GULF of FINLAND

Two Russian zones of the Baltic Sea – hot spots of our interest

EEZ of Russia, Finland and Estonia close up in the Gulf of Finland, this makes the Gulf of Finland a junction of political, economical, cultural relationships, as well as the greatest transport corridor connecting East and West, that is at the same tine an area of interacting vital activity and and life support for Baltic nations.

Natural regional peculiarities of the eastern Gulf of Finland:
- the Gulf of Finland is situated within the connection zone between the Baltic Shield and Russian Plate, this position determines specific of tectonic regime and geological history of the Region;
- geological “youth” of the Gulf of Finland leads to active dynamics and continuing evolution of marine and coastal landscapes;
- some processes and phenomena of endogenous and exogenous geodynamics of natural geological development of the eastern and northern part of the Gulf of Finland can be classified as geological hazards;
- the eastern Gulf of Finland is a giant estuary of the Neva River and is characterized with expressed natural gradients and impacts (salinity, temperature, mosaic benthic relief, currents, inflows, coastline etc. );
- peculiarities of biodiversity and biological resources of the eastern Gulf of Finland are determined by relative “youth” of the ecosystems, its estuarine nature, climate.

Anthropogenic impacts and peculiarities of resource use:
- global climate changes;
- shipping and related impacts (bioinvasions, oil spills, sea port constructions, new harbors and terminals construction, sea-port exploitation, ship-ways dredging etc.);
- construction and exploitation of the North-European Gas Pipe and other communications - wates disposal (sea and land);
- high concentration of population with economical and social infrastructure within adjacent areas causes related impacts: (eutrophication and accumulation of pollutants within different components of ecosystem, habitat deterioration, fishery, mines, hydrotechnical impacts, multicomponent technogenic impacts in the sea floor, water masses, coasts etc. );
- during last three centuries the Gulf of Finland has been an area of military conflicts and navy activity, so there are a lot of potential hazardous objects on the bottom surface and in the upper sediment layer.

Other:
- expanding of hypoxic/anoxic zones;
- changes of near-bottom hydrochemical conditions in sedimentation basins that may result in potential secondary pollution (heavy metals, nutrients etc.) of the Gulf of Finland.