Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
10.7 Conclusions
The present state of knowledge on the fossil coastline levels in the Kaliningrad
region of the southern Baltic is far from complete and deviates largely from what is
known in other parts of the Baltic. No multibeam survey has ever been carried out
in the area. This study's attempt at collating and assessing the existing information,
using the available cartographic data and GIS techniques, showed the studies car-
ried out in the 1960s and 1970s to have brought about conflicting results. However,
drawing upon the recent advances in understanding the development of the Baltic
and using digital cartographic techniques for processing recent bathymetric data, we
identified five submerged post-glacial shores the development of which was associ-
ated with the Yoldia-Ancylus and Littorina transgressions. When those coasts were
being formed, the Earth's crust was subjected to glacio-isostatic rise, for which rea-
son the coastlines Y1 (58-45 m) and Y2 (52-40 m) are elevated to the north. The
younger Ancylus (38 m) and Littorina (29 and 21 m) shores are quasi-horizontal
because the crust had virtually ceased to rise when they were forming.
Thus, to understand the climate-driven formation of the southern Baltic coast,
vertical crustal movements, regarded as local scale neotectonic processes, have to
be taken into account.
The results obtained so far are just the first step towards resolving the remaining
open questions and addressing the misunderstandings which have accumulated over
the years with respect to the problem of submerged Baltic coasts. The study is partly
financed by RFBR 11-05-01093-a.
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