Mineralogical monitoring of the bottom sediments, in the central area of the Black Sea shelf.

Abstract. GeoEcoMar Programmes (Acronyms: GEOMAND and FLUDITMAR) represented the financial support for the marine scientific activities, including the mapping of the Romanian shelf area. The elaboration of the sedimentological maps, scale 1:50.000, includes the mineralogical analyses of the bottom sediments of the Black Sea, with a special attention for the heavy minerals associations. From the central part of the Black Sea shelf area the main contributions in heavy minerals are the solid discharge of the River Danube, and, partially, the northern longitudinal marine current. Source areas of heavy minerals are the geological basement of the River Danube drainage basin and the old geological formations of the Scythian Platform. The distribution of the sandy sediments, siliciclastes and heavy minerals are presented in some dedicated maps. The erosion of the palaeo-beaches, located in the basement of the Holocene sediments of the Danube Delta complex, favours the diversity of the heavy minerals associations