Small-eyed ray (Raja microocellata) is found on the inner continental shelf in the east Atlantic from the south-western coasts of the British Isles to northern Morocco (Stehmann and Bürkel, 1984). It is locally abundant in the Bristol Channel and parts of the English Channel (Ellis et al., 2005). It is an inshore demersal species, inhabiting the inner continental shelf waters down to a depth of...

Teeth of mastodons and mammoths have been recovered by fishermen from at least 40 sites on the continental shelf as deep as 120 meters. Also present are submerged shorelines, peat deposits, lagoonal shells, anz relict sands. Evidently elephants and other large mammals ranged this region during the glacial stage of low sea level of the last 25,000 years.

Continental margin systems are important contributors to global nutrient and carbon budgets. Effort is needed to quantify this contribution and how it will be modified under changing patterns of climate and land use. Coupled models will be used to provide projections of future states of continental margin systems. Thus, it is appropriate to consider the limitations that impede the development o...

We analyzed hydrographic data from the northwestern Weddell Sea continental shelf of the three austral winters 1989, 1997, and 2006 and two summers following the last winter cruise. During summer a thermal front exists at ∼64 S separating cold southern waters from warm northern waters that have similar characteristics as the deep waters of the central basin of the Bransfield Strait. In winter, ...

The overall objectives of our project are 1) to determine the characteristics of channel features that can form when the present continental shelf is subaerially exposed during low sea-level conditions and 2) to determine whether these features would be buried when sea-level returned to its present position and, if so, how deeply. During FY01, our objectives have been to adapt the model to run ...

A region where predictive capability is sought for tactical concerns is the flow field in the vicinity of the continental shelfbreak. Sound propagation from the continental slope to the continental shelf is a complex process that is highly dependent upon the oceanographic environment. A strong thermal shelfbreak front, and its associated current, are the key features that influence acoustic pro...

[1] We investigate the effect of self-attraction and loading (SAL) induced by the projected accumulation of sea water on shallow continental shelf areas. Using output from a climate model, we compute 21st century changes in regional steric sea surface height and find that steric changes are largest over the deep ocean and relatively small on the shallow continental shelves. The resulting redist...

1. Theoretical investigations of the vertical structure of mean currents, tidal flows, and low frequency (infragravity) oscillations on the inner shelf and inside the surf zone. This work expands on recent theoretical developments for shear instabilities that follow methodology developed for tidal flows on the continental shelf. Results will be compared with field data examined as part of the s...

continental slope. Historically, four mechanisms have been suggested (or assumed): (1) eddies shed from the ACC, (2) flow into the cross-shelf-cutting canyons with overflow onto the nominal shelf, (3) general upwelling, and (4) episodic sweeping of ACC meanders over the shelf. The mooring array showed that for the years of deployment, the dominant mechanism is eddies; upwelling may also contrib...

The absorption of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) into the ocean lowers the pH of the waters. This so-called ocean acidification could have important consequences for marine ecosystems. To better understand the extent of this ocean acidification in coastal waters, we conducted hydrographic surveys along the continental shelf of western North America from central Canada to northern Mexico. We o...