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Abstract – This paper presents a short synthesis on the physiography, Résumé – Cette contribution propose une courte synthèse sur la
geology, hydrology and evolution of the Danube Delta during the physiographie, la géologie, l’hydrologie et l’évolution du delta du
Holocene. Deltaic conditions were initiated during the Quaternary, Danube durant l’Holocène. Le contexte deltaïque est apparu durant le
when the Danube started flowing into the Black Sea basin. The Danube Quaternaire quand le Danube a commencé à se déverser dans le bassin
Delta is formed of a sequence of clastic deposits ranging from tens de la mer Noire. Le delta du Danube est formé par une séquence de
to 300‑400 meters thick that accumulated mainly during the Late dépôts détritiques d’une épaisseur oscillant entre quelques dizaines et
Pleistocene and the Holocene. The Holocene evolution phases of the 300‑400 m qui se sont accumulés pour l’essentiel durant le Pléistocène
Danube Delta have been elucidated by corroborating geomorphological, supérieur et l’Holocène. Les phases d’évolution holocènes du delta du
Danube ont été précisées en croisant analyses géomorphologiques,
structural, textural, geochemical, mineralogical and faunal analyses
sédimentologiques, géochimiques, minéralogiques, biologiques et
and mainly by 14C dating. Five main evolutionary phases have been
surtout par datation 14 C : (1) la formation de la Pointe initiale de
elucidated: (1) the formation of the Initial Letea-Caraorman Spit, Letea‑Caraorman vers 11 700-7 500 ans BP ; (2) le delta de St Georges I vers
11700‑7500 yr. BP; (2) the St. George I Delta, 9000-7200 yr. BP; (3) the 9 000-7 200 ans BP ; (3) le delta de Sulina vers 7 200-2 000 ans BP ; (4) les
Sulina Delta, 7200-2000 yr. BP; (4) the St. George II and Kilia Deltas, deltas de St Georges II et de Kilia entre 2 500 ans BP et l’actuel ; (5) le delta
2500 yr. BP to present; and (5) the Cosna-Sinoie Delta, 3500-1500 yr. BP. Cosna-Sinoie entre 3 500 et 1 500 ans BP. Cet article décrit également les
The paper also describes the anthropogenic changes that have occurred évolutions d’origine anthropogénique qui ont eu lieu durant les deux
during the last two centuries. derniers siècles.
Key words: delta evolution, hydrographic network, anthropogenic Mots clés : évolution deltaïque, réseau hydrographique, impacts
impacts, lobes, river water, sediment discharge anthropiques, lobes, eaux fluviales, rejet sédimentaire
Most of the world’s deltaic systems started forming (1963), A.C. Banu (1965), A.C. Banu and L. Rudescu (1965),
between 7400 and 9 500 yr. BP as a result of decelerating N. Panin (1974, 1976, 1983, 1989, 1996, 1997, 2003 and 2009),
sea-level rise (Stanley and Warne, 1993). Situated N. Panin and D. Jipa (2002), N. Panin and I. Popescu
in the contact area between continental and marine (2004), N. Panin et al. (2005) ; N. Panin and W. Overmars
environments, deltas serve as the primary pathway for (2012) ; P. GÂȘTESCU and B.V. Driga (1981 and 2009), C.
the transport of fresh water and terrigenous sediment Bondar (1972, 1992 and 1993), C. Bondar et al. (1991),
to the coastal ocean (Milliman and Meade, 1983). L. Giosan et al. (1997, 2005 and 2006), A. Stănică and N.
The structure and the evolution of deltaic systems are Panin (2009), L. Tiron (2010), L. Tiron Duțu et al. (2014)
controlled by extremely complex processes and factors and Vespremeanu-Stroe et al. (2013).
including variations in relative sea level, fluvial inputs,
marine dynamics, morphology and tectonics. Authors have
studied these processes for many of the world’s largest
rivers including the Amazon (Nittrouer et al., 1986),
the Yellow River (Liu et al., 2004 and 2007), the Yangtze
River (Chen et al., 2000), the Po River (Cattaneo et al.,
2003), the Ganges-Brahmaputra system (Kuehl et al., 1997;
Goodbred and Kuehl, 1999 and 2000), the Mekong River
(Ta et al. 2002; Xue et al., 2010) and the Mississippi River
(Knox, 2006 ; Biedenharn et al., 2000); etc.).
1 - General setting and general 1.3 - The Danube Delta Hydrographical Network
description The delta starts (the delta apex) at the first bifurcation of
the Danube, named Ceatal Izmail (Mile 43 from the mouth
1.1 - Geological context zone, measured along the Sulina distributary), into the
The Danube Delta is situated in an area of high structural Kilia distributary to the North and to Tulcea distributary
mobility, repeatedly affected by strong subsidence and in the South.
important sediment accumulation. Deltaic conditions
developed here during the Quaternary, when the Danube At present the Kilia distributary, the largest of the delta
started flowing into the Black Sea basin. system, is 117 km long and forms the border between
Ukraine and Romania. At its mouth Kilia, forms a secondary
The Danube Delta overlaps the Pre-Dobrogean lobate delta of 24,400 ha, with numerous distributaries
Depression, which, in turn, lies mainly on the Scythian (the main ones are the Oceakov flowing to the NE, and
Platform. The sequence of the Scythian Platform deposits, Stary Stambul oriented towards the S‑SE); this secondary
which constitute the fill material of the Pre-Dobrogean delta lies within Ukrainian territory and, in 1998, was
Depression, displays six sedimentation cycles: Palaeozoic declared the “Ukrainian Danube Biosphere Reserve”, a fully
calcareous–dolomitic; Lower Triassic of considerable protected ecological zone, under UNESCO jurisdiction.
thickness (400-2,500 m), slightly unconformable
over‑subjacent deposits consisting of red continental The Tulcea distributary stretches from the Ceatal Izmail
detrital deposits with interlayered volcanic rocks; 17 km to the east to a new bifurcation, Ceatal Sfântu
Middle-Upper Triassic transgressive, marine, comprising Gheorghe (St. George) at Mile 33.84 (km 62.2), where it
carbonate rocks in the lower part (350-450 m limestones, divides into two main distributaries: Sulina on the left
and 500-600 m dolomites) and of detrital rocks (450 m) in and Sfântu Gheorghe (St. George) on the right.
the upper part; Jurassic transgressive marine, consisting
of detrital deposits at the base (Middle Jurassic, From the Ceatal St. George, the Sulina distributary flows
500‑1,700 m thick) and carbonate ones at the top (Upper eastward 71.7 km (present-day length, including the 8 km
Jurassic, 1,000 m thick in the southern area); Lower of dykes at the mouth of the arm) towards the Black Sea.
Cretaceous overlying Jurassic deposits, consisting of red The Sulina distributary’s present-day physiography results
continental deposits of varying thickness (ca. 500 m) and from a large diversion programme carried out between
Sarmatian-Pliocene overlying different Mesozoic deposits 1868 and 1902 by the European Danube Commission. This
and consisting of alternating clay, sand and sandstone project shortened the branch by 24 % (83.8 km before the
(200‑350 m thick) (Panin, 2003). cut-offs, and now only 63.7 km), and induced a deepening
of the river channel in time, from less than 2.5 m in 1857
1.2 - The Danube River Danube Delta – Black to at least 9.5 m in 1959. The shortening and deepening
Sea System of the river channel radically changed the hydrological
The Danube River is one of Europe’s most important regime of the Delta by increasing the water discharge of
waterways, flowing over 2,860 km across the continent the Sulina distributary from 7 – 9 % to about 19 % of total
from the Schwarzwald Massif down to the Black Sea. Danube discharge.
The Danube is listed (after the river Volga) as the second
largest river in Europe. Its drainage basin extends over The St. George distributary, starting from the
817,000 km2 and more than 15 countries share the Danube hydrographic knot at Ceatal Sfântu Gheorghe is
catchment area, which is inhabited by more than 80 108.8 km long until the sea. The distributary flows some
million people. 15-20 km across the North Dobrogean unit, formed of
old geological formations that are difficult to erode,
The average annual water discharge of the Danube and this influences the river’s physiography. The course
River at the delta apex is 6,550 m 3 .s -1 . According of the St. George branch can be subdivided into three
to N. Panin (2003), N. Panin and D. Jipa (2002), sections (Panin, 1976): (1) the Dobrogean section of
M. Meybeck et al. (2003) and D.E. Walling (2006), the limited meandering (between km 104 and km 90); (2) the
present sediment discharge was modified by the building free meandering segment of the St. George arm (between
of the Iron Gates dams that induced a critical decrease km 90, where the Dobrogean unit ends, and km 22) with
in the sediment discharge from ≈ 67 million t.yr -1 a succession of 6 meander loops; and (3) the downstream
to ≈ 30‑40 million t.yr-1. section of limited meandering (between km 22 and km 0).
The St. George meander loops were rectified in 1981-1992;
The Danube Delta, the largest delta in the European these cut-offs led to a shortening of the distributary by
Union, is located at the mouth of the Danube River, where about 31 km and, consequently, increased the free water
it flows into the Black Sea. Situated between 44°25’ and surface slope and water flow velocity determining higher
45°30’ N and between 28°45’ and 29°46’ E (Fig. 1), the water and sediment discharges.
Danube Delta is bordered by the Bugeac Plateau to the
north and by the Dobrogean Orogenic Unit to the south. At its mouth, the St. George distributary forms a small
secondary delta with two secondary branches, which fork
at km 5: the prolongation of the main St. George channel
39
(also called Kedrilles in historical documents) and the Olinca 1.4 - The Danube Delta’s Geomorphological and
branch on the right. This latter branch bifurcates to two Depositional Units
small branches: the Seredne on the left, about 3.5 km long The Danube Delta can be divided into three major
(already silted to-day), and the Turetzkii (or Gârla Turcului) depositional systems (Panin, 1989) (Fig. 2): (1) the delta plain
on the right, some 4.5 km in length. with a total area of about 5800 km 2, of which the marine
Fig. 2 – The Danube Delta major morphological and depositional units (after Panin, 1989). Legend 1: delta plain with: (1a) the fluvial delta plain, (1b) the marine
delta plain, (1c) the fossil and modern beach-ridges and littoral accumulative formations built up by the juxtaposition of beach-ridges; 2: the delta front with: (2a)
the delta front platform, (2b) the relics of the “Sulina Delta” and its delta front, (2c) the delta front slope; 3: the Danube prodelta; 4: depth contour lines in meters
40
delta plain area comprises 1800 km2; (2) the delta-front, with flow energy, etc.) and the sea (wave and littoral currents
an area of ca 1,300 km 2, which is divided into the delta- regime, sea-level changes, etc.) over the past about
front platform (800 km 2) and the delta-front slope (ca. 12,000 yr.
500 km2) and extends offshore to a water depth of 30‑40 m;
(3) the prodelta lies offshore, at the base of the delta-front The ages of the delta evolution phases are presently under
slope, down to a depth of 50‑60 m, and covers an area of discussion. The first data set of 14C age determinations is
over 6,000 km2. To the depositional system should be added quite old (1972‑1978). It was obtained in the framework of
the Danube deep-sea fan system that occurs off Romania, a collaborative project between the Romanian Institute
Bulgaria and Ukraine in the northwestern Black Sea and of Geology and Geophysics and the Centre for Applied
extends from a depth of several hundred meters down to Isotope Studies in the USA. The results were published
the abyssal plain (over 2,200 m). in 1983 (Panin et al., 1983; Noakes and Herz, 1983) and
represented the base of the following succession and
The delta plain starts from the delta apex, at the first timing of evolution phases: (1) the “Blocked Danube Delta”
bifurcation of the Danube Ceatal Izmail. The delta plain and formation of the Letea-Caraorman initial spit, 11,700-
is roughly triangular in shape, with a strong southward 7,500 yr. BP; (2) the St. George I Delta, 9,000-7,200 yr. BP; (3)
asymmetry. The average altitude of the Delta relief is about the Sulina Delta, 7,200-2,000 yr. BP; (4) the St. George II and
0.52 m with a mean inclination of ca. 0.0428 %. The delta Kilia Deltas, 2,800 yr. BP to present; (5) the Cosna-Sinoie
plain contains different elements of positive and negative Delta, 3,500‑1,500 yr. BP (not calibrated ages).
relief: the positive relief components include continental
relics (e.g. Stipoc remnants) and promontories (e.g. Kilia) L. Giosan et al. (2005 and 2006) suggested younger ages
entering the delta territory, fluvial subaerial levees, old and for the initial stages of delta development (for example,
present-day marine beach ridges and littoral accumulative in their view, the St. George I Phase could not be much
formations formed by the juxtaposition of numerous ridges older than ~5,500-6,000 yr. BP). This hypothesis seems to
(among which the most important are: Jibrieni in Ukraine, be more consistent with our present-day understanding
and Letea, Caraorman, Sãrãturile, Perisor, Chituc etc. in of water‑level changes in the Black Sea during the
Romania), lacustrine spits (e.g. Stipoc spit) (Fig. 3). Negative Pleistocene – Holocene time. Nevertheless a number of
relief forms are represented by areas covered by water questions are still under discussion.
constituting the Delta’s hydrographic network. About 54.5 %
of the Danube delta plain consists of areas having altitudes A new campaign of age determinations using, this
between 0 and 1 m above the Black Sea - Sulina reference time, two methods – radiocarbon by AMS and thermo-
system, and 18 % with altitudes between 1 and 2 m. luminescence – is now in progress. The first results
obtained gave us comparable ages using the two methods
The delta front area is about 1,300 km2 and can be divided and these results are very similar with the previous
into the delta front platform (ca. 800 km 2) and the delta data set (for example for the Initial spit: 14C age at 80 cm
front slope (ca. 500 km2). The main distributaries debouche sampling depth – 9,973 yr. BP while TLD at 150 cm sampling
into zones with different bathymetry: in the North, the depth – 9,200 yr. BP). The 14C age was obtained on a marine
Kilia branch flows into a continental shelf area of 20‑25 m shell and the age is quite difficult to correlate with present
depth, while in the South, at the mouth of the St. George understanding of the Black Sea evolution. Consequently,
distributary, the water depth is considerably higher we consider that the timing of the Danube Delta phases
(30‑40 m). This differentiates the morphology of the delta is still open and new studies and age determinations are
front in the two mentioned areas. needed. For the moment, it is too early to take a definitive
decision. Probably the new data will introduce some
The prodelta lies off-shore, at the base of the delta corrections to the old scheme and will allow a closer fit
front down to a depth of 50‑60 m, and covers more with the Black Sea development.
than 6,000 km2. The eastern limit of the prodelta can be
accurately identified in Fig. 2. Elongated depressions, such Bearing in mind that the succession of the main phases
as small valleys or submarine channels (4 – 10 m deep) of the Danube Delta development is well established
bordered by lateral levees or ridges, have been identified and not contested, in the present paper we shall mainly
in the prodelta area. These channels seem to represent describe the physiographic changes of the delta during
discharge courses of turbid f low yield by the river these phases. Conventionally we shall use the chronology
distributaries, especially at high flood. of the “old” 14C ages data set mentioned above.
Fig. 3 – The Danube Delta’s geomorphological-sedimentological structure – The map outlines the main sets of beach ridges and the development phases of the
delta during the Holocene. 1: marine beach ridges; 2: lacustrine spit; 3: directions of main beach ridges and beach ridge sets; 4: river meandering zone – After
Panin, 1989.
42
to as limans) following the formation of spits at their Detailed descriptions of the structure of the two wings of
mouths. At the mouth of the Danube Gulf, between the Sulina Delta are given in previous papers (Panin, 1989,
the Jebriani promontory to the north and Murighiol- 1996 and 1997).
Dunavăț promontory of Dobrogea to the south, a spit was
formed by the littoral sediment drift fed by Ukrainian At the end of the Sulina Delta Phase, at about 3,000 yr. BP
rivers (Dniester, Dnieper and Southern Bug). The spit the Sulina distributary was partially clogged and lost its
was named, in accordance with other predecessors, the importance in the delta system, culminating in the gradual
“Jebriani‑Letea‑Caraorman Initial Spit”. It almost entirely erosion and retreat of the Sulina delta front. At that time,
closed access to the Danube Gulf and represented the the St. George distributary was reactivated in the south
coastline for this period of time. and a new distributary, the Kilia, was formed in the north.
Both these distributaries started to build their deltas.
During the existence of the Danube Gulf, almost the
ent ire solid discharge of the Danube River was deposited 2.4 - The Saint George II Delta
inside the gulf sheltered by the initial spit, and formed a The formation and the development of the St. George II
deltaic body called the “Blocked Danube Delta” phase F Delta took place during the past ~3000 yr (Panin, 1983,
(~11,000 – 9,000 yr. BP) (Fig. 4). 1989 and 1996). The St. George II Delta’s northern part
is represented by the Sărăturile littoral accumulative
2.2 - The “Saint George I Delta” formation, while its southern f lank comprises an
Between the southern end of the initial spit and impressive number of fossil beach ridges and beach ridge
the Murighiol–Dunavăţ Promotor y, there was a sets that record the progradation of the delta shoreline
passage through which the first Danube distributary, (Fig. 7). The Sărăturile Formation has a divergent
Palaeo-St. George, flowed into the sea (Fig. 5). It is here that structure, composed of numerous beach-ridge sets. The
the first delta of the Danube was formed - the “St. George I divergent structure is due to the coastline regression in
Delta” and its development lasted for about 2,000 years the north as the Sulina Delta was subject to continuous
(~ 9,000 – 7,000 yr. BP). erosion, while in the south the coast was prograding with
the development of the St. George II Delta. The southern
At present, only the northern wing of this delta can wing of the St. George II Delta is formed of multiple fossil
be recognised. This flank is represented by the littoral beach ridges and beach ridge sets, recording successive
accumulative formation Caraorman, built up by the steps of delta development and progradation during the
juxtaposition of an impressive number of palaeo-beach last ca. 3,000 yr. BP. The latest ridge is the arcuate lateral
ridges. These ridges were formed exclusively of sandy mouth bar Sakhalin (Island Sakhalin) that appeared in
sediments from Ukrainian rivers transported along the the 19th century and is developing rapidly nowadays. The
seashore by littoral drift. overall progradation over 3,000 yr. was of about 16‑20 km,
the average rate of progradation being of 8‑9 m.yr-1.
The progradation of the St. George I Delta coastline
totalled around 10 km in about two thousand years. At the 2.5 - The Kilia delta
end of this phase the Palaeo-St. George distributary was When the Kilia distributary reached and broke the Initial
partially clogged and a new distributary named Sulina was Spit (about 2,500 yr. ago), a new depocentre, the Kilia Delta,
formed. began to develop. At the beginning, the progradation was
very slow as the Kilia’s sediment supply was low. During
2.3 - The Sulina Delta this period the Kilia Delta was of a wave-dominated type.
The newly formed distributary had broken the Initial Around 1,000 yr ago, the Kilia distributary reached a
Spit at some 20 km north of the Palaeo-St. George predominant importance in the delta system, its sediment
mouth zone and started to build its own delta – the supply gradually increased and the Kilia Delta became
Sulina Delta (Fig. 6). The development of the Sulina Delta lobated (Fig. 7). The most rapid progradation occurred in
lasted about 5,000 years (after N. Panin et al., (1983), from the last five centuries and will be discussed further. The
7,200 to 2,000 yr. BP). Initially, its evolution was slow and sandy sediments supplied by the littoral drift system from
its shape was controlled by waves and littoral drift. The the Ukrainian rivers stops north of the Kilia Delta forming
progressive increase of sediment discharge from the the Jebriani Formation ridges. During the past in 2500 yr,
Sulina distributary caused a significant progradation of the Kilia Delta has prograded by about 18 km.
the Sulina Delta front, which became lobate over time with
three and then five distributaries. 2.6 - Sinoie Delta
In the southern Danube Delta territory, during the period
The maximum progradation of the Sulina Delta into from 3,500 to 1,500 yr BP, there was a secondary delta, the
the sea (Fig. 6) (the Sulina Delta front was 10‑15 km Sinoie Delta (Fig. 8). Two successive development stages
offshore from the present shoreline), coincides with the have been elucidated: Cosna and Sinoie Deltas. These two
Phanagorian regression when sea level was at -2 to -4 m deltas are, in fact, formed by a secondary distributary, the
elevation. The total progradation of the Sulina Delta front Dunavăț. During the first centuries AD, the Sinoie Delta was
during these 5,000 yr was around 30 km. eroded and its material redeposited as beach ridges forming
the Lupilor, Istria and Chituc accumulative formations. The
43
Fig. 4 – The Danube Delta coastline position during the “blocked Danube Delta”
44
Fig. 5 – The position of the Danube Delta coastline during the maximum progradation of the St. George I Delta phase
45
Fig. 6 – The position of the Danube Delta coastline during the maximum progradation of the Sulina Delta phase
46
Fig. 7 – The position of the Danube Delta coastline during the present-day progradation of the Kilia and St. George II Deltas
47
Fig. 8 – The position of the Danube Delta coastline during the Cosna-Sinoie Delta phase. The coastline at ~ 100 yr AD is also shown
48
Lupilor sets of beach ridges were synchronous with the 2.7 - The evolution of the Danube Delta
existence of the Greek and Roman cities Istros/Histria and hydrographic network during the Holocene
Orgame/Argamum (~7th century BC to ~7th century AD) on (Fig. 9)
the western coast of the Black Sea. The sediments eroded The bifurcation of the Danube River at the first hydro
from the Sinoie Delta drifted southwards and caused the graphic knot probably occurred during the “Danube
decline and, in the end, the collapse of the town of Istria Blocked Delta”. The northern distributary – Palaeo‑Kilia,
at about 700 AD. during this period appears to have been less important,
with a smaller discharge than the southern one
Giosan et al. (2006), do not support the hypothesis – Palaeo‑Tulcea branch. The evolution of the southern
of the edification of the delta Cosna-Sinoie by the branch was inf luenced by the land of the northern
Dunavăț distributary. In their opinion, the sedimentary Dobrogea: there were four impingements against Dobrogea
transport by the littoral drift is sufficient to explain the - the first at Tulcea, the second, about 7 km downstream,
formation of the Lupilor, Istria and Chituc accumulative at Nufăru (Preslav), followed by Carasuhat and Mahmudia
formations. Giosan’s opinion on the Cosna lobe appears to impingements (Panin, 1976). After the impingement
be a singular one – Vespremeneanu-Stroe et al. (2013) at Preslav, (km 104 upstream from the mouth zone of
support the existence of this delta, while for him the lobe the St. George arm) the distributary divided into two
was built later and faster than in our interpretation. distributaries – Palaeo-St. George (southern branch)
and Palaeo-Sulina (northern branch) as a result of
In the littoral drift hypothesis as the only source of disturbed flow conditions that occurred immediately
sediments for the Lupilor, Sinoie and Chituc Formations, after the impingement. Consequently, initially the second
the closest source of sediments is the St. George hydrographical knot (Ceatal St. George) was located a few
distributary that is located at about 30-40 km NE of the kilometres downstream from the present-day bifurcation
supposed Dunavăț mouth zone. The St. George – Dunavăț point, immediately after Preslav. The Palaeo-St. George
section of the delta coast is characterised by the largest branch became the most important and active distributary
sediment deficit and the weakest littoral drift of the entire for a long period and was responsible for the formation of
delta front, with zones where the drift orientation is the first Danube Delta, the St. George I Delta.
opposite to the southward general sediment transfer along
the coast. It is not possible that the very large amount of The Kilia distributary flowed northwards, touching the
sediments that composes the Lupilor, Sinoie and Chituc Bugeac Plateau in the Izmail area, where it changed the
Formations had drifted southward from the St. George flow direction towards the east, probably, along the Stipoc
mouth and passed through the Sf. St. George – Dunavăț lacust rine spit and then followed the present-day course
section of the weakest littoral drift. of the Sontea channel to join the Paleo-Sulina distributary
around Mile 25‑Mile 24 (on the so-called Old Danube)
Additionally, (1) there is some geophysical evidence (Panin, 1976 and 1997).
for an old incised channel and some remains from a
frontal beach ridge or presently-submerged mouth zone; During the phase of maximum progradation of the
(2) the mineralogical composition of the heavy fraction St. George I Delta, the palaeo-distributary St. George
of the littoral sands sustains the area close to the river formed mea nders of 10-14 km wavelength (λ), with
mouth (close to the mouth zone there are some less amplitudes (α) of 5-7 km and curvature indices r m/w
stable minerals than those that can support important exceeding 2.0 (Panin, 1976) (Fig. 9).
longshore drift); (3) there is a large residual of heavy
minerals (mainly titanite, zircon, rutile, garnet, ilmenite) Only at the end of the Phanagorian regression, when
in the northern part of the Chituc formation that was the sea level was lowered by several meters (‑2 – ‑4 m)
formed by a strong palaeo-erosion of a large volume of and the relief energy increased, was the St. George
littoral sands from an important sedimentary body (the distributary drained and a new generation of meander
Cosna lobe). bands characterised by λ = 2.4-5.0 km, α = 1.5-4.0 km and
r m/w values of 1.49‑2.1 was formed (Panin, 1976) (Fig. 8).
Concerning the age of the Cosna-Sinoie Delta: the ages Then the excessive length of the distributary channel
proposed by us are based on 14C and TLD determinations and associated low-energy relief led to a partial clogging
and the differences are compared to Vespreanu- of the Palaeo-St. George which lost its major role in the
Stroe’s et al. (2013) results. We sampled the first set hydrographic system of the delta during the following
of beach-ridges marking the onset of the Cosna-Sinoie period. The Palaeo-Sulina branch gradually bec ame
Delta. The ages we obtained from the entire range the most important distributary (for a period of almost
of Cosna‑Sinoie beach-ridges sets span the period 5,000 yr) and some 6,000‑7,000 yr. BP broke the initial spit
from about 3,550 yr BP to 1,500 yr BP, while the ages in the Răducu area, (Fig. 9), starting to build the “Sulina
proposed by Vespremeanu-Stroe et al. (2013) are in Delta”. The Palaeo‑Sulina distributary meander system
the interval 2000‑1300 yr BP. In principle, we agree with (composed of Maliuc and “Big M” meander bends), had
Vespremeneanu-Stroe’s hypothesis that the maximum wavelengths and amplitudes very similar to those of
development of the Dunavăț and Cosna Delta occurred the Palaeo‑St. George branch (λ = 14-16 km; α = 5-7 km;
around 1400-1300 yr BP. rm/w = 2.67-2.78) (Panin, 1976).
49
Fig. 9 – Hypothetical courses of the Paleo-St. George, Paleo-Sulina and Paleo-Kilia distributaries – After Panin, 1976 with completions.
The Kilia distributary may have adopted its present course formed in the drowned valleys deriving from the Bugeac
around 3,000-3,500 years BP. The area north of Stipoc spit, Plateau (Panin, 1983). The Kilia arm probably entered the
the Pardina Depression, was occupied by the Lake Thiagola, Pardina Depression after exceptionally high water in the
mentioned by ancient texts (among them Ptolemy or Danube River and Gulf. The distributary probably found
Claudios Ptolemaios – ~90‑168 AD), that was a lagoon a way out to the sea through the Initial Spit at almost
50
the same time. Since then, the Kilia distributary began Furthermore, within the lower Danube, two barrages
introducing an increasing quantity of sediment to the (Iron Gates I and II, built up in 1970 and 1983, respectively)
coastal area forming its own depocentre, the Kilia Delta. and the hydrotechnical regulation works along the Danube
tributaries have dramatically decreased the sediment
2.8 - Present state of the Danube Delta discharge at the Danube mouths (by around 25‑40 %)
hydrographic system (Panin and Jipa, 2002; Panin, 2003; Panin and
Anthropogenic pressure in the last 150 years has Overmars, 2012) (Fig. 10). This had an adverse impact on
transformed the majority of river systems (Petts, 1984; the sedimentary budget of the delta’s coastal zone, which
Church, 1995; Sear, 1995; Xu, 1996; Brandt, 2000; became unbalanced and characterized by strong erosion
Shields et al., 2000; Batalla, 2003; Gaeuman et al., 2005; of the delta front.
Magilligan and Nislow, 2005; Phillips et al., 2005).
Disturbances like river-draining operations, such The distribution of Danube River water discharge
as meander cut-offs initiated for navigation or f lood through the main delta branches has varied in the last
mitigation purposes, often lead to dramatic changes in two centuries, mainly as a result of human intervention:
fluvial profiles (Hooke, 1986; Kesel, 2003; Kiss et al., 2008). deviation projects, damming, channel construction.
Table 1 and Fig. 10 show the estimated variations in water
For the lower Danube River, and especially for the Danube discharge over the last century (Bondar and Panin, 2000).
Delta, anthropogenic changes started in the 19th century,
mainly after the Crimean war with the establishment At present, the Kilia distributary is still the largest of the
of the European Danube Commission in 1856. The delta system, but its water and sediment discharges have
Commission’s objective was to improve the navigability of decreased significantly and, consequently, progradation of
the delta distributaries and to transform the river into an the Kilia Delta has slowed down.
international waterway, stretching from the Black Sea to
Central Europe. The anthropogenic interventions in the The hydrotechnical works carried out along the Sulina
delta continued in the 20th century and their cumulative distributary explain the gradual deepening of the river
impact on the delta system has been very important. The channel from less than 2.5 m in 1857 to at least 9.5 m in 1959
measures and the actions during this period of time are (Bondar and Papadopol, 1972; Bondar and Panin, 2000)
described in part 1.3. of the present paper. and to 14‑15 m at present (Fig. 11), (Duţu, 2014). Recent
Tab. 1 – Danube River water discharge distribution through the delta’s main distributaries
Distribution of Danube water discharge among the delta’s channels (%)
Fig. 10 – Changes in water discharge between the Danube Delta’s main distributaries during the period 1840‑2003 – After Bondar and Panin, 2000.
51
Fig. 11 – Diversion of the Sulina distributary meander belts during the period 1868-1902
studies (Duţu, 2014) show that the Sulina channel is very 3 - Discussions and conclusions
dynamic, with a high capacity for erosion and sediment
transport. Active bed forms (mega-ripples, small and high 3.1 - The chronology of the delta development
dunes) have been identified across the entire channel phases
bed. The present-day evolution of the Sulina branch is As shown in chapter 2, the chronology of delta evolution is
controlled by the continuous anthropogenic works and presently under discussion.
interventions (dredging for navigation purposes) with
direct implications for the fluvial profile. There are at least two prevailing hypotheses concerning
the timing of delta development phases, differing notably
The St. George distributary meander cut-offs caused with regards to the ages for the initial stages of delta
dramatic changes in the local distribution of river-flow evolution. The first hypothesis, based on an older data
velocities, discharge, and sediment fluxes (Ichim and set, considers that the onset of delta formation occurred
Radoane, 1986; Popa, 1997; Panin, 2003; Tiron, 2010, around 10-9 ka BP and the first delta lobe (“St. George I
Tiron Duţu et al., 2014). A rupture of the natural bend Delta”) was formed and existed at 9‑7.2 ka BP. The second
evolution occurred – strong silting processes are more hypothesis, based on a more recent data set, suggests
actively expressed in the aggradation of the channel bed, that the first delta lobe St. George I was formed around
the narrowing of channels and the development of bars 6 ka BP. To solve this controversy a new age determination
and islands along the natural meander bend sections campaign is currently in progress. We consider that the
(Jugaru Tiron et al., 2009; Tiron Duţu et al., 2014). problem of the timing of the Danube Delta phases needs
new studies and age determinations. These new data will
also contribute to a better understanding of the Black Sea
region’s development.
These high stands are the periods when the Danube transgressions infilled the incisions and covered the area
River sediment load accumulated within the present-day with new blankets of sediments.
delta territory. By contrast, during low-stands, the river
continued to flow down towards the Black Sea depression, The evolution phases of the Danube delta have also been
to the low-stand coastal zones situated at or even beyond influenced by small-scale sea-level variations (for instance,
the shelf break. On the present-day delta territory the the Phanagorian regressive phase), as well as by the
low-stands are marked by important incisions of the possible autocyclic shifting of the main sediment supply
river valley and strong erosion when the older deposits between the Danube distributaries and correspondingly of
were washed out almost completely. The following depocentres from one area to another.
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