Identification

Title

2003 Strategic Environmental Assessment SEA4 Technical report - Benthic ecology (Faroe Shetland Channel)

Abstract

This report is a contribution to the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA4) conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change) . The development of the deep-water oil industry to the west of Shetland led to extensive regional surveys of the seafloor environment, so that the deep-water benthos of the SEA4 area are now at least as well known as in any other deep-water area worldwide. Extensive surveys of the Faeroe-Shetland Channel, funded by the Atlantic Frontier Environmental Network and by the Department of Trade and Industry, took place between 1996 and 2002. This report provides an overview of these surveys. The ecology of the benthos in the SEA4 area is strongly influenced by the hydrography of the region, in particular the complex temperature regime, and by the nature of the seabed sediments. Additional files (xls, doc, cdr) are also available.

Resource type

dataset

Resource locator

http://www.bgs.ac.uk/data/sea/home.html

name: Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) data portal

description: The Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) data portal provides free access to available data and reports which have been produced through the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change SEA process. The site is run and managed by BGS on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). Many files can be downloaded directly from this website. Those that are too large to download can be ordered via the website for postal delivery from BGS.

function: download

Unique resource identifier

code

BGS_SEA_42

codeSpace

British Geological Survey

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

authority code

OGP

code identifying the spatial reference system

urn:ogc:def:crs:EPSG::4326

Additional information source

http://www.offshore-sea.org.uk/site/index.php

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

biota

environment

oceans

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Keyword set

keyword value

originating controlled vocabulary

title

reference date

date type

revision

effective date

2011-03-25

Keyword set

keyword value

Habitats and biotopes

Species distribution

originating controlled vocabulary

title

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2008-06-01

Keyword set

keyword value

originating controlled vocabulary

title

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2008-06-01

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

-7

East bounding longitude

2

North bounding latitude

64

South bounding latitude

58.7

Extent

Extent group

authority code

title

reference date

date type

revision

effective date

2006-01-01

code identifying the extent

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

2003-01-01

End position

2003-01-01

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2003-01-01

Frequency of update

notPlanned

Quality and validity

Lineage

This report was compiled by Southampton Oceanography Centre as part of the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change's Offshore Energy Strategic Environmental Assessment programme and provides an overview of surveys of the Faeroe-Shetland Channel, funded by the Atlantic Frontier Environmental Network and by the Department of Trade and Industry which took place between 1996 and 2002. In 1996 the Atlantic Frontier Environmental Network (AFEN) commissioned a largescale regional survey of the West of Shetland seabed environment (AFEN, 2000). The practical conduct of the survey drew on modern technology and techniques for seabed survey (e.g. Sidescan sonar), sampling (e.g. Megacorer) and visualisation (e.g. WASP, seabed photography). These seabed survey tools were operated in an integrated fashion, the sidescan sonar mapping guiding the seabed sampling and visualisation which in turn fed back ground-truthing data for the improved interpretation of the sidescan sonar data. In 1998 AFEN commissioned a further survey, including areas north and west of Shetland and areas in the Rockall Trough. The general concept and approach of the AFEN surveys was then taken forward by the DTI with a survey of the Wyville Thomson Ridge and central axis of the Faroe-Shetland Channel in 1999. The DTI surveys continued with work during 2000 and the completion of SEA4 field work with the 2002 survey to the north of Shetland.

Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

The SEAs data were produced as part of the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change's Offshore Energy Strategic Environmental Assessment programme; Crown Copyright, all rights reserved. The DECC SEA must be acknowledged in any maps or publications that make use of the data. All the data files are freely available to the public. The Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) data portal provides free access to available data and reports which have been produced through the SEA process. The site is run and managed by BGS on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). Many files can be downloaded directly from this website. Those that are too large to download can be ordered via the website for postal delivery from BGS. BGS (NERC) has been contracted by DECC to publish SEA datasets on its behalf. All intellectual property rights (including , without limitation, copyrights, database rights and all other rights which subsist or may at any time in the future subsist in the Dataset(s)) in the Dataset(s) ('Intellectual Property Rights') are owned by DECC (formerly the Department of Trade and Industry, and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform). BGS has been authorised by DECC to use SEA datasets for all purposes but on a 'not-for-profit basis'. BGS has been authorised by DECC to pass on SEA datasets to third parties so that they can use them for all purposes but on a 'not-for-profit' basis.

Constraint set

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

organisation name

British Geological Survey (BGS)

full postal address

Murchison House, West Mains Road

Edinburgh

EH9 3LA

UK

telephone number

+44 (0)131 667 1000

email address

offshoredata@bgs.ac.uk

responsible party role

custodian

Responsible party

organisation name

Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC)

full postal address

Admiralty Way

London

SW1A 2HD

UK

telephone number

+44 0300 060 4000

facsimile number

+44 (0) 1823 284077

email address

enquiries@decc.gsi.gov.uk

responsible party role

originator

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact

organisation name

British Geological Survey (BGS)

telephone number

+44 (0)131 667 1000

facsimile number

+44 (0)131 668 4140

email address

offshoredata@bgs.ac.uk

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata date

2011-08-30

Metadata language