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- INTERCOAST
- Projects (2012-2015)
- IC8_II
IC8_II
Integrated electromagnetic, optical and acoustic imaging of coastal systems
State of the art
Large systematic spatial variations in magnetic/heavy/mafic mineral content are typical features of New Zealand’s and Germany’s coastal sediment. These distribution patterns reflect the modern influences of waves, tides and currents as well as relict structures of sea-level change, tectonics or human impact, as we may assume that every geological process creates its own sedimentary signature by mixing, sorting and altering available sediment sources. Using benthic profilers as the recently developed MARUM Neridis III (Neritic Discoverer), sub-littoral surficial sediments can now be discretized and mapped based of their complex geophysical properties in similar ways as known from core and well logging (Müller et al., 2011, 2012). EM imaging delivers sediment porosity and magnetic mineral content, which is complementary to data from acoustic and optical methods. Integrated benthic imaging technologies do not just depict facies and habitat boundaries, but also anthropogenic marine debris spills and bottom trawling scores, making them an interesting new tool for coastal monitoring.
Objectives
Large systematic spatial variations in magnetic/heavy/mafic mineral content are typical features of New Zealand’s and Germany’s coastal sediment. These distribution patterns reflect the modern influences of waves, tides and currents as well as relict structures of sea-level change, tectonics or human impact, as we may assume that every geological process creates its own sedimentary signature by mixing, sorting and altering available sediment sources. Using benthic profilers as the recently developed MARUM Neridis III (Neritic Discoverer), sub-littoral surficial sediments can now be discretized and mapped based of their complex geophysical properties in similar ways as known from core and well logging (Müller et al., 2011, 2012). EM imaging delivers sediment porosity and magnetic mineral content, which is complementary to data from acoustic and optical methods. Integrated benthic imaging technologies do not just depict facies and habitat boundaries, but also anthropogenic marine debris spills and bottom trawling scores, making them an interesting new tool for coastal monitoring.
Objectives
- To develop and interpret Bay of Plenty sediment property and facies maps by combining various complementary geophysical methods.
- To explain dynamics of modern long-shore drift belts and reconstruct formation of relict sediments bodies in terms of present and past hydro- and sediment dynamics.
- To identify types, abundances and distributions of particulate anthropogenic debris (plastics, metals, tar) originating from the RENA wreck or other potential sources.
Project description
Sample-based magnetic mineral distribution patterns in- and offshore of Tauranga Harbour were described and interpreted by the first IC8 project (Badesab et al., 2012), while the present project uses the above described profiling techniques for a wider, yet far more detailed assessment of sediments, morphostructures, habitats and anthropogenic debris spills in the western inner Bay of Plenty. A Neridis survey campaign was jointly funded by INTERCOAST, MARUM and the Bay of Plenty Regional Council in the framework of the RENA Long Term Environmental Recovery Plan and successfully realized in November 2012. A total of 33 cross-shore EM, multibeam and photo profiles covering an area of ~65 x 8 km at sub-meter resolution will be jointly processed. The project will establish strategies for an integrated interpretation of electromagnetic, sedimentological, acoustic, hydrographic and imaging data in combination with numerical transport models statistical analyses and pattern recognition methods.
Sample-based magnetic mineral distribution patterns in- and offshore of Tauranga Harbour were described and interpreted by the first IC8 project (Badesab et al., 2012), while the present project uses the above described profiling techniques for a wider, yet far more detailed assessment of sediments, morphostructures, habitats and anthropogenic debris spills in the western inner Bay of Plenty. A Neridis survey campaign was jointly funded by INTERCOAST, MARUM and the Bay of Plenty Regional Council in the framework of the RENA Long Term Environmental Recovery Plan and successfully realized in November 2012. A total of 33 cross-shore EM, multibeam and photo profiles covering an area of ~65 x 8 km at sub-meter resolution will be jointly processed. The project will establish strategies for an integrated interpretation of electromagnetic, sedimentological, acoustic, hydrographic and imaging data in combination with numerical transport models statistical analyses and pattern recognition methods.
Members
| Proponents | : | Prof. Tilo von Dobeneck | University of Bremen |
| Dr. Hendrik Müller | |||
| : | Dr. Karin Bryan | University of Waikato | |
| Willem de Lange | |||
| PhD Candidate | : | Tobias Kulgemeyer | University of Bremen |
Publications
N / A
Miscellaneous
N / A