A New Chronology for Holocene Danube Delta: Morphodynamic, Paleoenvironmental and Human Implications

Liviu Giosan
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA

Morphodynamics of the open-coast Danube delta has been largely determined by the interaction between fluvial deposition and the strong southward wave-induced longshore transport. Morphological and facies asymmetry displayed by the marine lobes of the Danube delta indicate that a strong and sustained southward-directed longshore transport has been a persistent process along the delta shore. Redistribution of discharge among distributaries and morphodynamic feedbacks appear to be the main controls on delta development rather than postulated minor sea-level variations.

Initial results on a new chronology of the delta development indicate that the delta started to build at the open coast some 3,000 years earlier than previously believed around 6,000 radiocarbon years. Coastal evolution on the adjacent non-deltaic coast was strongly coupled to the delta morphodynamics via the longshore transport. Extensive barrier spits successively developed downcoast of the delta after deactivation of deltaic lobes following major redistributions of water and sediment within the delta.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90039©2005 AAPG Calgary, Alberta, June 16-19, 2005