Lagoons of the Black Sea

Abstract

The length of the Russian Caucasus coast of the Black Sea is approximately 400 km. The prevalence of abrasion coasts and the deficiency of sediments and accumulative forms are characteristic of the Russian Black Sea. This coast has only two significant lagoon localities: the Black Sea Kuban limans (Kiziltashsky group) and the Imeretinskaya lowland, along with some small lagoons. The Kiziltashsky group is included in the lagoon system of the Kuban River delta and separated from the Black Sea by the Anapa bay-bar. The history of the formation of the geosystems of this lagoon group and the Anapa bay-bar are closely interrelated. In middle of the XXth century, the runoff of the Kuban waters into the Kiziltashsky lagoon group completely stopped, and since the natural restoration of the Kuban River, run-off to the lagoons is nearly impossible, the further development of the lagoon ecosystem depending completely on the state of the accumulative body of the Anapa bay-bar. The Imeretinskaya lagoons are located between the Mzymta and Psou Rivers. After 2008, during construction for the Sochi Olympic Games of 2014, all the lagoons were irreversibly changed and their existence as natural water reservoirs was almost negated. The modern hydrographic network of the Imeretinskaya Lowland is represented by a system of melioration irrigation-drainage channels and semi-artificial ponds. Unique basins in the zone of the land and sea border, formed as a result of landslide processes, are located at the coast of the Russian Black Sea as well. Black Sea lagoons are used as areas for recreation and fish farming. Thus, there are lagoons of different types on the coast, the structure and intensity of the natural processes determining their stability varying considerably. Nevertheless, there are a number of natural threats to the stability of the lagoon coasts, and they are common for lagoons of different type and size. At present, out of the consequences of the sea level rise, changes in the surface run-off volume and degradation of accumulative features resulting from the inflow of sediments are the most apparent.