IPOINT
Instability and Pollution Potential Mapping of Irish Shipwreck Sites for a National Risk Assessment Database (I-PoINt)
Funder: Marine Institute
Project Team
- Dr Aaron Lim (PI)
- Dr Mark Coughlan (Co-PI)
- Dr Jennifer Keenahen (Co-PI)
- Post-docotral Research Fellow (position to be advertised soon)
Shipwrecks are anthropogenically derived seafloor features with important cultural heritage that may form biodiversity ‘hotspots’ in otherwise barren parts of the seabed. In recent times, their presence has typically been considered a hazard to trade and navigation (shipping routes), energy (renewable energy development) and marine resources (trawling). However, a relatively lesser studied hazard is the pollution potential of shipwrecks given their composition, cargo and long-term exposure to the marine environment that can up-concentrate shipwreck-derived pollutants akin to placer deposits. This is a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional research project that: i) identifies, maps and ranks the distribution of polluting shipwrecks around Ireland, and; ii) quantifies the impacts of the most intensely polluting shipwrecks. This research uses data-driven assessments of online archives, historical records, peer-reviewed literature using Python-based automatic web-scraping methodologies. Machine-learning analyses rank shipwrecks pollution potential, their pollutants and distribution.
The project has 2 main aims
The project proposal has identified a need for a reliable and repeatable methodology to assess pollution potential risk at shipwreck sites to inform robust management strategies in an Irish context. As a result, the project will aim to:
- Identify, map and rank the distribution of polluting shipwrecks around Ireland, and;
- Quantify the impacts of the most intensely polluting shipwrecks via 3D photogrammetric surveys, geochemical analyses and CFD modelling around digitally reconstructed shipwreck sites.