International Journal of Conservation Science (Dec 2010)
Dune Ecosystem Management of the Razim-Sinoie Littoral Bar (Romania)
Abstract
The Razim-Sinoie lagoon complex is located in the south-eastern part of Romania. It is bordered by the Dobrudja region to the west and north, the Danube Delta to the north-east and the Black Sea to the east. An assessment of the quality of dunes was made in that area and several conservation measures were proposed. The age of the Razim-Sinoie littoral bar cannot be older than 1500 - 2000 years, according to to the total closure of the Halmyris bay and the end of the harbour activities in Histria and, subsequently, in Enisala. Transversally, the littoral bar is quite symmetrical, with few differences between the part towards the sea, which is more abrupt, and the less abrupt part towards the lagoon. Most of the sediments that make up the littoral bar are of Danubian origin and the rest are of marine origin (bio-constructional, caused by the smashing of the empty shells). The materials get transported by the littoral stream and deposited by waves and wind. The average increase of the marine level is between 1 and 2 cm/year. Even if the transgressive phenomenon occurs along the entire bar, several sectors are slightly eroded (as in Portita), others are slightly progradated (as in Chituc-Capul Midia) and the rest have a precarious relative equilibrium (Periboina, Periteasca). The reduced water transparency facilitates a good development of the shell population, and causes the terrigenic material/organogenic material ratio (T/O) to be 50/50. As a result of the reduction of the Danube solid discharge which supplied the littoral bar, the whole alignment was affected, and, consequently, a generalized retreat of the shore line occurred. Under such circumstances, a supplementary sediment discharge was necessary, but without affecting the nearby ecosystems. Supplementary material can be brought from offshore, from the - 20m deep isobath or by building canals between the Sfantu Gheorghe arm of the Danube (the southernmost arm) and the littoral nearby. In that case, the old secondary arms and canals: Buhaz-Zaton, Crasnicol and Dranov can be oversized. The shelter dams next to Gura Portita (in the centre) caused important amounts of sediments to be held back, but at the same time a sediment shortage was felt to the south of these dams. In order to stop the littoral erosion and stabilize the dune system, underbrush can be planted, as an indigenous element which develops vigorously in the coastal dune environment.
