The formation and the structure of the banks of the accumulative compositions of the North-Western coast of the Sea of Azov

Based on the processing of the cartographic materials, the literary sources and our own
field researches, the conditions of the formation and the structure of the banks of the
accumulative compositions of the north-western coast of the Sea of Azov have been
disclosed. The coastline of the north-western coast of the Sea of Azov forms smooth
bends, and only long sand forelands give it some ruggedness. The modern geologicalgeomorphological processes (abrasion, landslides, rockfall slopes, accumulation) and
the lithological composition of the bedrocks have the greatest impact on the formation
of its outline. The north-western banks of the Sea of Azov are mostly lowland and they
are represented with the accumulative compositions such as the sand-shell Spits
(Fedotova Spit, Obytichna Spit, Berdianska Spit) and the polytypic bars (the bar of
Molochnyi Estuary) which are stretched from the North-East to the South-West. The
structure of the bedrock coast of the spits is represented with the sandy-clayey rocks of
the Pliocene and Quaternary ages. The elevated coasts are the active cliffs, the speed of
the abrasion averages from 0.8 to 2.5 m per year.
As a result of the conducted research, we have been identified 5 areas with the
accumulative-abrasive banks within the spits and the bars of the north-western coast of
the Sea of Azov and their geological-geomorphological characteristics have been given.
The peculiarity of the morphological structure of the coast of the Sea of Azov on the
research area is characterized with the presence of the system of the accumulative sand
spits, the sizes of which increase from the East to the West. The proportion of the
biogenic component in the composition of the material of the spits also increases in the
same direction. The distal parts of the spits, as a rule, build up and the subcontinental
windward part of them and the bedrock bank between them are eroded. The transition of
the clastic material in the coastal zone in the north-western shores of the Sea of Azov
occurs in the direction from the North-East to the South-West. The sand spits are
formed from the material along the coastal stream. The sources of the power of the flow
of the sediment are the products of the destruction of the abrasive cliffs and the supply
of the terrigenous material from the bottom of the sea.
The generalization of the received results in the way of the research has made it possible
to establish: the conditions of the formation of the spits and the bars of the northwestern coast of the Sea of Azov; the modern structure of the banks of the accumulative
compositions of the researched part of the coast of the Sea of Azov, which has made it
possible to highlight 5 areas with the different types of the coasts within its borders; to
give the geological-geomorphological characteristics of the selected areas within the
coast.