Geological Hazard Potential at the Baltic Sea and Its Coastal Zone: Examples from the Eastern Gulf of Finland and the Kaliningrad Area - The Baltic Sea Basin - page 346

Fig. 16.3 Map of geological hazard potentials of the southeastern Baltic and its coastal zone
within Kaliningrad region (legend on Fig. 16.2 ) . Pictures: 1, destruction of fortress (the Vistula
Spit); 2, landslide (the Sambian Peninsula) (photos by D. Ryabchuk); 3, dune blowup (the Curonian
Spit, photo by V. Boldyrev); 4, swamping (the Neman Lowland, photo by I. Lysansky)
16.4.2 Exogenic Processes
At present, the exogenic processes can be considered as much more important and
harmful for the Baltic Sea region due to their wide extension and activity. Among
them, coastal erosion , caused mainly by storm surges, is one of the most intense and
hazardous processes.
16.4.2.1 Coastal Erosion
Erosional processes are extremely active along the open Baltic Sea coast of the
Kaliningrad area. The average rate of the cliff retreat of the Sambian Peninsula
shoreline recession is 0.5-0.7 m/year. During storm surge (usually one in 5-7 years),
the rate of coastal retreat increases to 4-6 m/year (Bobykina and Boldyrev 2008 )
(Fig. 16.4 ) . Some significant sections of the Vistula and especially Curonian Spits'