Projects per year
Abstract
Data on Secchi disc depth (the depth at which a standard white disc lowered into the water just becomes invisible to a surface observer) show that water clarity in the North Sea declined during the 20th century, with likely consequences for marine primary production. However, the causes of this trend remain unknown. Here we analyse the hypothesis that changes in the North Sea's wave climate were largely responsible by causing an increase in the concentrations of suspended particulate matter (SPM) in the water column through the resuspension of seabed sediments. First, we analysed the broad-scale statistical relationships between SPM and bed shear stress due to waves and tides. We used hindcasts of wave and current data to construct a space–time dataset of bed shear stress between 1997 and 2017 across the northwest European Continental Shelf and compared the results with satellite-derived SPM concentrations. Bed shear stress was found to drive most of the inter-annual variation in SPM in the hydrographically mixed waters of the central and southern North Sea. We then used a long-term wave reanalysis to construct a time series of bed shear stress from 1900 to 2010. This shows that bed shear stress increased significantly across much of the shelf during this period, with increases of over 20 % in the southeastern North Sea. An increase in bed shear stress of this magnitude would have resulted in a large reduction in water clarity. Wave-driven processes are rarely included in projections of climate change impacts on marine ecosystems, but our analysis indicates that this should be reconsidered for shelf sea regions.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1615–1625 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Ocean Science |
Volume | 15 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 6 Dec 2019 |
Keywords
- wave energy
- seabed sediments
- remote sensing
- suspended sediments
- climate change
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics of 'Increasing turbidity in the North Sea during the 20th century due to changing wave climate'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 3 Finished
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EPSRC Supergen Marine Challenge EcoWatt
EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council)
1/03/14 → 31/10/17
Project: Research
Datasets
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Historical hindcasts of monthly bed shear stress on the North West European Continental Shelf
Wilson, R. (Creator) & Heath, M. (Creator), University of Strathclyde, 21 Mar 2019
DOI: 10.15129/cdc8fc13-0343-4459-8798-5ca53397e638
Dataset
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Historical hindcasts of monthly bed shear stress on the North West European Continental Shelf (updated versions)
Wilson, R. (Creator) & Heath, M. (Creator), University of Strathclyde, 29 Nov 2019
DOI: 10.15129/5d28213e-8f9f-402a-b550-fc588518cb8b
Dataset
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Modelling the sensitivity of suspended sediment profiles to tidal current and wave conditions
Heath, M., Sabatino, A., Serpetti, N., McCaig, C. & O'Hara Murray, R., 1 Oct 2017, In: Ocean and Coastal Management. 147, p. 49-66 18 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile17 Citations (Scopus)202 Downloads (Pure) -
Use of ocean colour remote sensing to monitor sea surface suspended sediments
Sabatino, A. D., Clement, R., Heath, M. R. & McKee, D., 30 Sept 2015, TeraWatt Position Papers: A 'toolbox' of methods to better understand and assess the effects of tidal and wave energy arrays on the marine environment. Side, J. (ed.). St Andrews, p. 129-140 12 p. 6Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
Open AccessFile