Belgian Continental Shelf - Flemish Banks (Middelkerke Bank, Kwintebank, Buiten Ratel, Oost Dyck, Gootebank)

Sediment resuspension; Sediment accumulation rate; Sediment acoustics

a) Bathymetric recording over shelf banks. Side scan sonar recordings on shelf banks and swales. Purpose: detection of volumetrical, morphological and sedimentological changes of seafloor, study of residual sediment transport paths. Platform: Belgica. Instrumentation: see 'Instruments'. Sampling method: continuous analog echosounding; continuous sonograph recording. b) Analog bathymetric data are digitized and corrected for tidal movements. Analog sonographs are processed to bedform maps. Positioning performed with Syledis (accuracy: 5m). c) Continuous profiling along reference lines. d) Spatial resolution of bathymetric data: one data per 2.5 metres. Slant range of sonograph recordings: 100m per channel. e) Volumetric time series on the Flemish Banks: between 3 and 10 years. f) Bathymetric recordings: 329 miles. Sonograph recordings: 64 miles. g) Sources of data: Lab. of Physical Geography.

Ghent University, Laboratory of Physical Geography, Research Unit of Marine and Coastal Geomorphology
RUMACOG Ghent University Geography Department Krijgslaan 281-S8
Gent

B-9000
Belgium