This exciting interdisciplinary PhD project focuses on characterising the geomorphology of the present day seabed around the UK to better understand the how, where and why seabed is changing and present and how has it changed in the past. In shelf seas around the planet large areas of the seabed are currently being assessed and evaluated as potential sites for large scale renewable energy developments. To develop offshore wind farms, tidal turbines and route subsea cables it is essential to understand the seabed and the shallow subsurface to facilitate safe and minimum cost construction, while also minimising impact on the environment. The challenge is particularly complex on formerly glaciated continental shelves (for example the North Sea) where the geomorphological and sedimentary imprint of the last glaciation (25,000 years ago) is intertwined with more recent, and potentially very dynamic bedforms generated by waves and currents. In addition to the above, changes of the sea level following the last glaciation meant that parts of the present-day seabed were terrestrially exposed and formed palaeolandscape potentially inhabited by early humans therefore of key importance for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of offshore projects.
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[Website University of Aberdeen]