INTRODUCTION: NOWADAYS STABILIZING BEACH CONDITIONS AGAINST MARINE EROSION FORCES IS THE FIRST PRIORITY IN COASTAL MANAGEMENT PLANNING AND COASTAL ENGINEERING FUNCTION [1]. USUALLY EROSION VULNERABILITY DEGREE ASSESSMENT OF COASTAL ZONES IS DONE BY DAMAGE POTENTIAL EVALUATION AND STABILITY CAPACITY CALCULATION [1]…..

1. INTRODUCTION: THECASPIAN SEA IS THE WORLD’S LARGEST ENCLOSED WATER BODY IN BOTH AREA (380, 000 KM2) AND VOLUME (78, 000 KM3).IT CONTAINS 44% OF THE GLOBAL VOLUME OF INLAND WATERS. IT HAS DIMENSIONS OF 1300 KM IN LENGTH FROM NORTH TO SOUTH AND WIDTH OF 200–450 KM FROM EAST TO WEST. THE WATER DEPTH OF THE CASPIAN SEA REACHES TO MORE THAN 1000 M IN THE SOUTHERN AREAS.....

INTRODUCTION: AT THE BORDER OF ASIA AND EUROPE, THE CASPIAN SEA (CS) IS THE WORLD’S LARGEST INLAND BASIN. COASTAL REGIONS OF SOUTHERN CS EXPERIENCE DIFFERENT TYPES OF SEA LEVEL FLUCTUATIONS. THE TIMESCALE OF THESE FLUCTUATIONS VARY FROM HOURS TO MONTHS AND YEARS. IN THIS STUDY A GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF THE CASPIAN SEA LEVEL (CSL) VARIATION IS REACHED THROUGH BOTH FIELD OBSERVATION AND NUMERICAL MODELING...

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CASPIAN SEA, BECAUSE OF BEING ENCLOSED FOR 5 MILLION YEARS, HAS TURNED TO A WATER ECOSYSTEM WITH ESPECIAL FAUNA AND FLORA AND 42 % OF ITS SPECIES ARE NATIVE. CASPIAN SEA, WITH ITS UNIQUE BIODIVERSITY, WETLANDS, RIVERS, PLANT AND ANIMAL SPECIES, HAS BEEN UNDER THE PRESSURE OF INCREASING THREATS AND VARIOUS ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES WHICH GRADUALLY INFLUENCES THIS SEA. CASPIAN SEA AS THE LARGEST LAKE IN THE WORLD IS SURROUNDED BY 5 COUNTRIES: IRAN, AZERBAIJAN, RUSSIA, AND TURKMENISTAN AND THROUGH THESE COUNTRIES A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF POLLUTION DISCHARGES INTO IT. THESE POLLUTIONS LEAVE IRREPARABLE IMPACTS ON CASPIAN SEA ECOSYSTEM AND BIODIVERSITY. ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT CASPIAN SEA POLLUTANTS ARE DUE TO PETROLEUM RELATED ACTIVITIES IN COASTAL AREAS. INVESTIGATIONS REVEAL THAT THESE POLLUTIONS IMPACT ECOSYSTEM AND BIODIVERSITY SO THAT STURGEON AND SEAL POPULATION IN CASPIAN SEA HAS DECLINED. IN THE PRESENT RESEARCH, THE CASPIAN SEA ECOSYSTEM AND ITS IMPORTANCE, THE VALUE OF ITS SOURCES AND THE FACTORS DESTROYING ITS ECOSYSTEM ARE INVESTIGATED.

IN OUR MODERN WORLD, COASTAL ENGINEERING SCIENCES AND ASSESSMENT OF COASTAL SEDIMENTS AND EROSION ARE CONSIDERED TO BE VITAL ELEMENTS IN MANAGEMENT OF NATIONAL COASTAL AREAS. A LARGE PART OF SEDIMENTS OF CASPIAN SEA COAST ARE SUBJECT TO EROSION AS A RESULT OF ENVIRONMENTAL FORCES (FLUCTUATIONS IN SEA LEVEL AND COASTAL WAVES AND CURRENTS AS WELL AS WIND). THE RATE AND SEVERITY OF EROSION HAZARDS VARIES DEPENDING ON THE MORPHOLOGICAL AND GEOGRAPHY AND HYDRODYNAMIC PROPERTIES OF COASTAL AREAS. THIS RESEARCH AIMS TO ASSESS THE NATURAL CHARACTER OF THE COASTAL SEDIMENTS AND THEIR BEHAVIORAL RESPONSES TO THE FORCES EROSION DURING THE THREE-YEAR INTERVALS AFTER THE INITIAL DATA COLLECTION AND PROCESSING, AND INTENDS TO CONDUCT AN ANALYSIS USING SATELLITE IMAGES AND AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS. THROUGH FIELD OBSERVATIONS, SAMPLING AND MEASUREMENT OF SPECIFICATIONS OF THE GEOMETRIC STRUCTURE OF THE WHOLE COAST WAS CONDUCTED AND A TOTAL NUMBER OF 90 SEDIMENT SAMPLES WERE TAKEN IN DIFFERENT TIMES. AFTER ANALYSIS OF THE SAMPLES AND PROCESSING THE DATA FROM THEIR COMPUTER ACTIVITIES, IT WAS FOUND THAT RATES OF EROSION RISK IN CASPIAN SEA SEDIMENTS HAS A CONSIDERABLE VARIETY - BOTH IN TERMS OF QUANTITY AND INTENSITY. IT WAS FOUND THAT ANZALI IN GILAN AND NASHTAROOD COASTAL AREAS (MAZANDARAN) HAVE THE HIGHEST VULNERABILITY TO EROSION.