Seabed Substrates

The EMODnet (European Marine Observation and Data network) Geology project collects and harmonizes marine geological data from the European sea areas to support decision making and sustainable marine spatial planning. The project partnership consists mainly of the marine departments of the geological surveys of Europe (through the Association of European Geological Surveys-EuroGeoSurveys), which have assembled marine geological information at various scales from all European sea areas (e.g., the White Sea, Baltic Sea, Barents Sea, the Iberian Coast, and the Mediterranean Sea within EU waters), the Caspian Sea and the Caribbean Sea. EMODnet seabed substrate data products include datasets at 1:1 000 000, 1:250 000, 1:100 000 and high-resolution scales (1:1 500, 1:5 000, 1:10 000, 1:15 000, 1:20 000, 1:25 000, 1:30 000, 1:45 000, 1: 50 000, 1:60 000, 1:70 000). Traditionally, European countries have conducted their marine geological surveys according to their own national standards and classified substrates on the grounds of their national classification schemes. These national classifications are harmonised into a shared EMODnet schema using Folk's sediment triangle with a hierarchy of 16, 7 and 5 substrate classes. The data describes the seabed substrate from the uppermost 30 cm of the sediment column. The datasets have been compiled at different scales from background information that depends on the original producer. In cases, the data has been generalized into a target scales. Coarser scale data (1M, 250k and 100k) describes the seabed substrate at a general level only and is not suitable for a detailed analysis. High-resolution material includes multiple scales from 1:1 500 to 1:70 000 and the user should assess its suitability for the intended purpose. The smallest cartographic unit within the data is about 4 km2 at 1:1M, 0,3km2 at 1:250k and 0,05km2 at 1:100k scale. Further information about the EMODnet Geology project is available on the centralized EMODnet portal https://emodnet.ec.europa.eu/en/geology