“QUANTIFICATION OF EROSION/SEDIMENTATION TO

Abstract:

Sustainable development requires the quantification of human impacts, against the seafloor’s ecological value. Recent impact studies have shown only localised effects, though indications of a longer-term and broader-scale degradation of the seafloor exist. This is due possibly to cumulative anthropogenically-induced effects, but the natural evolution and the response of the seafloor due to sea-level rise are poorly known. Nonetheless, it is likely that changing wave climate and an increased storminess induce different erosion/sedimentation patterns. Such evolution needs to be disentangled against the impact of dredging, aggregate extraction, fisheries and beach replenishment on the ecosystem’s physical functioning. The Belgian part of the North Sea (BPNS) is targeted for the reconstruction of seabed ecosystem changes over the past 150 years. Spatially and temporally extensive data sets have been compiled and allow studying various ecosystem components in the space, time and depth domain. Particularly, sediments and sediment transport processes have been studied, given their central role in ecosystem studies. Long-term ecosystem changes have been investigated, starting from a historical data-set on benthos and sediments, dating back to the first decade of the 20th century (the “Gilson collection”). Together with long-term datasets in the period 1866-2008, changes in bathymetry, sediments and macrobenthos were studied. Modelling tools have been refined with the aim of using them for dedicated case studies in phase 2 of the project. Natural changes were studied, based on observations and on climate change models …

Año de publicación:

2009

Keywords:

Fuente:

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