Preliminary simulations of coastal currents from the area of Constanta to the border between Romania and Bulgaria

This study is focused on the southern Romanian coast, confined by the city of Constan?a (north) and Vama Veche village, at the border with Bulgaria (south). Here the coastal morphology is influenced by nearshore current circulation, disrupted during the last few decades by severe human interventions, such as building groins, jetties and other coastal protection activities. Nevertheless, the dynamics of coastal currents has not been thoroughly studied (or at least the works have not been published) over the past decades. This is why this paper aims to present the preliminary results of a numerical hydrodynamic model applied for coastal currents circulation in the above mentioned study area. All available data concerning the bathymetry of the Black Sea, the boundary conditions and the wind velocity are used in a process based hydrodynamic model. Hydrodynamic simulations provide the calculated surge and coastal current velocity. The simulations took into account two representative periods (February 2006 and June 2006) and the results indicate the large variability of the nearshore currents. Despite this variability, the dominant direction of the currents follows the characteristics of the wind climate of the study zone.