A 5-year scientific research programme for managing coastal seas

• Published in: Marine pollution bulletin 1991, Vol.23, p.63-68
• Main Author: Prandle, D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Exact sciences and technology; Marine; Natural water pollution; Pollution; Seawaters, estuaries; Water treatment and pollution
• ISSN: 0025-326X; 1879-3363
• DOI: 10.1016/0025-326X(91)90651-8

The management of coastal seas requires scientific knowledge to: (i) link inputs to resulting concentrations, (ii) distinguish between natural variability and man's impact, and (iii) predict long term trends. This knowledge incorporates: (i) movement and dispersion of both water and sediments, (ii) partitioning of contaminants between dissolved and particulate phases, (iii) successive exchange processes between river/estuary/coastal zone/sea/ocean and between sea/sea-bed and sea/atmosphere. The UK is presently mid-way into a 5-year, £15M oceanographic research programme in the North Sea involving the development of numerical models, systematic observations and fundamental research to fill gaps in basic knowledge. The programme will proceed through three stages, simulating physical, biological, chemical and sedimentological parameters: (i) over the well-defined annual seasonal cycle, (ii) over inter-annual variations, (iii) for long term trends. Long-term data sets are vital for such programmes, systematic marine monitoring programmes must be initiated, involving combinations of remote sensing, sea-truth moorings and coastal stations. This programme will be extended to consider the contribution to and effect from global pollution, specifically possible greenhouse effects such as rise in mean sea level and meteorological changes. The widespread impact of such phenomena emphasises the necessity for internationa co-operation in all aspects of these studies.