Morphological and lithodynamic conditions in the marine coastal zone of the Vistula Spit (Gulf of Gdańsk, Baltic Sea)

Abstract

The paper presents a lithodynamic interpretation of the Polish-Russian morphological and lithological research project along the marine coastal zoneof the Vistula Spit, carried out between July and September 2008. 78.4% of the coastal zone is characterized by a balanced environment, with fractionaltransport of sediments as bed and suspended load. Deposition was observed in 8.2% of the study area. A dynamic environment with a deficit of bedmaterial, local turbulences and erosive trends were found in 13.2% of the coastal zone. The critical erosive current velocities vary from 16 to 20-26cm s-1.

Keywords

• Morphology
• Lithodynamics
• Grain size
• Coastal zone
• Nearshore
• Vistula Spit
• Gulf of Gdańsk