The number of offshore wind farms in the North Sea is exponentially increasing. Their construction responds to the urgent need to transition to green energy production and carbon neutrality. The installation of these man-made structures has a notable impact on the marine ecosystem. Some positive impacts include providing a new home for various animals, and offering shelter, food, and breeding grounds. However, there have been observations of black sediment patches in the sampled sediments near the turbine foundations, suggesting a high input of organic matter into the sediment, altering natural biogeochemical processes.
In the OUTFLOW project, PhD candidate Esther Cepeda Gamella (Institute of Natural Sciences – MARECO and University of Ghent) investigates the source of these black sediments.
Find out more about this research in a blog article that Esther wrote for BioVox:
https://biovox.eu/the-ecological-impact-of-offshore-wind-farms-and-sediment-dynamics/