Suspended sediment budget and stability of the River Don Delta in the period from 1944 to 2020

Abstract

The River Don Delta (RDB) and the adjacent estuary and land areas have significant ecological and economic value. RDB is the most eastern in the Mediterranean – Black Sea (MBS) basin delta, and it has similar problems with many other MBS deltas. So, the delta became sediment-starved due to the construction of dams upstream. Additionally, the geomorphological stability of RDB is threatened by regional climate changes over the sea and land, which became especially apparent starting from 1980th. In this study, we reconstructed suspended sediment budgets in different parts of the delta and the adjacent estuary and land areas in the period from 1944 to 2020 and analyzed the changes in the delta channel’s width and at the sea border starting from 1980th. We used the modelling framework, consisting of the modified hydrodynamic model HEC RAS and the large-scale sediment budget model, as well as satellite image analysis. We estimated suspended sediment balance in the front-delta, the delta channels, and the delta platform and at the adjacent land area for the three periods 1944–1973, 1974–1981, and 1982–2020, which are related to the construction of large dams in the River Don Basin. The sediment accumulation rates were similar to those of other MBS deltas. Suspended sediment budget dropped three times for the entire case study area from 1944–1973 to 1982–2020. At the same time, the percentage of accumulated sedimentation to the fluvial sediment delivery increased almost five times from the first to the third period. This proves that sea factors, seiches and storm surges, play a stabilizing role for the River Don Delta by increase in suspended sediment budget during the hydrological interaction of sea and river waters. Observed total annual channel width within the delta changes in line with sedimentation accumulation patterns in the delta channels for the period of environmental changes that started in 1980th. The delta’s sea border stabilizes in the period 1982–2020 due to the influence of the sea factors, seiches, and increased storm surges upon sedimentation patterns. Our findings allow us to conclude that engineering regulation of sedimentation is not necessary now in the River Don Delta.

Keywords

Suspended sediments / Hydrodynamics / River Don Delta / Widths of delta channels / Seiche / Storm Surges

References

[1] Anthony EJ, Marriner N, Morhange C. Human influence and the changing geomorphology of Mediterranean deltas and coasts over the last 6000years: from progradation to destruction phase?. Earth Sci Rev, 2014, 139: 336-361

[2] Baumann RH, Day JWJrMiller CA. Mississippi deltaic wetland survival: sedimentation versus coastal submergence. Science, 1984, 224: 1093-1095

[3] Berdnikov S, Dashkevich L, Kulygin V. A new state in the hydrological regime of the Sea of Azov in the 21th century. Dokl Earth Sci, 2022, 503(1): 123-128

[4] Berdnikov S, Sorokina V, Kleshchenkov A, Tyutyunov Yu, Kulygin V, Kovaleva G, Bulysheva N. Marine indicators of climate change in the Azov Sea ecosystem. J Sea Res, 2023, 193: 102373

[5] Berdnikov SV, Sheverdyaev IV, Kleshchenkov AV et al. (2023b) Combined application of the hydrological model HEC RAS and a multicompartmental balance model to describe the transport and transformation of suspended solids in a River delta: a case study of the Don River Estuary Area. Available at Elpub. Preprints: https://preprints.ru/article/1073, preprint. (In Russian)

[6] Berdnikov S, Sheverdyaev I, Kleshchenkov A, Kulygin V, Likhtanskaya N. Modeling the transport and deposition of suspended solids under conditions of low water and surge phenomena in the Don River estuary area. Russ J Earth Sci, 2024, 24(4): 1-28 In Russian)

[7] Besset M, Anthony EJ, Sabatier F. River delta shoreline reworking and erosion in the Mediterranean and Black Seas: the potential roles of fluvial sediment starvation and other factors. Elementa: Sci Anthropocene, 2017, 5(6): 54

[8] Bronfman AM, Khlebnikov EP (1985) Sea of Azov. Fundamentals of reconstruction. Gidrometeoizdat, Leningrad (In Russian)

[9] Cox JR, Paauw M, Nienhuis JH, et al. . A global synthesis of the effectiveness of sedimentation-enhancing strategies for river deltas and estuaries. Glob Planet Change, 2022, 214: 103796

[10] Day JWJr.Boesch DF, Clairain EJ, et al. . Restoration of the Mississippi delta: lessons from hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Science, 2007, 315: 1679-1684

[11] Day JW, Ibáñez C, Pont D, Scarton F (2019) Status and sustainability of Mediterranean deltas: The case of the Ebro, Rhône, and Po deltas and Venice Lagoon. In: Coasts and estuaries. Elsevier, pp 237–249. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-814003-1.00014-9

[12] Flower RJ, Appleby PG, Thompson JR, et al. . Sediment distribution and accumulation in lagoons of the Southern Mediterranean Region (the MELMARINA Project) with special reference to environmental change and aquatic ecosystems. Hydrobiologia, 2009, 622: 85-112

[13] Ganicheva LZ (1985) Patterns of Sedimentogenesis in the Sea of Azov (Suspensions and Conditions of their Formation). Dissertation, South Geology (In Russian)

[14] Grigorenko KS. Currents of the Sea of Azov based on measurements and spectral analysis. Dokl Earth Sc, 2025, 523: 14

[15] Gu Y, Han G, Geng L, et al. . Trade-offs between vegetation and sediment availability in shaping long-term tidal network morphodynamics. Front Mar Sci, 2025, 12: 1574276

[16] Hicks F, Peacock T. Suitability of HEC-RAS for flood forecasting. Can Water Resour J, 2005, 30(2): 159-174

[17] Kleschenkov AV, Aleshina EG, Soyer VG, Sheverdyaev IV. About flow of suspended sediment and heavy metals to the Don’s Delta by surges. Ecol Econ Informaticssyst Analys Math Model Ecol Econ Syst, 2019, 1(4): 140-144 In Russian)

[18] Kleschenkov AV (2020) Interannual dynamics of water turbidity in the Don Delta under conditions of reduced solid runoff. In: Patterns of formation and impact of marine and atmospheric hazardous phenomena and disasters on the coastal zone of the Russian Federation in the context of global climatic and industrial challenges ("Hazardous Phenomena–II"): Proceedings of the II International Scientific Conference in memory of Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences D.G. Matishov (Rostov-on-Don, July 6–10, 2020). SSC RAS, Rostov-on-Don, pp 382–386 (In Russian)

[19] Kleshchenkov AV, Kostyuk VA, Moskovets AYu, Aleshina EG. The intrusion of sea water into the River Don Delta during the low-water period. Water Resour, 2025, 52(1): 91-101

[20] Kulygin VV, Magritskii DV, Kleshchenkov AV. Floods and dangerous shallowing at the Don River mouth. Russ Meteorol Hydrol, 2024, 49(11): 964-974

[21] Lewis SL, Maslin MA. Defining the Anthropocene. Nature, 2015, 519(7542): 171-180

[22] Li L, Shen F, He Z, Yu Z. Suspended sediment dynamics in macrotidal turbid Hangzhou Bay during Typhoon Chan-hom. Front Earth Sci, 2022, 10: 932149

[23] Likhtanskaya N, Berdnikov S, Kleshchenkov A. Solid runoff of the Don River and suspended matter flow into the delta during surges: statistical modeling and comparison in the low water period. Russ J Earth Sci, 2023, 23(4): 1-15 In Russian)

[24] Matishov GG, Grigorenko KS. Seiche currents in the Sea of Azov based on field observations. Oceanology, 2023, 63(1): 27-34

[25] Matishov GG, Moskovets AYu, Inzhebeikin YuI, Il’ichev VG, Kirillova EE. Stages of Construction of Dams, Embankments, and Canals and the Transformation of River Runoff in the Front-delta of the Don (the 18th–21st Centuries). Science of the South of Russia, 2019, 15(4): 46-54 In Russian)

[26] Pandey S, Rao AD, Haldar R. Modeling of Coastal Inundation in Response to a Tropical Cyclone Using a Coupled Hydraulic HEC-RAS and ADCIRC Model. J Geophys Res: Oceans, 2021, 126(7): e2020JC016810

[27] Rossi VM, Kim W, López JL, Edmonds D, Geleynse N, Olariu C, Steel RJ, Hiatt M, Passalacqua P. Impact of tidal currents on delta-channel deepening, stratigraphic architecture, and sediment bypass beyond the shoreline. Geology, 2016, 44(11): 927-930

[28] Seo JY, Choi B-J, Choi SM, Ryu J, Ha HK. Contribution of coastal seiches to sediment transport in a microtidal semi-enclosed bay. Front Mar Sci, 2024, 11: 1392435

[29] Sheverdyaev IV, Kleschenkov AV. Revealing the Surge Phenomena Contribution of the Heavy Metals Inflow to the River Don Delta. Phys Oceanogr, 2020, 27(5): 535-546

[30] Shiryborova AI, Medvedev IP, Arkhipkin (2024) Seiche oscillations in the Sea of Azov according to tide gage observations. Russian Meteorol Hydrol 11:86–96. https://doi.org/10.52002/0130-2906-2024-11-86-96 (In Russian)

[31] The Place for HEC-RAS Modelers (2020) https://www.kleinschmidtgroup.com/raspost/hec-ras-6-0-beta-is-now-available/. Accessed 17 November 2020

[32] Venevsky S, Berdnikov S, Day JW, Sorokina V, Gong P, Kleshchenkov A, Kulygin V, Li W, Misirov S, Sheverdyaev I, Yuan C. Don River delta hydrological and geomorphological transformation under anthropogenic and natural forcings. Dynamics of delta shoreline, risk of coastal flooding and related management options. Ocean Coast Manag, 2024, 258: 107364

[33] Wang X, Guo Y, Ren J. The coupling effect of flood discharge and storm surge on extreme flood stages: a case study in the Pearl River delta, South China. Int J Disaster Risk Sci, 2021, 12: 495-509

[34] Yang SL, Luo X, Temmerman S, et al. . Role of delta-front erosion in sustaining salt marshes under sea-level rise and fluvial sediment decline. Limnol Oceanogr, 2020, 65(9): 1-20

Funding

Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation(125011200143-4)

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

The Author(s)