Comparison of the Intensity of Coastline Changes and Erosion of the Main Ports on the Caspian Sea Coast

This study aims to evaluate and compare coastline displacement and erosion intensity on the Caspian Sea's southern shores in the largest ports of Northern Iran, including Amirabad, Fereydunkenar, Nowshahr, Anzali, and Astara. Landsat satellite images were used to estimate the morphological status of the coasts in terms of erosion, sedimentation characteristics, diversity of existing coastal landforms, and changes in the GIS environment were used by digital coastline analysis software (DSAS) over the years 1995 to 2021. It has been indicated that the southern shores of the Caspian Sea differed in how they responded to the construction of port structures and Caspian Sea level (CSL) changes, and the areas of Amirabad and Astara ports had the highest displacements as well as accurate measurements of sedimentation and erosion rates, respectively. Given this situation, the beaches overlooking the ports of Nowshahr and Anzali have had significant changes in sedimentation, while the coast of Fereydunkenar had a very slow erosion rate. The northern ports of Iran, as well as changes in the Caspian Sea level (CSL), have direct physical impacts on the adjacent coasts. The management of concentrated sediment resources on the coast is a reliable solution to reducing erosion rate very effectively and the use of sand resources to mitigate coast erosion.