Problems of riverbed evolution in the basin of the Ural River

Abstract

Aspects of riverbed evolution including bank erosion in the Ural River basin have been considered in this paper. The natural morphodynamic types of riverbeds have been described. The spatial features of their genesis have been characterized within the Ural River basin. To study the riverbed processes, decoding of remote sensing data of the water surface has been used. The risks for the infrastructure facilities and for the residential districts have been analyzed in terms of the bank erosion in the Ural River basin. The issues concerning the border between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Kazakhstan due to riverbed reconfiguration of the Ural River have been outlined. Maps of the development of bank erosion in the Ural River basin have been created. A way to solve the problem of riverbed evolution along the border area has been proposed by organizing an Intergovernmental Specially Protected Natural Zone.