Natural and Anthropogenic Factors Shaping the Shoreline of Klaipėda, Lithuania

Vitalijus Kondrat,Eglė Baltranaitė,Ilona Šakurova,Loreta Kelpšaitė-Rimkienė

doi:10.3390/jmse9121456

Vitalijus Kondrat, Eglė Baltranaitė + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse9121456

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Abstract

Port of Klaipėda is situated in a complex hydrological system, between the Curonian Lagoon and the Baltic Sea, at the Klaipėda strait in the South-Eastern part of the Baltic Sea. It has almost 300 m of jetties separating the Curonian Spit and the mainland coast, interrupting the main path of sediment transport through the South-Eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. Due to the Port of Klaipėda reconstruction in 2002 and the beach nourishment project, which was started in 2014, the shoreline position change tendency was observed. Shoreline position measurements of various periods can be used to derive quantitative estimates of coastal process directions and intensities. These data can be used to further our understanding of the scale and timing of shoreline changes in a geological and socio-economic context. This study analyzes long- and short-term shoreline position changes before and after the Port of Klaipėda reconstruction in 2002. Positions of historical shorelines from various sources were used, and the rates (EPR, NSM, and SCE) of shoreline changes have been assessed using the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS). An extension of ArcGIS K-means clustering was applied for shoreline classification into different coastal dynamic stretches. Coastal development has changed in the long-term (1984–2019) perspective: the eroded coast length increased from 1.5 to 4.2 km in the last decades. Coastal accumulation processes have been restored by the Port of Klaipėda executing the coastal zone nourishment project in 2014.

Highlights

Erosion is a significant problem affecting sandy beaches that will worsen with climate change and anthropogenic pressure
Comparing trends of shoreline changes in 1984–2019, we found that the accumulation processes on the shores of the Curonian Spit accounted for 96.12% (396 out of 412) of transects
Forecasting and continuous estimation of the intensity of the sandy South-Eastern Baltic Sea coast dynamics are essential to customizing coastal development management methods and techniques that affect the nature and economics of the coastal environment

Summary

Introduction

Erosion is a significant problem affecting sandy beaches that will worsen with climate change and anthropogenic pressure. Shore regeneration is a slow process lasting for more than one year, while erosion usually occurs in a matter of a few days, making it difficult to detect visually. As short-term measurements do not reflect actual multi-annual dynamic trends, studies involving several shoreline decay and regeneration cycles are necessary to determine long-lasting changes in the shoreline dynamics. Coastal research to assess and predict long-term shoreline dynamics and the erosion rates is based on the data covering up to 10 years (short-term), 10–60 years (medium-term), and more than 60 years (long-term) of shoreline position [2,3,4].

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