Proiecte
PN19200201-Research on the dynamics and composition of beach sediments – scientific basis for assessing the effectiveness of beach restoration works included in the Masterplan for the Protection of the Romanian Black Sea Coast against erosion
| Responsabil: | Prof. Adrian Stănică, CS I |
| Coordonator: | GeoEcoMar |
| Beneficiar: | GeoEcoMar |
| Finanțator: | The Ministry of Education and Research (contracted by the Ministry of Research and Innovation) |
| Schema de finanțare: | Programul Nucleu |
| Durata: | 48 months |
| Data începerii: | 14.01.2019 |
| Data finalizării: | 16.12.2022 |
PN19200201-Research on the dynamics and composition of beach sediments – scientific basis for assessing the effectiveness of beach restoration works included in the Masterplan for the Protection of the Romanian Black Sea Coast against erosion
The Masterplan “Protection and rehabilitation of the coastal zone”, developed in 2011, forsees the restoration of beaches along the southern Romanian Black Sea shore (from Cape Midia to Vama Veche) through artificial beach nourishment, to be completed by 2027. The Masterplan also envisioned developing tailored solutions for protecting the beaches within the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, considering their special status as part of the Biosphere Reserve. In these areas, traditional coastal protection methods, such as concrete groynes or breakwaters, should be avoided as much as possible, favouring instead soft or green alternatives.
The project focused on improving the understanding of the dynamics and composition of beach sediments along the Romanian Black Sea shore, providing the scientific basis for any restoration measures to be undertaken in the coming decade.
Understanding sediment composition is crucial for developing and implementing effective coastal protection and rehabilitation measures, especially in light of changes in the sources and volumes of sediments reaching the shore and being transported and redeposited. These changes, driven by both human activities and natural processes, must be identified before choosing the most suitable coastal protection strategies.
Therefore, the project has the following objectives:
- To monitor, at least seasonally, the natural variations in sediment characteristics in relation to changes in meteorological and hydrodynamic conditions. This is necessary for a better understanding of short-term sediment dynamics, which is vital for the entire Romanian coast, particularly for defining the normal seasonal variability limits and for calculating the areas that may be flooded during storms;
- To carry out field measurements to understand the interactions between coastal sediments and vegetation, in order to provide scientific support for potential “green” coastal protection plans. Such plans might involve reed belts (or other specific vegetation) that can significantly reduce coastal erosion rates. This could enable the development of protection strategies for beach sectors that cannot undergo artificial nourishment or that require additional protective measures;
- To perform coastal morphology and bathymetric measurements, as well as sampling and conducting grain size and mineralogical analyses of beach sediments, in order to update the hydrodynamic model developed for the Romanian coast at the beginning of this decade;
- To update the hydrodynamic model to simulate the implementation of “soft” protection measures, such as artificial reefs, which have never been applied along the Romanian coast;
- To develop an application enabling all collected data to be quickly integrated into the institute’s database, while also ensuring compatibility with other databases in line with European standards.