Rapid changes on the coast of Lake Peipsi and their environmental consequences

Lake Peipsi has a surface area of 3,555 km2 and is the fourth largest inland body of water in Europe and one of the best-stocked for fish. Its complex geological history was controlled by the retreat of the Late Pleistocene ice, and more recently by climatic fluctuations and neotectonic movements. The northern part of the N–S elongated basin is now rising, the central part is stable, and the southern part is sinking, but in the past, the differences in elevations were much greater. These processes are still causing the water to spread from north to south, where flooding of large areas poses many social problems. Because of the considerable water-level fluctuations, exceeding 3 m, both the surface area and the volume of the lake vary greatly. High water levels cause marked shoreline damage and pose a serious threat to the buildings and roads in the immediate vicinity. Extensive changes on the coast are also due to the action of hummocky lake ice.