ON THE GEOMORPHOLOGIC EVOLUTION OF THE CHILIA SECONDARY DELTA

Consulting the results of the research in the last decades on the Danube Delta with emphasis on those which made references to the regime of the discharge and suspended sediment load on the Chilia channel, to the appearance and expansion of the Chilia Secondary Delta and to its connections to the Sulina channel and with the littoral area of the Black Sea as well as on the basis of personal observations and comparative analysis of older maps, printed topographic charts (Gauss, sc.1:25.000) and of satellite images, some aspects could be distinguished, regarding the expansion of the Chilia Secondary Delta during the contemporary period,respectively the elongation on the south-southeast direction of the Old Stambul channel. An evolutionary model was designed for the process of aggradation in the area of the Chilia Secondary Delta obtaining an annual rate for the expansion of the Old Stambul channel (Ichim et al., 1986, according to Wolpert, 1964). On the basis of the annual rate of elongation of the Old Stambul channel with an approximate value of 40 m, it can be deduced that in a relatively short period of 50 years, the flow of the respective channel into the Black Sea will be done through the mouth of the Sulina channel, bringing great prejudices to the maritime traffic in the area. Moreover, taking into consideration that the border between Romania and the Ukraine follows the river bed of the Old Stambul channel, it can be assumed that, starting from now, there will be important and complicated consequences.