Sediment Budget of the Danube Delta Coastal Zone

Reservoirs, dams and barrages regulating the discharges of the Danube river, cut-offs of meanders and the jetties at Sulina mouth have disrupted the natural discharge and circulation of sediment on the coastal zone of Danube Delta. The aim of our research is to quantify the alongshore sediment transport and use this as a prime input to construct a sediment budget. Based on regional wind (1991 – 2000) data and a nearshore state-of-the-art wave model a morphologically representative wave climate along the representative depth contours of the Danube Delta was determined. This forms the basic input for a one-line model approach deriving the alongshore sediment transport and resulting coastline changes. The closure depth was computed and used, along with alongshore sediment transport gradients, to obtain the sediment budget.