Retrospective ties of Lake Kalotė with the Baltic Sea and the Akmena-Danė River, western Lithuania

Abstract

The network of streams is one of the most active and dynamic factors reforming the relief and landscape. Together with the global factors of climate formation and trends of neotectonic movement, the streams are naturally and by means of the anthropogenic factor joining or re-joining the catchments the area of which is changeable. The aim of this research was to reveal in greater detail the development of the Lithuanian Baltic Sea coastal landscape with focus on Lake Kalotė outflows surface runoff within two coastal catchments, the catchment of Pajūris Rivers and the Akmena-Danė River sub-catchment, in time and space. That is important even nowadays under the climatic challenges and anthropogenic pressure in the coastal areas rich with lakes and small streams. The methods used were the analysis of old maps and aero-photo material, geological-geomorphological, hydrological, land reclamation and soil data obtained in the area of the Pajūris Regional Park and Klaipėda district municipality, supplemented with the results of recent land surface and soil surveys, drone technique and ArcGIS. As a result the possible scenarios of Lake Kalotė outflows surface runoff directions from the 17th to the beginning of the 21st century were prepared with the evidence of periods with lake‘s bifurcation regime