Gone with the currents? – Seabed erosion data of EMODnet Geology

Increasing anthropogenic pressure in marine and coastal environments emphasizes the importance of the easily accessible, reliable, and suitable data on marine environment, to support conservation, research, and sustainable marine management decisions. The EMODnet (European Marine Observation and Data network) Geology project has been aiming to address this demand by collecting and harmonizing geological data at different scales from all the European sea areas since 2009, at present with a collaboration of about 40 partners and subcontractors.

Multiscale Seabed substrate is one of the key data products of EMODnet Geology that has been collected since the beginning of the project. The seabed substrate map, harmonized from the national data by the sediment grain size, has evolved and complementary data products have been developed during the years. Sedimentation rates information has been collected since the beginning, and the seabed substrate database also includes information on the seabed surface characteristics that have significance for marine environment but cannot be defined by grain size only (e.g., seagrass meadows, glacial clay, moving sediments, ferromanganese concretion bottoms and bioclastic features). Similarly, the geographical scope has expanded currently including the Caspian Sea and Caribbean Sea.

Seabed dynamics, sediment accumulation and erosion, provide an indication of potential temporal seabed-sediment variability, and thus of uncertainty. To obtain this essential information, the latest addition in the seabed substrate data products is the seabed erosion index database, i.e. literature catalogue of erosion studies. The first version of the database was published in September 2023, including metadata information (e.g., purpose, time frame, erosion rate and data availability) about known erosional studies and different erosional areas. The index data collection will continue within the current phase of the EMODnet Geology, and it will serve as the basis for the discussion which kind of erosional data information could be the most valuable, but also as widely as possible feasible and useful. The development of usable and valuable data products requires the careful consideration and preferably collaboration with different stakeholders and end users. At best, this kind of data could be a valuable addition to understand and define marine environment in dealing with various challenges the future will hold us.

The EMODnet Geology project is funded by The European Climate, Environment, and Infrastructure Executive Agency (CINEA) through contract EASME/EMFF/2020/3.1.11 - Lot 2/SI2.853812_EMODnet – Geology.