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The EU has begun contract negotiations for a new continental margins research program, called EUROSTRATAFORM.
[
Feb
04, 2002]
Continental margins, the junctures between oceans and continents, are of great social and economic significance. About 70% of the world population live along the coastlines of the continents; hence on and in the direct vicinity of the world’s continental margins. EUROSTRATAFORM will define and model the sedimentary processes operating on the European continental margin that lead to the development, evolution and structure of the continental margin.
The fundamental concept of EUROSTRATAFORM is to track the movement of sedimentary particles and observe how they form sediment beds along the ocean margins. This involves following the particles from their origin in various rivers to their deposition on deltas, shelves, canyons, and open slopes and then their progress to the deep sea.
The work is a necessary precursor to sustainable seabed exploitation and future environmental impact studies. This approach, following the path of particles from “source to sink” was used to great effect in the US project STRATAFORM, in which the Eel River (off California) and the New Jersey margin were used as contrasting study areas. In cooperation with US colleagues, the new project will offer a transatlantic fertilisation of ideas, advanced modeling, state-of-the-art applications, and a sharing of technology. It will be a multidisciplinary approach involving sophisticated equipment and the expertise of twenty European laboratories.
Four representative study areas have been selected, the goal being to achieve comprehensive coverage of varied sedimentary systems. IUB’s work will focus on the transport of particles/pollutants in the lowermost water column, close to the sea floor.
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Instrumentation systems |
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Deep-sea instrumentation, including special instruments and technical modules for deployment in the deep sea are being provided by Geomar scientific services.
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