Drowned landscapes of the Belgian Continental Shelf: implications for northwest European landscape evolution and preservation potential for submerged heritage = Verdronken landschappen van het Belgisch deel van de Noordzee: implicaties voor noordwest Europese landschapsontwikkeling en bewaringspotentieel van onderwater erfgoed
De Clercq, M. (2018). Drowned landscapes of the Belgian Continental Shelf: implications for northwest European landscape evolution and preservation potential for submerged heritage = Verdronken landschappen van het Belgisch deel van de Noordzee: implicaties voor noordwest Europese landschapsontwikkeling en bewaringspotentieel van onderwater erfgoed. PhD Thesis. Faculty of Sciences, Ghent University: Gent. xx, 353 pp.
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| Beschikbaar in | Auteur |
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Documenttype: Doctoraat/Thesis/Eindwerk
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| Trefwoorden |
Earth sciences > Geology > Sedimentology
Geological time > Phanerozoic > Geological time > Cenozoic > Quaternary
ANE, België, Belgisch Continentaal Plat (BCP) [Marine Regions]; ANE, Noordzee [Marine Regions]
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| Abstract |
The Belgian Continental Shelf is the smallest exclusive economic zone of the North Sea and is bounded by the French, British and Dutch Continental Shelves, however the number of economic and societal claims is very large, comprising fishing, military defence, sand extraction, maintenance dredging, shipping, wind farms, pipelines and cables. On top of that, the scarce economic resource of the Quaternary sediments of the Belgian Continental Shelf is thin and fragmented, which is the main reason why it has been so difficult up to now to produce a coherent reconstruction of the Quaternary evolution of the BCS. Moreover, the limited thickness of the Quaternary cover makes its entire section potentially vulnerable to the economic claims. Marine spatial planning hence exists to accommodate these various economic interests. It is a process to allocate the space available on sea to certain actors within a certain time frame and at the same time to ensure that all ecological, economic and social objectives are achieved. An ecosystem vision and involvement of all stakeholders (science, industry, policy) are hereby of great importance. Within the Marine Spatial Plan of 2014 it is recognised that next to shipwrecks all traces of human presence, be it cultural, historic or archaeological, belong to the submerged heritage. However, the marine spatial plan does not elucidate on how this submerged heritage is to be protected from damage or destruction that comes forth from these economic claims. Furthermore, it does not elaborate on palaeontological bone material, which is inherently connected to past human activities and use of the land and is therefore a fundamental part of this submerged heritage (from here on, submerged heritage refers to drowned palaeolandscapes, prehistorich archaeology and palaeontological bone material). An efficient policy at sea is therefore imperative. A first step to achieve a more efficient policy was developed by the SeArch project (2013–2016). The project offered solutions to improve the offshore policy by: 1) providing stakeholders with new and improved remote sensing technologies and an efficient survey methodology for the assessment of submerged heritage; 2) to provide stakeholders with a new, sustainable management framework regarding submerged heritage, and including marine spatial planning; 3) to provide practical guidance for the stakeholders on how to implement the new methodology and management approach. The one thing that remains underrepresented to provide the necessary tools for an efficient offshore policy is a thorough overview of the Quaternary stratigraphy of the BCS and what geological formation processes lie at its base. This is a pivotal step to understand why and viii where submerged heritage may be preserved within the Quaternary deposits, i.e. the preservation potential. |
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