Basin scale spatiotemporal analysis of shoreline change in the Black Sea

Abstract

In this study, we carried out a basin-scale long-term shoreline change analysis for the Black Sea coastline. The study consists of 28 subsections with 78943 transects along the coastline. A total number of 96 Landsat satellite images, between 1972 and 2018 are used for the analysis. The average conditions are characterized by erosion with a mean value of shoreline change in the Black Sea of -0.17 m/year, while 23% of the coastline has eroded for more than 1 m/year in the last 40+ years. The results depict that different mechanisms and processes driven by the river sediment loads (e.g. Danube and Kizilirmak Deltas), anthropogenic effects (e.g. Southeastern Black Sea coast of Turkey), and entrapment of coastal sediments are active throughout the coastline and are influencing the long-term shoreline dynamics. It is shown that, at a multi-annual scale, the erosional hotspots are generally located along the low-lying sandy coastal areas of Yesilirmak, Danube, and Kizilirmak River Deltas, together with the barriers and spits from the Northwestern Crimea and Southwestern Black Sea shores. Hence, 21% of the widest beaches of the Black Sea eroded for more than 1 m/year in the last 40+ years. The total length of the Black Sea coastline is estimated as 4987 km based on the analysis of the most recent satellite images.