene ◽

◽

Elena Zubcov ◽

Thomas Spanos ◽

Oleg Bogdevich ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Black Sea ◽

Temporal Distribution ◽

Interdisciplinary Studies ◽

Danube River ◽

The Black Sea ◽

Toxic Substances ◽

Environmental Toxicants ◽

Danube Delta ◽

Republic Of Moldova ◽

Sea Coast

The paper presents the main tackled issues and results concerning the monitoring of the toxic substances (TOXs) in the network established in the frame of BSB27 MONITOX project, implemented by «Dunarea de Jos» University of Galati, Romania (Leader Partner) in partnership with Institute of Zoology, Republic of Moldova, International Hellenic University (IHU), Greece, Institute of Geology and Seismology, Republic of Moldova (IGS), and “Danube Delta” National Institute for Research and Development, Tulcea, Romania. Maps of pollution of water, sediments, soils and biota with TOXs built using ArcGIS and Q-GIS highlight their levels and spatial-temporal distribution in the target zones in the three countries: Danube River (Lower sector), Prut and Dniester Rivers, Danube Delta, Black Sea coast, Nestos River and delta and Northern Aegean Sea coast. The strategy designed and results of the interdisciplinary studies performed in the period 2018-2021 on a large range of toxic pollutants in the Black Sea Basin (including NE part of Greece) are emphasized, as well as the assessment of toxicants’ impact upon human health using a health risk calculator developed as ICT tool.

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SHORT-TERM DYNAMICS OF THE ANAPA BAY-BAR SHORELINE

Proceedings of International Conference "Managinag risks to coastal regions and communities in a changinag world" (EMECS'11 - SeaCoasts XXVI) ◽

10.31519/conferencearticle_5b1b9484d73d71.24844503 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Marina Krylenko ◽

Alexandr Aleynikov ◽

Viacheslav Krylenko ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Black Sea ◽

Satellite Images ◽

The Black Sea ◽

Northwestern Part ◽

Short Term ◽

Shoreline Position ◽

Local Dynamics ◽

Average Displacement ◽

Local Erosion

The Anapa bay-bar is located in the northwestern part of the Black Sea. With the goal in mind to determine the short-term dynamics of the Anapa bay-bar we analyzed satellite images from 2003 to the present. Depending on the hydro-lithodynamical situation the shoreline configuration during storm can vary from a rectilinear to sinusoidal forms. There are regions of local erosion or accumulation whose formation is related to the alongshore motion of sediments and dynamics of underwater bars. Comparison of the data on 1965 and 1966 showed that in this period the amplitude of the shoreline position was more than 20 m but average displacement of the shoreline for 13 months was only 0.8 m. This study showed that for the analysis of changes in the shoreline position is necessary to consider the configuration of the coastline at the time of each observation and the local dynamics.

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