Hydromorphology and environmental restoration of Gorgan Bay, the Southeast Caspian Sea

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Caspian Sea National Research Center, Water Research Institute, Ministry of Energy, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Environmental Engineering, Graduate Faculty of Environment, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

3 Department of Biology, Faculty of Basic Sciences, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Mazandaran, Iran

Abstract

Rapid sea level changing of the Caspian Sea has affected coastal geomorphology and environmental condition of Gorgan Bay since the end of 20th century. The vast parts of the Gorgan bay and Miankaleh Wetland have been dried out. So finding efficient solutions for environmental revival of the bay, compatible with the Caspian Sea rapid fluctuation, was the main aim of the present study. The geomorphological changing of the bay was identified by comparing and interpreting satellite images and field survey. The main results show that the Caspian Sea fluctuation plays a vital role in the bay environment depletion and development during the Anthropocene time and the implementing of secure connection between the bay and the Caspian Sea is the appropriate method for ecological revival of Gorgan Bay.

Keywords

References

Afshin, A 2004, Iranian rivers report, Ministry of Energy. Jamab Company, Internal report, Volume 2, 251 p.
Alizadeh, H 2010, Sedimentology and geochemistry index of Gorgan Bay. The Journal of Oceanography, 1: 45- 55.
Amini, A 2012, Holocene sedimentation rate in Gorgan Bay and adjacent coasts in southeast of the Caspian Sea. Journal of Basic and Applied Scientific Research, 2: 289-297.
Bashari, L, Mahmudy Gharaie, H, Moussavi Harami, R & Alizadeh Lahijani, H 2015, Hydro-geochemical study of the Gorgan Bay and factors controlling the water chemistry. Journal of Oceanography, 20: 31-42.
Cazanave, A, Bonnefond, P, Dominh, K, Shaeffer, P 1997, Caspian Sea level from TOPEX-Poseidon altimetry: Level now falling. Geophysical Research Letters, 48: 881-884, DOI: 10.1029/97GL00809.
Feng, S, Hu, Q, Huang, W, Ho, C.H, Li, R, Tang, Z 2014, Projected climate regime shift under future global warming from multi- model and multi scenario CMIP5 simulation. Global and Planetary Change, 112: 41- 52.
Gharibreza, M 2004, Sediments deposition and transportation in Gorgan Bay. Soil and Watershed Preservation Research Center, Tehran, Iran, Internal Report [In Persian].
Gharibreza, M, Nasrollahi, A, Afshar, A, Amini, A & Eisaei, H 2018, Evolutionary trend of the Gorgan Bay (southeastern Caspian Sea) during and post the last Caspian Sea level rise. Catena, 166: 339-348.
Harrison, P 2006, Socio-economic study of forest-adjacent communities from Nyanganje forest to Udzungwa Scarp: a potential wildlife corridor. Incorporating livelihood assessments and options for future management of Udzungwa forests. World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature, Dar es Salaam, 62 p.
Kakroodi, AA, Kroonenberg, SB, Hoogendoorn, RM, Mohammd Khani, H, Yamani, M, Ghassemi, M R & Lahijani, H A K 2012, Rapid Holocene sea level changes along the Iranian Caspian coast. Quaternary International, 263: 93-103.
Khoshravan, H 2011, Caspian Sea morphodynamic classification. Journal of Earth and Space, Geophysic Survey of Tehran University, No: 3, Volume 37.
Khoshravan, H, Vafai, B 2016, Caspian Sea fluctuation (past, recent and future). The 18th International Conference of Marine Industries, Kish Island, Persian Gulf, Iran.
Khoshravan, H, Naqinezhad, A, Alinejad-Tabrizi, T, Yanina, T 2019, Gorgan Bay environmental consequences due to the Caspian Sea rapid water level change. Caspian Journal of Environmental Sciences, 17: 213-226.
Kont, A, Jaagus, J, Aunap, R 2003, Climate change scenarios and the effect of sea-level rise for Estonia. Global and Planetary Change, 36: 1-15.
Kosarev, AN & Yablonskaya, EA 1994, The Caspian Sea, Academic, The Hague, p. 259
Kroonenberg, SB, Badyukova, E N, Storms, J E A, Ignatov, EI & Kasimov, NS 2000, A full sea level cycle in 65 years: barrier dynamics along Caspian shores. Sedimentary Geology, 134: 257-274.
Nicholls, RJ, Janson, S, Herweijer, C, Patmore, N, Hallegatte, S, Corfee-Morlot, J, Chateau, J, Muir-Wood, R 2008, Ranking port cities with high exposure and vulnerability to climate extremes. OECD Environment  Working  Papers, 1, http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/011766488208.
Panin, GN 2007, Caspian Sea level fluctuations as a consequence of regional climatic change. In Global Change: Enough Water for All, Edited by J L, Lozán, et al., Wissenschaftliche Auswertungen, Hamburg, Germany, pp: 216-219
Panin, GN, Solomonova, IV, Vyruchalkina, TYu 2014, Regime of water balance components of the Caspian Sea. Water Resource, 41: 505-511, DOI: 10.1134/S0097807814050078.
Pezzoli, A, Alfredini, P, Arasaki, E, Rosso, M & Sousa, Jr WC 2013, Impacts of climate change on management policy of the harbors, land areas and wetlands in São Paulo State Coastline (Brazil). Adv Res Meteorol Sci, 1:101. DOI:10.4172/arms.1000101.
PMOI 2014, Hydrodynamic study on Gorgan Bay, Iranian Port and Maritime Organization, Tehran, Iran, 240 p.
Rahimzadeh, N, Khormali, F, Gribenski, N, Tsukamoto, S, Kehl, M, Pint, A & Frechen, M 2019, Timing and development of sand dunes in the Golestan Province, northern Iran—Implications for the Late-Pleistocene history of the Caspian Sea. Aeolian Research, 41, 100538.
Rezaei, R, Jafarian, A, Mattern, F, Shukla, UK, Senapathi, V, Bernecker, M 2019, The sedimentology and development of a modern sand spit (Miankaleh Peninsula) and a lacustrine lagoon (Gorgan Bay), Caspian Sea, Iran. Marine Geology, 1,415:105974.
Rosenzweig, C, Solecki, W D, Blake, R, Bowman, M, Faris, C, Gornitz, V, Horton, R, Jacob, K, LeBlanc, A, Leichenko, R, Linkin, M, Major, D, O’Grady, M, Patrick, L, Sussman, E, Yohe, G, Zimmerman, R 2011, Developing coastal adaptation to climate change in the New York City infrastructure-shed: process, approach, tools, and strategies. Climatic Change, 106: 93-127, DOI 10.1007/s10584-010-0002-8.
Sharbati, S & Ghanghermeh, A 2015, The forecasting of the Caspian Sea level decreasing impact on Gorgan Bay. Journal of Science and Technology of Environment Informatics, 4: 33-45.
Sourtiji, S 2005, Archeological study on the drowned ships of the Southern coasts of the Caspian Sea. Internal Report, Iranian Culture Heritage and Tourism Organization. Tehran, Iran, 49 p.
Rychgov, GI 1997, Holocene oscillation of the Caspian Sea, and forecast based on paleogeographical reconstruction. Quaternary International, 41-42: 167- 172.
Caspian Journal of Environmental Sciences
Volume 20, Issue 1
January 2022
Pages 17-28

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics