Assessing the likely impact of sand wave clearance on near bed sediment transport through numerical modelling

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Description

Contribution to the evidence needed to proportionally assess applications for cable routing where sand wave clearance through active sand wave fields is proposed. There is a current lack of information and understanding on how the removal of sand waves impacts near bed sediment transport pathways; this leads to caution when this activity is proposed through or near a marine protected area. The aim is to use numerical models of hypothetical sand wave clearance scenarios to understand whether sand wave clearance is likely to affect near-bed sediment transport to the extent that it becomes an environmental risk to designated sedimentary habitats.