Sfântu Gheorghe (Danube) arm mouth – morphodynamics & sediment transport

Since 2004, a research program monitors the morphological and hydro-dynamical processes from Sf. Gheorghe Danube’s mouth.

This project’s objectives are:

(i)     A detailed morphological diagnosses of the Sf. Gheorghe Danube’s arm mouth

(ii) The Danube mouth morphodynamics at different temporal scales:

• the intra-annual morphodynamics controlled by storms
• Danube’s flow discharge variations and inter-annual mouth bar dynamics (1970 – nowadays and 1856 – nowadays)

(iii) Determining the direction and intensity of the bed-load sediment transport:

• textural analysis of the bed-load sediments
• introducing sedimentologic parameters in applications simulating sediment transport paths

(iv)The analysis of sedimentological conditions:

• the analysis of depositional facies
• the application of indices that differentiate depositional environments (fluvial/maritim; stirred/still aquatoria)

The St. George lobe (ASTER image 2002)

Digital elevation model of St. George Danube’s arm mouth

Profiles on the St. George mouth bar

Modelling of the sediment dynamics for St. George (Danube) mouth