Скачать или смотреть 20251212 Mapping Scotland's Seabed

Professor John Howe from the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) took us on a fascinating journey beneath the waves around Scotland's west coast, revealing the hidden world of the seafloor through cutting-edge multibeam sonar mapping and robotic underwater vehicles.

His talk explored the remarkable geological diversity of the Sea of Hebrides and Firth of Lorn, spanning everything from 60-million-year-old volcanic basalts to the dramatic reshaping of the landscape by Ice Age glaciers. Professor Howe showed stunning maps revealing major fault lines like the Fascadale and Camasunary faults cutting through the seabed, mysterious pockmarks from escaping methane gas and even a beautifully preserved ancient lava flow. He explained the geology behind the legendary Corryvreckan whirlpool — the fourth largest in the world —and the powerful tidal forces at the Falls of Lora. There were some unexpected discoveries: a rare population of spurdog sharks in Loch Etive, several World War II RAF bomber wrecks, and the famous SS Breda. We also met "Freya", SAMS's autonomous underwater vehicle currently mapping glaciers in Greenland. A brilliant exploration of why mapping our seafloor matters for understanding everything from our glacial past to our climate future.