Continental shelf sediment dynamics in the Anthropocene: A global shift

MARTÍN, J.; PUIG, P.; OBERLE, F.K.J.

Congreso; EGU General Assembly 2017; 2017

Recent technological advances in remote sensing and deep marine sampling have revealed the extent and magnitudeof the anthropogenic impacts to the seafloor. In particular, bottom trawling, a fishing technique consisting ofdragging a net and fishing gear over the seafloor to capture bottom-dwelling living resources has gained attentiondue to its destructive effects on the seabed. Trawling gear produces acute impacts on biota and the physical substratumof the seafloor by disrupting the sediment column structure, overturning boulders, resuspending sedimentsand imprinting deep scars on muddy bottoms. Also, the repetitive passage of trawling gear over the same areascreates long-lasting, cumulative impacts that modify the cohesiveness and texture of sediments. It can be assertednowadays that due to its recurrence, mobility and wide geographical extent, industrial trawling has become a majorforce driving seafloor change and affecting not only its physical integrity on short spatial scales but also imprintingmeasurable modifications to the geomorphology of entire continental margins.