Development of the Southern Coastal zone of the Eastern Gulf of Finland (from lebyazhye to the St. Petersburg flood protective dam)

In July–September 2004 and April 2005, the specialists of the Department of Marine and Environmental Geology of All-Russian Geological Institute (VSEGEI) conducted field studies of the coastal zone of the Gulf of Finland from thesouthern alignment of the St. Petersburg Flood Protective Dam to Lebyazhye. The basic purpose of the studies is the analysis of coastal zone dynamics. Along the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland from Lebyazhye to the Dam, three different coastal dynamics zones were identified: (1) flat accumulative shore with aquatic plants, (2) erosion zone and (3) zone of modern sand accumulation. Along-shore sand drift in the eastern direction was also determined. Alongside with routine observations, the comparative analysis of space photography images of the study area, carried out during last 20 years, allowed finding out that as a result of intense eastward sand transfer, as mush as 80 metres of sand accumulative bodies have been eroded since 1982 near the village of Izhora. To the west of a small river, a 230-metres long sand split has been formed since 1982