A century of human interventions on sediment flux variations in the Danube-Black Sea transition zone

Frontiers in Marine Science

Marine Science

Peter D. Hunter¹  Evangelos Spyrakos¹  Andrew N. Tyler¹  Adriana Maria Constantinescu²  Irina Catianis³  Adrian Stanica³  Nicolae Panin³ 

[1] Biological and Environmental Sciences, School of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, United Kingdom;Biological and Environmental Sciences, School of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, United Kingdom;National Institute of Marine Geology and GeoEcology - GeoEcoMar, Bucharest, Romania;National Institute of Marine Geology and GeoEcology - GeoEcoMar, Bucharest, Romania;

关键词: Danube Delta;    Black Sea;    sediment accumulation;    dams;    anthropic impact;    local factors;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fmars.2023.1068065

 received in 2022-10-12, accepted in 2023-03-20,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Many deltas around the world have recorded a decreasing sediment input, mostly due to retention in dams constructed on the river or in the river basin. The Danube River has recorded a significant decrease of its sediment supply to the Danube Delta and the NW Black Sea. This study uses 210Pb and 137Cs dating, to investigate the effects of the decreasing sediment flux in lakes, lagoons, delta front and prodelta area.Both the effects of the Iron Gate I and II dams and other local factors are discussed. These results define the period of 1960-1990 as the ‘major anthropic interventions period’ in the Danube Delta. Results show a decrease in siliciclastic flux, especially in lakes, the Sahalin lagoon and the prodelta area and a general increase in the Musura lagoon and the delta front area. Sand content is also shown to decrease in most areas and is replaced by silt. The changes in sediment accumulation rates depend mostly on the hydrological connectivity of the area and the local hydrotechnical works. Overall, the local anthropic interventions in the delta affect sediment flux in the subaerial delta and the delta front, while the prodelta is affected by the overall decrease caused by interventions in the river basin. This study can contribute to improving management strategies in the area and to a better understanding of future research needs in the Danube Delta-Black Sea system.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Constantinescu, Tyler, Stanica, Spyrakos, Hunter, Catianis and Panin