Post by HR Wallingford

New collaborative research is helping to reshape understanding of how offshore wind developments and climate change are influencing seabed environments, highlighting that impacts on sediment mobility may extend much further than previously recognised. The findings of two peer-reviewed studies, conducted as part of the ECOWind-ACCELERATE project (Ecological Implications of Accelerated Seabed Mobility around Windfarms), have been published in Nature Portfolio journals. The project is led by Bangor University’s School of Ocean Sciences and funded by the NERC: Natural Environment Research Council and The Crown Estate. The study ‘Turbulence drives seabed modification by offshore windfarms’, published in Nature Communications, demonstrates that hydrodynamic forces generated by offshore wind turbine foundations can drive sediment movement over a greater area and for longer durations than previously understood. The study was led by Dr Chris Unsworth, now Senior Scientist at HR Wallingford and formerly at Bangor University, with co-authors Connor McCarron, Richard Whitehouse, Thomas Benson, Ignacio Barranco Granged, Michael Clare, James Waggitt, Lisa Skein, Veerle Huvenne, Martin Austin & Katrien Van Landeghem A companion study, 'Climate change affects future sea-bed mobility via storms and sea level rise', published in Communications Earth & Environment, examines how climate change alone is expected to influence seabed sediment dynamics. Using advanced computer models and climate projections, this research shows that rising sea levels will generally stabilise seabed sediments by increasing water depth and reducing the effects of waves and currents. However, stronger storms are expected to cause more frequent short-term disturbances, and pebbles will move in the future in areas where they would not move today. The study was led by Dr Julia Rulent of the National Oceanography Centre, with co-authors Lucy Bricheno, Connor McCarron, Chris Unsworth, Martin Austin, Richard Whitehouse, Nicholas G. Heavens, David Gold, Anthony Wise, Veerle Huvenne and Katrien Van Landeghem. More info about these papers and the project can be found at: https://lnkd.in/eKvRcDTX The clips below are from a film about the physical modelling testing conducted in our labs in the early stages of the ECOWind research programme. Watch the full film at: https://lnkd.in/ea6frj6P

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