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Marine Environment IGE FDP 2022 - TF
Marine Environment IGE FDP 2022 - TF
Marine Environment IGE FDP 2022 - TF
(G11DP)
Introduction to the Marine Environment
Professor Teresa F Fernandes
Centre for Marine Biodiversity and Biotechnology
Institute of Life and Earth Sciences
School of Engineering, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society
Environmental Resource Management
Prof Mark Irvine (Hon.)
Field Development Project (FDP)
• Objectives of the project are to:
– …
– 3. Propose a field development plan with alternatives
– ….
– 7. Incorporate environmental, health and safety
considerations (all environmental impacts of the
development, from seismic survey to
decommissioning)
• Course Deliverables …Summary Environmental
Statement and Presentation of Findings.
Plan
• Marine environment
• Environmental Impact Assessment process, including
monitoring
• Decommissioning
Why are we here…
• Some of the projects are within the marine environment
• Prospecting, exploration, production, decommissioning…
• Need to consider the environment
• By law an Environmental Impact Assessment is required
• Therefore an understanding of marine systems, living and
non‐living components, is essential!
(http://www.unep.org/vitalwater/)
Linking terrestrial and coastal environments
Different processes / habitats / communities
Bathymetry (i.e. depth measurement) across the North Atlantic Ocean along a
latitude close to 39° N. At the point −30° W is the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge (MAR).
The deepest place in the Ocean, is located within the Mariana
Trench (west Pacific), called the Challenger Deep
(8,848 m)
(10,902 m)
The deepest place in the Ocean, is located within the Mariana
Trench (west Pacific), called the Challenger Deep
Away from the coast….
you will also find different types of processes taking place,
different pressures and opportunities, and therefore, different
adaptations and communities…
Plate tectonics
When considering the different zones away from the coast, there is a
distinction between the benthic and the pelagic systems, as well as the
different depths….
http://wnct.com/blog/2016/02/26/ocean-zones-and-what-creatures-live-in-them/
Light in the Oceans
Light attenuation with
depth – the lines show
the limits of light
attenuation in the
clearest of ocean and
coastal waters.
Attenuation also
depends on the
wavelength of light
Sea Surface Temperature
oceanworld.tamu.edu
Sea surface temperatures show the uneven distribution of solar radiation –
with a surplus lying between 38 degrees N and 38 degrees S.
Average Ocean temperatures
The Coriolis Effect
Due to the rotation of
the Earth the
movements of objects
and fluids, such as air
and water, are
deflected to the right
in the Northern
hemisphere, and to
then left in the
Southern hemisphere
The Coriolis Effect
Due to the rotation of
the Earth the
movements of objects
and fluids, such as air
and water, are
deflected to the right
in the Northern
hemisphere, and to
then left in the
Southern hemisphere
Atmospheric circulation
Ocean currents
• Moving seawater
– Surface ocean currents
• Wind driven
• Transfer heat from warmer to cooler areas
• Similar to pattern of major wind belts
• Affect coastal climates
– Deep ocean currents
• Density driven (related to temperature and salt content)
• Provide oxygen to deep sea
– Both influence habitats and marine life
Deep Ocean Currents Driven by Density of
Seawater
hawaiianphotos.net melindawebster.com
What affects water density?
• Colder water Denser (to 4°C)
• Saltier water Denser
Deep water forms when:
● Surface water flows to
the poles and gets
colder
● When seawater
freezes it leaves salt
behind, increasing
salinity
● Water becomes
denser and sinks
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/
Global Conveyor Belt
Sinking Cold,
Salty Water
Global Conveyor Belt
Thermohaline Circulation
– Thermo = temperature
– Haline = salinity
Why is thermohaline circulation important?
• Major influence on climate
• Transfers heat from equator to poles
• Nutrient cycling
• Brings oxygen to deep ocean organisms
• Brings nutrient rich‐water to the surface
Tides and tidal zones
•The wide exposure of mud, sand and rocks around the coast is
due to the rise and fall of the tide resulting from gravitational
forces.
•The tidal rise and fall is produced by the gravitational pull of the
sun and the moon, acting on waters of the Earth. The resulting
water movements have a horizontal component (tidal currents)
and a vertical component (tidal range).
•Oceans of the world are divided into natural basins and the
gravitational pull of the sun and the moon keep these water
bodies oscillating.
Production
• There are two types of organisms in any given ecosystem:
autotrophs and heterotrophs
autotrophs make their own food (organic matter) from inorganic
nutrients (C, N, P, S, trace metals and vitamins) and either light
or chemical energy, they ‘fix’ CO2
– Autotrophs ‘fix’ CO2 via photosynthesis (light E) or chemosynthesis
(chemical E, i.e. H2S)
– autotrophs form the base of the food web (i.e. primary producers) and are
ultimately responsible for all life in the world’s oceans
– marine examples include phytoplankton, cyanobacteria, macroalgae,
benthic diatoms, and sulphide oxidizing bacteria (i.e. at hydrothermal
vents)
– phytoplankton are the most abundant primary producers in the oceans
Productivity and dynamics in the pelagic environment
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Phytoplankton/page2.php
Plankton
• Drift with ocean currents
• Some can propel themselves weakly or in a vertical
direction
• Phototrophs = Phytoplankton
• Heterotrophs = Zooplankton
• Plankton holds most of the earth’s biomass
• Includes larger animals and plants (e.g. jellyfish
(macroplankton) and some algae (megaplankton))
• Microplankton = smaller plankton (fine meshed nets)
• Nanoplankton = too small to be filtered (microfilters)
• Haloplankton = entire life in plankton
• Meroplankton = portion of their life cycle in the
plankton
Some examples of the phytoplankton
Some examples of the zooplankton
Some examples of the zooplankton
Nekton
Swallower
Angler fish
Coelacanth
Benthos
• Live on or in the sea/ocean bottom
• Autotrophs or Heterotrophs (macro or micro)
• Infauna = live buried in sand, shells or mud
• Epifauna = live attached to rocks or move over the surface of the
bottom
• Nektobenthos = live on the bottom but move through the water
above with relative ease e.g. flounder, crab, starfish
• Meiobenthos and Microbenthos – the smaller benthic organisms
• Macroscopic algae are found in the littoral and shallow sublittoral
zones
• Nearshore zones offer a great diversity of physical and nutritive
conditions
• Sea bottom is characterised by coldness, stillness and darkness
Macroalgae:
Green algae, brown algae, red algae
Shorelines in general have
linear features with
lichens
patterns of epibenthic
zonation
channel wrack
spiral wrack
bladder wrack
serrated wrack
Intertidal sandy and muddy shores
Sandy and muddy shores also
exhibit patterns of zonation, but
these are less evident as there is
no opportunity of macroalgae
and most organisms live within
the sediment
Providing an abundant source of food for birds
Saltmarshes
http://sky.scnu.edu.cn/life/class/ecology/chapter/chapter3.files/image044.jpg
Coral reefs
Marine Food Chains
https://water.europa.eu/marine/topics/state‐of‐marine‐ecosystem/marine‐food‐webs
Sensitivity of coastal marine habitats
Cedre (2007)
NATURE CONSERVATION INITIATIVES IN THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT
At present there is a range of designations:
International: Ramsar sites (wetlands; Convention), Biosphere
reserves, World Heritage sites, Ecologically or Biologically Significant
Marine Areas (both United Nations)
European: Special Protection Areas (SPAs) under the Birds Directive
and Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) under the Species and
Habitats Directive.
National: extends these with both statutory and voluntary
designations, so this includes in the UK for example Areas of
Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs ‐ England and Wales) and
National Scenic Areas (NSAs ‐ Scotland), plus a range of local and
voluntary designations.
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have already been established in the
UK, and this work is still progressing and will continue to link to
international initiatives.
https://www.cbd.int/ebsa/
Examples of Biotopes protected in the UK:
• Areas with high densities of marine mammals
and seabird feeding areas
• Lophelia pertusa (now Desmophyllum pertusum;
the cold water coral) within different SACs and
MPAs
• Other biogenic structures:
•Maerl – a calcareous red seaweed which
creates a coral‐like network of complex
geometry on the seabed.
•Reefs – Modiolus modiolus (Horse Mussel)
and serpulid reefs
•Seagrass meadows (Zostera marina in the
UK)
•Also some very large sea areas (e.g. Dogger
Bank, SAC)
http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/page‐5201
https://mpatlas.org/zones/
Recent deep sea Marine Protected Area
(West of Scotland, UK)
https://www.communitiesforseas.scot/new-deep-sea-
marine-protected-area/
Known feeding and breeding grounds of the North Atlantic humpback whale.
Lines indicate exchange between areas, not actual migration routes. ©Center for
Coastal Studies (http://coastalstudies.org/humpback‐whale‐research/yonah/)
(2011)
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature10082
(2011)
a, Monthly mean latitudes of predators residing within or migrating to the California Current large marine ecosystem (CCLME). Black line segments
denote gaps where no data were available. Sample sizes indicate the numbers of individual tracks contributing to the time series. b, Seasonal
climatologies in the California Current for tunas (Pacific bluefin, blue; yellowfin, black), sharks (salmon shark, brown; shortfin mako, black; white
shark, blue) and blue whales relative to median chlorophyll a densities and sea surface temperature (SST) values between 2000 and 2009.
Introduction to the Marine Environment
End of Part 1