Abstract:
The coastal zone of the seas and oceans in origin, formation, structure, and economic purpose fundamentally differs from natural and natural-anthropogenic land systems. At the same time, it is the most dynamic natural system in the geographic envelope, so the results of any anthropogenic activity, manifested within its limits, have a very fast response. That is why all types of hydraulic engineering work, especially coastal protection, should be carried out only after scientific justification. It is important to note that in the Ukrainian coastal literature up to now there is no whole, unified, complex justification for coast protection, presented according to the genetic principle. That is why we consider the presented publication as the first step towards such a justification. The work aims to analyze the protection of abrasion coasts by methods of creating and operating artificial sandy beaches in the coastal zone of non-tidal seas and to develop appropriate recommendations. To achieve the aim, it is necessary to solve the following tasks: a) to develop a natural justification for the use of artificial sandy beaches in the coastal zone of non-tidal seas; b) to analyze the necessary physical and geographical conditions for the creation of artificial sandy beaches (slope, the presence of sediment, etc.); c) to study the possibility of using land and underwater sediment sources for artificial dumping; d) to analyze the use of combining artificial beaches with other hydraulic structures. All the tasks set in the complex are of significant practical importance, aimed at the conservation of coastal areas and the subsequent comprehensive geographic justification. This publication is based on the materials of many years of research on artificial sandy beaches in the coastal zone of non-tidal seas. According to the presented materials, the rule of creating sustainable artificial sandy beaches was substantiated and confirmed to optimize the coastal protection of abrasion shores. This rule is based on the idea of redistributing the impact of the wave energy from abrasion to accumulative mode. Therefore, in the conditions of the sandy shores of the Black Sea, it is necessary to use a complex of beach dumping, within the limits of longitudinal and transverse hydraulic structures, individually for each section of the coastal zone, according to the law of geographical locality. The paper substantiates the fundamental difference between an artificial beach and artificial sandy terraces. Coasts are most effectively protected from abrasion by beaches, and not by stable terraces. Unlike natural landscapes, in the complex systems of the coastal zone of the seas, the improvement of their condition is carried out in a fundamentally different way. One of the important methods of such improvement is the creation and operation of artificial sand and pebble beaches. In the region of the Black and Azov Seas, the creation and functioning of artificial sandy beaches take place under conditions of sediment deficit and the manifestation, simultaneously with wave action, of meteorological level fluctuations, which contributes to a strong loss of beach material. Considering that there is a shortage of sand material of the required quality in the adjacent coastal areas and on the underwater slope, the issue of sand loss is of key importance.