Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
for shore protection. These problems have resulted in extensive negative impact on
The modern coastal engineering methods have made it possible to estimate more
or less definitely the impact of major constructions on the coastal zone. A much
more complicated task is to estimate the impact of submarine sand extraction on the
coastal system. For example, submarine sand mining took place in 1970-1992 in
the sandy terrace area between capes Flotsky and Peschany to the west of the dis-
trict of Kurortny. The total volume of extracted material was about 150 million m
3
.
As a result, large parts of the coastal slope at depths less than 19 m were affected
such volumes of extracted sand material significantly disturbed the coastal system.
One of the possible solutions to the problem should be avoiding new construction
in the hazard coastal territories, development of modern coast protection system
based on natural litho-dynamic appropriateness, and a ban against the submarine
sand and gravel exploitation in the nearshore areas.
Problems of the coast erosion are becoming more and more important for
regional authorities both in Kaliningrad and in St. Petersburg. Recently, State Coast
Protection Programs have been developed for both regions with the participation of
geologists and oceanographers from ABIO RAS, VSEGEI, and the Russian State
Hydrometeorological University (St. Petersburg). Unfortunately, beginning of the
programs has been delayed. The delay is due to both the lack of funding and
the absence of a coastal legislation. The latter is needed for a close cooperation
between regional and federal authorities, who today have different responsibilities
with respect to the protection of the seacoast and the offshore part. The absence
of coastal legislation leads to the increase of negative anthropogenic impacts,
i.e., submarine sand exploration and unsustainable development of recreation
facilities.
One of the important directions toward a future integrated coastal zone manage-
ment and a risk prevention strategy is the special mapping of hazard potentials in
connection with a risk assessment and analysis. The Project “Coastal zone cadastre
of the Russian sector of the Baltic Sea and geological hazard potential assessment”
is a first step in the right direction.
16.8 Conclusions and Future Work
Analysis of the recent environmental conditions at the seabed of the Russian sec-
tor of the Baltic Sea, especially within its coastal zone, shows that during the last
years the activity of exogenic geological processes has increased significantly. In
some cases, this intensification leads to the increase of negative consequences,
such as coastal erosion, natural marine landscape degradation, and extreme silting.
These processes support hazardous events for different types of human activities,
including hydrotechnical constructions, pipelines, tourist industry, fishery, and ship
navigation.
