Vladimir Zhamoida

Recent sedimentation processes in the coastal zone of the Curonian Spit (Kaliningrad region, Baltic Sea) [Jüngste Ablagerungsprozesse im K*uuml;stengebiet der Kurischen Nehrung (Raum Kaliningrad, Ostsee).]

The Curonian Spit is a sandy depositional landform that encloses the Curonian Lagoon, the biggest lagoon of the Baltic Sea. A new interpretation of the sediment distribution and sedimentation processes in the coastal zone of the Russian part of the Curonian Spit was obtained on land and offshore (using side-scan sonar, echo sounding and surfi cial sediment sampling) by a joint expedition of VSEGEI (Karpinsky Russian Geological Research Institute) and ABIORAS (Atlantic Branch of the Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Science) in 2006 and 2007. The investigations found widespread coastal and seabed erosion at the attached part of the Curonian Spit and in the area adjacent to Lesnoy, providing evidence of highly active lithodynamic processes. The main reason for more intense erosion processes over recent decades is a sedi- ment defi cit in the coastal system between Cape Taran and Lesnoy. Further beach degradation and an increased possibility of spit breakthrough in storms are likely. Radiocarbon dating of the lagoons Holocene muds outcropping on the seabed showed eastward spit migration of 0.4 to 0.5 m per year in the area near Lesnoy over the last 5000 to 6000 years. Kurzfassung: Die Kurische Nehrung ist ein sandiger Landstreifen, der das Kurische Haff - die groste Lagune der Ostsee - umschliest. In den Jahren 2006 und 2007 wurden im Rahmen einer gemeinsamen Expedition von VSEGEI (Karpinsky Russian Geological Research Institute) und ABIORAS (Atlantic Branch of the Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Science) die Sedimentverbreitung und die Ablagerungsprozesse im Kustengebiet des russischen Teils der Kurischen Neh- rung neu untersucht und interpretiert. Die Untersuchungen wurden mit einem Side-Scan-Sonar, mittels Echolotung und Entnahme von Oberfl achen-Sedimentproben auf dem Festland und auf dem Schelf durchgefuhrt. Sie ergaben eine ausge- dehnte Erosion des Kusten- und Meeresgrundes im Festlandbereich der Kurischen Nehrung und auf dem an Lesnoy angren- zenden Gebiet, was auf einen sehr intensiven lithodynamischen Prozess hindeutet. Der Hauptgrund fur diesen gesteigerten Erosionsprozess in den letzten Jahrzehnten ist der Mangel an Sediment im Kustenbereich zwischen Kap Taran und Lesnoy. Weiterer Kustenabbau und die erhohte Gefahr eines Nehrungsdurchbruchs bei Sturm sind wahrscheinlich. Die C 14 -Datie- rung des auf dem Meeresboden zutage tretenden Lagunen-Alluviums ergab in der Nahe von Lesnoy eine Verlagerung der

Benthic Habitats and Benthic Communities in Southeastern Baltic Sea, Russian Sector

Publisher Summary The southeastern Baltic Sea (SEB) is a part of an intracontinental shelf basin of the Atlantic Ocean, located within a large depression of the Baltic Shield and Russian plate of the East European Platform. The Baltic Sea underwent several stages of development, from a freshwater ice-lake to semi-enclosed brackish-water sea. Such development was a result of climatic change, gradual melting of the ice sheet, eustatic sea-level rise, and glacio-isostatic uplift of the Baltic Shield. Broadscale geomorphic features of the area are lagoon plain, shallow water area, gentle slope, and relatively deep water area of the Gdansk Deep (sea depth 80–110 m). The dissolved oxygen content of bottom water in the Gdansk Deep is close to zero. Salinity, nutrient concentration, and oxygen condition in water layers below the halocline are influenced by periodical North Sea inflows. Ecological condition is far from pristine. Moderate nutrient loading, intensive shipping, limited fisheries, the presence of exotic species, oil-drilling platform with underwater pipelines, and three underwater cables all affect the environmental condition of the study area. Two broad groups of benthic habitats are soft-sediment bottoms (89% of surface area) and hard substrate (11%). Benthic faunal assemblages on hard substrata vary in terms of species diversity and abundance, but are dominated by sessile suspension feeders, whereas soft-bottom assemblages are dominated by selective and nonselective deposit feeders. Biodiversity and biomass reach maximum values on hard substrates located between 10 and 25 m water depth; benthos have been absent from depths >83 m in recent years due to oxygen depletion.

Concept of state cadastre of the marine coastal zone of the Russian Federation

State Cadastre of the marine coastal zone of the Russian Federation (RF SCMCZ) is created to ordering of information about resources and capabilities of the coastal zone as a set of data, including qualitative and quantitative inventory of the objects or phenomena and their economic evaluation. The main legal acts necessary for the preparation of methodological and legal foundations of the RF SCMCZ and its filling are the Constitution of the Russian Federation, Land, Water and Forestry Codes and Cadastres, and other laws of the Russian Federation. RF SCMCZ is complex structure document that includes a multi-stage information on administrative, economic, legal, environmental and socio-economic characteristics of a single (coherent) area above and below the modern sea level. RF SCMCZ should be regarded as specially organized set of software and hardware tools to enter, store, save, visualize, analyze, synthesize and present in an easy to use spatially widespread (geographically referenced) information of the marine coastal zones of the Russian Federation. The model of RF SCMCZ as an Information System (IS) realized on the Russian sector of the Baltic Sea which consist the Eastern Gulf of Finland and the Kaliningrad area including their coastal zone.

Amber Deposits in the Kaliningrad Region

Amber is one of the most valuable mineral resources of the Kaliningrad Region. It is mined by several methods, both open and closed, on sea and on land; the vast majority of this type of amber world reserves is located on the Sambian Peninsula and its continental slope. Nevertheless, geological research of amber deposits still did not carry out up to sufficient rate.

АБРАЗИОННЫЕ ПРОЦЕССЫ В БЕРЕГОВОЙ ЗОНЕ ВОСТОЧНОЙ ЧАСТИ ФИНСКОГО ЗАЛИВА И ИХ СВЯЗЬ С МНОГОЛЕТНИМИ ТРЕНДАМИ РЕЖИМООБРАЗУЮЩИХ ФАКТОРОВ

Abrasion in the eastern Gulf of Finland coastal zone is favored by geological and geomorphologic factors, e.g. weakness of Quaternary deposits, sediment deficit, bottom and coastal relief. Extreme abrasion events occur as a result of coincidence of long-lasting western or south-western storms, high water level, and absence of stable sea ice during such events. In the last decade extreme erosion events took place during autumn-winter seasons of 2006-07 and 2011-12.

Seafloor Desertification – A Future Scenario for the Gulf of Finland?

The Gulf of Finland is a shallow semi-enclosed sea area which due to strong anthropogenic pressure and poor water exchange is very sensitive to eutrophication. During its whole postglacial history, the seafloor of the gulf has been periodically anoxic, and anoxia below halocline can thus be seen as a natural phenomenon. During the last decades, however, this has been accompanied by a yearly repeated seasonal anoxia in the shallower basins above halocline. This yearly repeated shallower anoxia is triggered by substantial eutrophication of the sea and is a clear signal of anthropogenic pressure. The seasonal anoxia has during the last decades propagated to basins with water depths less than 20 m. The areal coverage of anoxia has thus expanded substantially. Phosphorus which is bound to oxic seafloor sediments is easily released during episodes of anoxia, which further intensifies eutrophication. It has been estimated that the concretion fields of the eastern Gulf of Finland, only, contain more than 330,000 tons of P2O5 which is equal to some 175,000 tons of elementary phosphorus. In case of shallowing of the area of permanent anoxia, these concretion fields would become anoxic, which would lead to rather rapid dissolution of the concretions and a release of a large amount of phosphorus together with the heavy metals which today are bound to the concretions.

Mineral Resources of the Kaliningrad Region

Mineral resources of the Kaliningrad Region are associated with the deposits of the platform cover: Paleozoic, oil, salt, and nonferrous and rare metals; Mesozoic, marls, limestones, and phosphorites; and Cenozoic, amber, brown coal, aggregates, peat, etc.

Geological Hazard Potential at the Baltic Sea and Its Coastal Zone: Examples from the Eastern Gulf of Finland and the Kaliningrad Area

Geological hazards may threaten human life, may result in serious property damage, and may significantly influence normal development of biota. They are caused by natural endogenic and exogenic driving forces or generated by anthropogenic activities. An interaction of geological processes and intense anthropogenic activities, e.g., construction of buildings, harbors, oil and gas pipelines, hydroengineering facilities, and land reclamation, has resulted in hazard potential, especially for the densely populated areas of the Russian Baltic coastal zone. These hazards may in addition be harmful for the sensitive ecosystem of the Baltic Sea. Mapping and assessment of the geological hazard potential should be the main objectives of an integrated management program for the protection of coastal zones. This study documents the first step in that process for the Russian sector of the Baltic Sea and its coastal zone. A major part of endogenic hazard potential both in the Kaliningrad area and in the eastern Gulf of Finland remains at low- or medium-risk levels, but analysis of the recent environmental conditions at the seabed of the Russian sector of the Baltic Sea and, especially, within its coastal zone shows that during the last years the activity of exogenic geological processes has increased significantly. The highest risk within both studied areas has been caused by coastal and bottom erosion. In addition, in shallow area near the shore bottom of the eastern Gulf of Finland, “avalanche” sedimentation and sediment pollution can produce hazardous situations as well.