Kuban river mouth

Some information on evolution, structure and regime of the Danube, Dniester, Dnieper, Rioni, Don and Kuban river mouths at the period up to the first part of the 20th century is given in [4]. More complete and present-day characteristics of the above-mentioned river mouths are considered in [5]. 

Extensive studies were carried out at the Don and Kuban river mouths (the Sea of Azov) during the second part of the 20th century [16-19]. The most complete information on present-day environmental situation at the Don and Kuban river mouths is presented in [19]. 

Fig. 14 Scheme of the Kuban River mouth. Main branches 1 - Kuban, 2 - Protoka. Settlements 3 - Slavyansk-na-Kubani, 4 - Temryuk, 5 - Temryuk-port, 6 - Slobodka... 

Kuban River are delivered to a relatively deep-water near-mouth sea area. In the spring of 1980, the salinity difference between the surface and the bottom here reached 9 psu. 

In accordance with the distributions of the water temperature and salinity, the vertical density gradients reach their maximal values in frontal regions -Taganrog Bay and the near-mouth area of the Kuban River, and in the near-Kerch region. 

Meanwhile, the pollution of riverine and sea waters by different hazardous chemicals such as pesticides, phenols, and, at selected places, oil products also increased. The highest pollution degree is observed in the near-mouth regions of the Don and Kuban rivers and in the areas adjacent to major ports. These ecological changes resulted in a sharp drop in the biological productivity of the sea. The trophic base for fish multifold reduced and the total fish hauls, especially those of valuable fish species, also decreased. 

During the last 60-100 years [5,21,22], the majority of rivers under consideration were subject to the human-induced decrease in the water runoff and sediment load. The decrease in the water runoff was mainly due to the water withdrawal for economical needs and losses through evaporation from the free-water surface of reservoirs. At the Danube River mouth, however, the climate-induced increase in the water runoff over the recent 30 years has exceeded the human-induced decrease in it. Human-induced decrease of water runoff among large rivers was the greatest in the Dnieper, Don and Kuban rivers and comprised 1.2-1.3 times. 

The open nearshores of the majority of the rivers under study are deep. Mean slope of the open nearshore bottom at the Rioni mouth is 6.5%o ( old delta) and 14.3%o ( new delta) [3]. Less deep are the open nearshores of the Danube and Kuban rivers [3,5]. The open nearshores of this kind are typical of the Dniester, Dnieper and Don mouths [5]. 

The mouth area of the Kuban River (Fig. 14) belongs to the open deltaic type [5,17-19]. It consists of the large delta 4190 km2 in area and narrow and deep nearshore zone 5-10 km in width. The delta coastline is 150 km long. 

Mouth areas of the Danube, Dniester, Dnieper and Southern Bug, Don, Kuban and Rioni rivers are the most important in the region of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Mouth areas of these rivers differ from other mouths not because of only their large size and a great diversity of landscape. These river... 

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