Intensive Infilling Processes of a Cutoff Meander in the Danube Delta

Abstract

Abstract This paper documents the structure of flow and bed morphology of a cutoff meander of the Danube River in relationship with a GIS approach. The cutoffs effect produce changes in the repartition of the water and sediment fluxes between the natural channel and the manmade canal, with direct implications on the environmental evolution of the delta. The Dranov de Jos meander (Lower Dranov meander ‒ LDM) belt seems to be one of the most affected by the rectification works performed on Sfântu Gheorghe branch between 1981 and 1992. The upstream and downstream parts of the cutoff are characterized by the decrease of the channel width by banks sedimentation (with the rate of ‒6.2 m/year) and at the apex zone, the bank’s sedimentation is associated with intense sediment infilling of the central part of the channel, where a large deposit of 950 m in length and 190 m in width is formed.