Home – Home – Jornals – Geography and Natural Resources 2019 number 3

We report results from investigating the landforms of the coastal zone of Uda Bay, one of the most poorly explored and hard-to-reach areas of the Sea of Okhotsk. Expedition-based investigations were carried out, satellite images were interpreted, topographic and sea maps were analyzed, and archival material was studied (namely, geological-geomorphological route coastal and hydrographic descriptions). A package of methods was used to obtain new evidence on coastal topography and morphogenetic processes. The region’s natural conditions are considered to identify the factors influencing morphogenesis of the coast of Uda Bay. The influence of the cold Sea of Okhotsk, the duration of freeze-up, strong tidal currents, and an attenuated wave regime are the main factors for the present-day morphogenesis of the bay bottom. Composite coastal topography is determined by the geological structure of the study area, while the river runoff, activity of the ice, and abrasion of the seacoast have influence on input of sedimentary material. According to the morphodynamical attributes and on the basis of a genetic classification of the shores, we carried out a coastal zoning of Uda Bay. A schematic zoning map for Uda Bay and a detailed geomorphological schematic map for Lyutsun Bay were compiled. Eight coastal areas of Uda Bay were identified and described.