Sediment and soil samples were collected during a six-month project in 2018 looking at the sources of sediment within the River Derwent Catchment, Yorkshire, UK. The data shows the mineralogical composition of each sample site, processed using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). The data has been used to understand where instream sediment in the River Derwent is coming from. This information can be used to inform catchment management. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/27a84ac6-c3fd-4c86-9540-f60b4dbfa14f

As part of Strategic Environmental Assessment SEA1, sediment samples were collected at the request of the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change) a survey programme was conducted from the NERC Royal Research Ship (RRS) Charles Darwin between July and September 2000, with samples for a number of chemical and biological analyses being collected. An Excel file containing details of heavy metal analysis is available.

Bed level data are presented from transects at the Tollesbury Managed Realignment site, after the managed breaching of the sea wall in August 1995. Twenty measurements were taken at fixed positions along transects relative to an aluminium bar placed across a pair of permanent wooden posts at either end of each transect. Measurements were made to the nearest millimetre using a ruler. All measurements were made by the data author. Data from the original transects were collected monthly from September 1995 to 1998, bimonthly up to 2000 and then in April and September to 2007. Extra transects were added in April 1999 and data collected at the same frequency. The data were collected investigate if the exposure of the agricultural land to seawater would result in the accumulation of silt. The work was funded by the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) under the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) contract C00356 Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/f9513ece-a913-4774-8808-273dcf7ed0be

This report is a contribution to the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA5) conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change). A review of the distribution and abundance of divers, grebes and seaduck in the SEA 5 area was carried out by Cork Ecology at the request of the Department of Trade and Industry as part of the production of the SEA 5 Consultation Document. The study area was defined as the east coast of Scotland from the English border north to John O'Groats, including Orkney and Shetland, and the offshore waters in the SEA 5 area. This review considered thirteen species: red-throated diver, black-throated diver, great northern diver, great crested grebe, red-necked grebe, slavonian grebe, scaup, eider, long-tailed duck, common scoter, velvet scoter, goldeneye and red-breasted merganser.

This report is a contribution to the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA6) conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change). This report reviews the many different sources of underwater noise, both natural and anthropogenic, that combine to provide the background noise levels in which marine organisms need to survive throughout the SEA6 region. The sources of sound combine together in a complex manner resulting in significant spatial and temporal variations in the noise field. A map of the dominant noise sources in the Irish Sea is shown, indicating that man-made noise is the dominant source of noise over about 70% of the area. Shipping noise is likely to be dominant across large parts of the SEA6 area. To fully characterise the ambient noise field in the SEA6 area would require multiple measurements at a large number of locations over a period of a year. However, a considerably lower cost approach would be to characterise each sound source and to use this with occurrence statistics for each source to model the ambient noise field across the region. The advantages and disadvantages of the acoustic modelling approach are discussed.

This report is a contribution to the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA7) conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change).The class Cephalopoda comprises three major divisions, of which two: Decapoda (squids and cuttlefish) and Octopoda (octopods) are represented in the SEA 7 Area. They are highly developed, but short-lived molluscs with rapid growth rates. They are important elements in marine food webs and interact significantly with marine mammals, seabirds and commercially exploited finfish species. They also represent a promising future fishery resource in terms of market value, abundance and growth potential. At present, only an estimated 10% of exploitable stocks are utilised worldwide. There are six marketable squid species that occur in the SEA 7 Area. These belong to the long-fin (loliginid) and short-fin (Ommastrephid) squids the two most important exploited families of decpods. In the SEA 7 Area, only one species, Loligo forbesi is commercially exploited on a regular basis, although there are significant landings of other species on occasion. The closely related Loligo vulgaris sometimes appears in catches and the small Alloteuthis subulata is thought to be naturally abundant and an important food item in the marine ecosystem. There are other important species represented in the SEA 7 Area. These include cuttlefish, octopods, sepiolids and a number of deep-water species. Most of these are marketable and may be ecologically important. Large fisheries for some of these species, particularly octopods and cuttlefish operate in European waters further south, but they are not currently exploited in the SEA 7 Area.

These data are input files for CAESAR-Lisflood (CL), a numerical hydrodynamic-landscape evolution model. These files were created to support coupled hydrodynamic-landscape evolution modelling to evaluate the geomorphological response of river channels affected by the 7th February 2021 ice-rock avalanche and debris flow in Chamoli District, Uttarakhand, India. They include 10 m digital elevation models (DEMs) of bed rock and land surface topography in a gridded (raster) format. They also include reanalysis-derived river discharge data generated by the GEOGloWS project at the following locations: Rontigad, Rishiganga, Dhauliganga, and Alaknanda. The configuration settings and parameters for CL modelling are also included. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/4cdd86b3-bf58-457d-b8cf-b57aed2d56d0

This report is a contribution to the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA7) conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change). The report concentrates on reviewing existing data and published sources, rather than attempt a quantitative baseline of wrecks and casualties. There is a comprehensive corpus of legislation, plans and polices concerned with the protection of the submerged maritime archaeological resource within the SEA 7 study area. The study outlines the known history of maritime activity within the SEA 7 area. Despite being an extremely large body of water that at times can produce dangerous sea and weather conditions, and encompasses the rugged coastlines of western Scotland and Northern Ireland, the area has been used extensively by seafarers from at least the Mesolithic (from 9000 BC) up to present times. During each time period there has been evidence of human activity within the SEA 7 area, often demonstrated by the discovery of maritime archaeological remains. The waters between the north east of Ireland and Scotland have been used as a means of communication throughout the centuries. Previous investigations of maritime archaeological remains within the SEA 7 area are discussed in the report. The spatial distribution of submerged archaeological remains is discussed, and comments are made on the limitations of any mapped baseline of data. The study concludes with a comment on the potential impacts of oil and gas activities on the submerged maritime archaeological resource and suggests possible monitoring methodologies.

This report on underwater noise is a contribution to the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA7) conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change). This report initially gives a general introduction to underwater ambient noise and the underlying mechanisms that generate sound. The report then identifies a number of sources of underwater acoustic noise, describes the characteristics of the noise including frequency content, levels and variability, and also identifies the current state of knowledge on each source. In all cases the sources are considered in the context of the SEA 7 area. Mechanisms that can modify the ambient sound levels are described. The dominant noise sources in the SEA 7 area are identified. Recommendations are then made for the methodology to be used to obtain meaningful characterisation of noise levels in order to establish baseline levels. The report then goes on to present an analysis of measured ambient noise data in the SEA 7 area, model predictions of spectrum levels, and compares the measured and modelled data.

This report is a contribution to the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA7) conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change) and deals with the shellfish resources and their commercial fisheries within SEA7. Exploited species of shellfish are found in the SEA7 zone occupying all types of habitat and distributed over a considerable range of depths, from the littoral zone down to 1000m. These species provide important fisheries and make vital contributions to the economy of remote communities on the west coast of Scotland. The main species reviewed in this report are: Norway lobster; European Lobster; Crawfish; Edible crab; Velvet swimming crab; Shore crab; Red crabs; Giant scallop; Queen scallop; Cockle; Common mussel; Razor shells; Whelks; Periwinkle