Chapter
12    

N. I. Alekseevskiy, D. N. Aibulatov and S. V. Chistov

Department of Geography
Moscow State University
Moscow, Russia

Abstract

Coastline change in the vicinity of the Volga River delta has been investigated through use of satellite images, maps, and published hydrological data. In the past 200 years, the delta has built out unevenly, with greater development along the delta's eastern channels throughout the twentieth century. From the end of the nineteenth century to the present, the dominant process has been concentration of flow in progressively fewer major channels and loss of smaller distributaries. Historical coastlines are examined for insight into possible coastal changes if the Caspian sea level continues to rise.

Citation for the published article

Alekseevskiy, N. I., D. N. Aibulatov, and S. V. Chistov, 2000. Shoreline dynamics and the hydrographic system of the Volga Delta, in Dynamic Earth Environments: Remote Sensing Observations from Shuttle-Mir Missions (K. P. Lulla and L. V. Dessinov, eds.), John Wiley & Sons, New York, pp. 159-169.

Links to Color Images

	Figure 12.1 Benchmarks of Caspian sea level linked to cartographic and satellite materials used in this study. Bars indicate sea level in the Volga delta region reported by the authors. Line indicate data for the twentieth century used by Varuschenko, et al. (Chapter 16).
	Figure 12.2 Map of the main channels in the Volga delta, labeled on a ca. 1991 map. The dashed lines coming radially from the delta shoreline are artificially maintained offshore channels.
	Figure 12.3 Position of the Volga delta marine edge in 1807 to 1817 (blue), 1920 (red), 1941 (orange), and in 1991 (green) with a Caspian Sea levels of -25.0, -26.1, -27.8, and -27.3 m, respectively. The shoreline positions are mapped on a base map of distributary channels in 1920.
	Figure 12.4 Growth of the Volga delta in the past 100 years. Comparative maps show how the delta has grown unevenly over time (from west to east), and the relative position of the shoreline. Base maps shown from left to right: ca. 1880 map (from Comprehensive Atlas and Geography of the World, 1882); 1920 map (from Figure 12.3), ca. 1991 map (from Figure 12.2). The nineteenth-century delta (blue) and the delta growth by 1920 (red) are highlighted and superimposed to facilitate comparisons.
	Figure 12.5 The Volga Delta in (A) April 1994 (detail of NASA photograph STS059-218-64, see also Figure 19.2 In the color Insert) and (B) May 1996 (NASA photograph NM21-735-42), showing continued transgression. Slight differences in coastline position can be identified. Compare the May 1996 shoreline with the map in Figure 12.2.

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