New: living seabed sediment map

Living seabed-sediment map as basis for adequate North Sea management

The seabed-sediment map has been updated for the first time in decades. By combining the use of artificial intelligence with high-level geological expertise, we have developed three maps that show the composition of the seabed in varying degrees of detail. They also show how confident we are in our predictions. These maps will be the basis for the optimisation of policy and management of the Dutch North Sea.

The seabed of the North Sea plays an important role as a habitat layer for animals and plants, and as a layer on and in which many human activities take place. It is important to represent this underwater seabed as accurately as possible. The Geological Survey of the Netherlands’ (GDN) new set of seabed maps meets this need. As well as illustrating habitat suitability, this model can already be used to inform decisions about shallow interventions in the North Sea seabed, such as sand extraction and cable and pipeline installation, and to study how sound propagates under water.

Created thanks to the latest techniques

The seabed-sediment map will replace the old hand-drawn map of the seabed that has been in use for more than 20 years with a grid model calculated by artificial intelligence. The model shows the ratio of silt, sand, and gravel in the top half metre of each block of 100 by 100 metres of seabed. 58,500 km² of seabed have been mapped in this way. Using sediment descriptions and grain size analyses, the sediment composition of approximately 20,000 point locations has been determined. These were then interpolated as accurately as possible to create an area-wide map.

Easy to adjust, but takes some getting used to

Using the latest modelling techniques, we managed to automate the geological characterisation of the Dutch seabed. This milestone heralds a new era of flexibility in seabed mapping and modelling. The seabed-sediment map can be updated quickly and cheaply as new data become available. There is great value in such a living map: both the acceleration of the energy transition and the implementation of the European Green Deal will benefit from its up-to-date and reliable information. Knowledge of the seabed is a key pillar of sustainability, both now and in the future.

Offshore data: very welcome

As offshore data acquisition is very costly due to the required shipping time, GDN calls on companies and institutes to share their sediment data to help to refine the seabed-sediment map. Do you have offshore data – soil sample analyses, borehole research, or other data – that you would like to make available? Please contact our Service Desk.

Want to learn more?

Want to view and/or download the seabed sediment map for free? Go to Subsurface models on DINOloket. Under Notes to the seabed sediment map, you will find more information on how to use the map.