LONGSHORE CURENTS EVALUATION ALONG THE ROMANIAN BLACK SEA COAST

The objective of the present work it is to evaluate the nearshore current patterns along the Romanian Black Sea coast. In order to give a full perspective of the nearshore circulation, three target areas (Saint George, Mamaia and Mangalia) were considered for analysis. The above selection is based on the fact that each of these coastal areas presents specific bathymetric features. For the numerical simulations, a 1D surf model was used in order to determine the nearshore current variations. This is based on the input provided by the SWAN phase averaged spectral wave model. Some case studies related to the most relevant environmental conditions were considered. They were defined taking into account the in situ wave measurements performed at the Gloria drilling unit. Since the waves are in fact the most important factor in the coastal dynamics, because both of their direct and indirect (via the nearshore currents) actions, in the final part of the paper a detailed assessment of the wave conditions was carried out in each target area.