Abstract
IN certain critical areas in the southern North Sea, shipping routes cross shoals which present a potential hazard to deep draught vessels. The Unit of Coastal Sedimentation is carrying out research to determine if sediment transport occurs and to establish its mechanism in one such area, the Sandettie/Fairy Bank Gap. Such knowledge should prove useful in determining the frequency with which hydrographic surveys may have to be conducted to guarantee the safe navigation of deep draught vessels. Recent hydrographic surveys in this area indicated that a low seafloor “col” extends under the route and links the northern end of Sandettie with the southern end of Fairy Bank. Both the hydrographic and a subsequent side scan sonar survey have shown this col to be the site of a series of major linear ridges up to 10 m high with wavelengths between 160 and 230 m and with a dominant orientation north-west to southeast. From their morphology these ridges would be described as sandwaves.
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