Seabed mapping of Irish coast

Scientists are preparing to map the seabed stretching along the north coast. Their work begins in November. The project is being carried out by the Marine Institute of Ireland and the UK's Maritime and Coastguard Agency. The resulting maps will cover a band of the seabed that is three nautical sea miles wide. The Joint Irish Bathmetric Survey Project is part of a larger mapping project around the coast of the Republic of Ireland.

In July, the results of research carried out by Irish and British scientists on board the Celtic Explorer, off the coast of Cork, revealed extensive coral reefs. The first mapping of the inshore waters of the seabed off County Kerry since the mid-1800s offered the possibility of six likely shipwreck sites. It also uncovered large sand waves probably deposited during the last Ice Age, according to the Marine Institute.

Dr Peter Heffernan, chief executive of the Marine Institute, said this project had revealed that 90% of the Irish Republic is land beneath the waves. The end result could be an underwater atlas of the lands beneath the waves which might link into a mapping project for areas around the European Union.

Source : http://news.bbc.co.uk