Contemporary Dynamics of the Sea Shore of Kaliningrad Oblast

Abstract The article presents estimations of coastline retreat and advance in Kaliningrad Oblast at 85 monitoring points for a ten-year period of 2007–2017, based on monitoring data supplemented with satellite image analysis. The mean annual rate of coastline retreat and advance was estimated in general for each of the four major morpholithodynamic segments of the coastline: the Vistula (−0.2 m/year) and Curonian (−0.4 m/year) spits, as well as the western (−0.5 m/year) and northern (−0.2 m/year) shores of the Sambia Peninsula. The analysis of the shore protection measures implemented in Kaliningrad Oblast from 2007 to 2017 showed that the length of protected shore segments increased by 30% to 14.5 km, which is 10% of the total coastline. The obtained scheme of long-term mean annual rates of coastline retreat and advance clearly demonstrates an uneven distribution of eroded segments along the shores of Kaliningrad Oblast, however the sea shore of Kaliningrad Oblast is mainly susceptible to erosion (44%). Accumulative segments of the shore make up only 17% of the total coastline, and the remaining 39% of the shore is relatively stable. The results obtained demonstrate that the long-term mean annual rate of coastline retreat has decreased to −0.3 m/year from −1 m/year in the earlier period of 2000–2010. The general condition of the entire coastline of Kaliningrad Oblast can therefore be described as relatively sustainable]. The changes are related to several factors, such as an increase in the length of protected shore segments, the resumption of sand pulp dumping in the beach area by the Amber Mining Plant, and an increase in the amount of analytical data from an expanded local monitoring network.