Temporal Changes in Shoreline Dynamics along the Bakırçay River: Coastal Erosion and Accretion Trends
Hatice Kılar, Ali Ümran KömüşcüCoastal areas are among the most productive environments, providing ideal conditions for tourism, agricultural, commercial, and industrial activities. Nevertheless, both geological and anthropogenic factors significantly affect the morphology of coastal regions. To recognize these changes, shoreline change analyses play a crucial role in determining the erosion and accretion rates. The Bakırçay Delta, located in the northern Aegean coastal area of Türkiye, has suffered severe degradation in recent years owing to increased settlements and diverse economic activities, including mining, geothermal energy production, and agricultural activities on the coastline of the Bakırçay plain. Seasonally varying high discharges also have led to a higher transport of bed load depositions in the Bakırçay Delta. This study aimed to assess shoreline changes along the Bakırçay River Delta for the 1984-2022 period by using multi-temporal Landsat images and the Digital Shoreline Change Analysis System (DSAS). Possible human-induced factors causing the shoreline changes in the Bakırçay Delta were also discussed. Short- and long-term shoreline analyses of the Bakırçay Delta indicated that substantial shoreline changes have occurred in the northern part of the Bakırçay River. Long-term shoreline analyses showed that the highest shoreline accretion occurred along the Yeni Çandırlı Port, whereas the largest shoreline erosion rate was observed in the northern part of the Bakırçay River between 1984 and 2022. Overall, the Bakırçay Delta coast experienced significant shoreline changes mainly due to human-induced factors, which affected its morphology considerably.