Die Küste, 74 ICCE (2008), 31-44
39
3.1 Offshore Waters
The bathymetry of the Baltic Sea is controlled by the presence of sills and deep basins,
which developed during the last glacial period. These basins increase in size and depth from
west to east.
The morphological structure of the south-western Baltic Sea is formed by Kiel Bight in
the western part. It is mainly characterized by the presence of deep (c. 35 m) melt-water
channels. Fehmarn Belt and Sund separate Kiel Bight from Mecklenburg Bight. This bight
has a maximum water depth of 25 m and splits up into several smaller bays, namely Lubeck
Bay and Neustadt Bay. In the eastern part of the German sector, Arkona Basin is the deepest
basin of the south-western Baltic Sea with a maximum water depth of 45 m. It is flanked by
the shoals of Kriegers Flak and Adlergrund at the eastern edge. Both shoals are of glacigenic
origin. The Pommeranian Bight is situated between Adlergrund and the Oder estuary. It
features a relatively shallow sandy bottom with the prominent shoal of Oder Bank.
In offshore waters, morphological features are mainly coupled to the strong-current-
environments of the straits. In Fehmarn Belt (Fig. 8) and Darss Sill, the strong inflow of saline
bottom waters from the North Sea form sand wave fields with crest heights of up to 5 m
(Werner and Newton, 1970; Werner et ah, 1974; Lemke et al., 1994; Schwarzer and
Diesing, 2003; Feldens, 2008). Mega-ripples were also observed on the shoals in shallow
waters such as Plantagenetgrund (Gromoll, 1992).
Although the sediment distribution is strongly affected by the subsurface geology, a
depth-dependent overall zoning of surface deposits can be found (Seibold et ah, 1971). Along
the coasts and on the submarine sills and shoals of the south-western Baltic Sea, coarse
grained lag deposits form a thin layer of a few decimetres on top of till deposits in water
Fig. 8: Morphological features in the highly dynamic Fehmarn Belt (Feldens, 2008).
(Source: Institute of Geosciences, University of Kiel)
