Long-Term Alterations to the Varna-Beloslav Lake Complex due to Human Activities (Bulgarian Black Sea Coast (original) (raw)

There are several larger lakes at the 412 km long Bulgarian Black Sea coastline, as each distinguishes with a specific hydrological regime and parameters. The deepest and the largest is the Varna Lake, located west from the Bay of Varna at the North Bulgarian coast. The lake is a firth formation at the river valley under a rising sea level during the Holocene, when it was divided from the sea by a large sandy spit. In 1900s with construction of Varna Port a navigational channel between Varna Lake and the sea was built, while in 1920s it was artificially connected to the inland Beloslav Lake by other navigational channel. Since the beginning of the past century the two lakes have been subject of many direct human impacts, such as: digging of three navigational channels; situating a number of ports with different functions; constantly performed dredging activities etc.