72-497: Kirkcudbright Bay is an inlet of the Irish Sea on the coast of Galloway in southwest Scotland . Its coastline falls entirely within the modern administrative area of Dumfries and Galloway and the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire . It extends in a north-south direction for about 6 miles (10 km), and is up to 2 miles (3 km) wide. The estuary of the River Dee enters
144-513: A basal Permian unconformity into at least the western part of the Caernarfon Bay Basin. The timing of gas generation presents the greatest exploration risk. Maximum burial of, and primary gas migration from, the source rocks could have terminated as early as the Jurassic , whereas many of the tilted fault blocks were reactivated or created during Paleogene inversion of the basin. However, it
216-600: A continuation into British waters of Ireland's North Celtic Sea Basin, which has two producing gas fields. The basin comprises a south-easterly deepening half-graben near the Welsh coastline, although its internal structure becomes increasingly complex towards the southwest. Permian to Triassic, syn-rift sediments within the basin are less than 3 km (1.9 mi) thick and are overlain by up to 4 km (2.5 mi) of Jurassic strata, and locally also by up to 2 km (1.2 mi) of Paleogene fluvio-deltaic sediments. The basin has
288-454: A corresponding dosage of radioactivity naturally occurring in the seafood consumed by this group of 148 μSv (0.0148 rem) and a total average dosage in Ireland from all sources of 3,620 μSv (0.362 rem). In terms of risk to this group, heavy consumption of seafood generates a 1 in 18 million chance of causing cancer. The general risk of contracting cancer in Ireland is 1 in 522. In
360-454: A large extent on whether the seabed is composed of rock , boulders , gravel , sand , mud or even peat . In the soft sediments seven types of community have been provisionally identified, variously dominated by brittle-stars , sea urchins , worms, mussels , tellins , furrow-shells , and tower-shells. Parts of the bed of the Irish Sea are very rich in wildlife. The seabed southwest of
432-612: A permanent organization was formed and statutes for its operations were prepared. The IHB, now the IHO, began its activities in 1921 with 18 nations as members. The Principality of Monaco was selected as the seat of the Organization as a result of the offer of Albert I of Monaco to provide suitable accommodation for the Bureau in the Principality. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO)
504-646: A plan to reintroduce grey whales by airlifting 50 of them from the Pacific Ocean to the Irish Sea was claimed to be logically and ethically feasible; it has not been implemented as of 2013. The common or harbour seal and the grey seal are both resident in the Irish Sea. Common seals breed in Strangford Lough, grey seals in southwest Wales and, in small numbers, on the Isle of Man. Grey seals haul out, but do not breed, off Hilbre and Walney islands, Merseyside ,
576-562: A proven petroleum system, with potentially producible gas reserves at the Dragon discovery near the UK/ROI median line, and oil shows in a further three wells. The Cardigan Bay Basin contains multiple reservoir targets, which include the Lower Triassic (Sherwood Sandstone), Middle Jurassic shallow marine sandstones and limestone (Great Oolite ), and Upper Jurassic fluvial sandstone, the reservoir for
648-528: A series of dramatic changes over the last 20,000 years as the last glacial period ended and was replaced by warmer conditions. At the height of the glaciation, the central part of the modern sea was probably a long freshwater lake. As the ice retreated 10,000 years ago, the lake reconnected to the sea. The Irish Sea was formed in the Neogene era. Notable crossings include several invasions from Britain. The Norman invasion of Ireland took place in stages during
720-564: A weapons testing range. 54°46′N 4°04′W / 54.77°N 4.07°W / 54.77; -4.07 Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a 46,007 km (17,763 sq mi) body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain . It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in
792-621: A year. Holyhead port handles most of the passenger traffic from Dublin and Dún Laoghaire ports, as well as 3.3 million tonnes (3,200,000 long tons; 3,600,000 short tons) of freight. Ports in the Republic handle 3,600,000 travellers crossing the sea each year, amounting to 92% of all Irish Sea travel. Ferry connections from Wales to Ireland across the Irish Sea include Fishguard Harbour and Pembroke to Rosslare , Holyhead to Dún Laoghaire and Holyhead to Dublin. From Scotland , Cairnryan connects with both Belfast and Larne . There
SECTION 10
#1732844896383864-705: Is also a connection between Liverpool and Belfast via the Isle of Man or direct from Birkenhead . The world's largest car ferry , Ulysses , is operated by Irish Ferries on the Dublin Port–Holyhead route; Stena Line also operates between Britain and Ireland. "Irish Sea" is also the name of one of the BBC 's Shipping Forecast areas defined by the coordinates: Iarnród Éireann , Irish Ferries , Northern Ireland Railways , ScotRail , Stena Line and Transport for Wales Rail promote SailRail with through rail tickets for
936-494: Is also possible that a secondary gas charge occurred during regional heating associated with intrusion of Paleogene dykes , such as those that crop out nearby on the coastline of north Wales. (Floodpage et al., 1999) have invoked this second phase of Paleogene hydrocarbon generation as an important factor in the charging of the East Irish Sea Basin's oil and gas fields. It is not clear as yet whether aeromagnetic anomalies in
1008-498: Is an intergovernmental organization representing hydrography . As of May 2024 , the IHO comprised 100 member states. A principal aim of the IHO is to ensure that the world's seas, oceans and navigable waters are properly surveyed and charted. It does this through the setting of international standards for hydrographic surveys, the co-ordination of the endeavors of the world's national hydrographic offices, and through its capacity building program. The IHO enjoys observer status at
1080-686: Is bounded to the north and south by Lower Paleozoic massifs . Only two exploration wells have been drilled so far, and there remain numerous undrilled targets in tilted fault block plays . As in the East Irish Sea Basin, the principal target reservoir is the Lower Triassic, Sherwood Sandstone, top-sealed by younger Triassic mudstones and evaporites. Wells in the Irish Sector to the west have demonstrated that pre-rift, Westphalian coal measures are excellent hydrocarbon source rocks, and are at peak maturity for gas generation (Maddox et al., 1995). Seismic profiles clearly image these strata continuing beneath
1152-513: Is closely associated with sediment activity, with muddy deposits on the seabed acting as sinks, soaking up an estimated 200 kg (440 lb) of plutonium . The highest concentration is found in the eastern Irish Sea in sediment banks lying parallel to the Cumbrian coast. This area acts as a significant source of wider contamination as radionuclides are dissolved once again. Studies have revealed that 80% of current seawater contamination by caesium
1224-510: Is no top-seal for reservoirs sub cropping the regional base Permian unconformity in the east of the basin, and Carboniferous strata crop out at the sea bed in the west. Previous exploration drilling in the Kish Bank Basin has confirmed the potential for petroleum generation with oil shows seen in a number of wells together with natural hydrocarbon seeps recorded from airborne surveys. New analysis of vintage 2-D seismic data has revealed
1296-461: Is sourced from sediment banks, whilst plutonium levels in the western sediment banks between the Isle of Man and the Irish coast are being maintained by contamination redistributed from the eastern sediment banks. The consumption of seafood harvested from the Irish Sea is the main pathway for exposure of humans to radioactivity. The environmental monitoring report for the period 2003 to 2005 published by
1368-532: The Bahama and King William Banks to the east and north of the Isle of Man and the Kish Bank , Codling Bank, Arklow Bank and Blackwater Bank near the coast of Ireland. The Irish Sea, at its greatest width, is 200 km (120 mi) and narrows to 75 km (47 mi). The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Irish Sea (with St George's Channel) as follows, The Irish Sea has undergone
1440-855: The Douglas Complex the gas is piped by subsea pipeline to the Point of Ayr gas terminal for further processing. The gas is then sent by onshore pipeline to PowerGen 's combined cycle gas turbine power station at Connah's Quay . PowerGen is the sole purchaser of gas from the Liverpool Bay development. The Liverpool Bay development comprises four offshore platforms. Offshore storage and loading facilities. The onshore gas processing terminal at Point of Ayr. Production first started at each field as follows: Hamilton North in 1995, Hamilton in 1996, Douglas in 1996, Lennox (oil only) in 1996 and Hamilton East 2001. The first contract gas sales were in 1996. The quality of
1512-719: The Hydrographic Dictionary and the Year Book are available to the general public free of charge from the IHO website. The IHO publishes the international standards related to charting and hydrography, including S-57, IHO Transfer Standard for Digital Hydrographic Data , the encoding standard that is used primarily for electronic navigational charts . In 2010, the IHO introduced a new, contemporary hydrographic geospatial standard for modelling marine data and information, known as S-100. S-100 and any dependent product specifications are underpinned by an on-line registry accessible via
SECTION 20
#17328448963831584-738: The North Atlantic at both its northern and southern ends. To the north, the connection is through the North Channel between Scotland and Northern Ireland and the Malin Sea . The southern end is linked to the Atlantic through the St George's Channel between Ireland and Pembrokeshire , and the Celtic Sea . It is composed of a deeper channel about 300 km (190 mi) long and 30–50 km (20–30 mi) wide on its western side and shallower bays to
1656-533: The North Channel to see if a tunnel between Ireland and Scotland was viable. Sixty years later, Harford Montgomery Hyde , Unionist MP for North Belfast, called for the building of such a tunnel. A tunnel project has been discussed several times in the Irish parliament . The idea for a 34-kilometre (21 mi) long rail bridge or tunnel continues to be mooted. Several potential projects have been proposed, including one between Dublin and Holyhead put forward in 1997 by
1728-491: The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) reported that in 2005 average quantities of radioactive contamination found in seafood ranged from less than 1 Bq/kg (12 pCi/lb) for fish to under 44 Bq/kg (540 pCi/lb) for mussels. Doses of man-made radioactivity received by the heaviest consumers of seafood in Ireland in 2005 was 1.10 μSv (0.000110 rem). This compares with
1800-472: The Republic of Ireland to the west. The Irish Sea is of significant economic importance to regional trade, shipping and transport, as well as fishing and power generation in the form of wind power and nuclear power plants . Annual traffic between Great Britain and Ireland is over 12 million passengers and 17 million tonnes (17,000,000 long tons; 19,000,000 short tons) of traded goods. The Irish Sea joins
1872-719: The United Nations , where it is the recognized competent authority on hydrographic surveying and nautical charting . When referring to hydrography and nautical charting in conventions and similar instruments, it is the IHO standards and specifications that are normally used. During the 19th century, many maritime nations established hydrographic offices to provide means for improving the navigation of naval and merchant vessels by providing nautical publications, nautical charts, and other navigational services. There were substantial differences in hydrographic procedures charts, and publications. In 1889, an International Maritime Conference
1944-449: The Wirral , St Annes, Barrow-in-Furness Borough, and Cumbria. The Irish Sea has been described by Greenpeace as the most radioactively contaminated sea in the world with some "eight million litres of nuclear waste " discharged into it each day from Sellafield reprocessing plants, contaminating seawater, sediments and marine life. Low-level radioactive waste has been discharged into
2016-783: The sea duck , common scoter , spend winters feeding in shallow waters off eastern Ireland, Lancashire and North Wales . Whales, dolphins and porpoises all frequent the Irish Sea, but knowledge of how many there may be and where they go is somewhat sketchy. About a dozen species have been recorded since 1980, but only three are seen fairly often. These are the harbour porpoise , bottlenose dolphin and common dolphin . The more rarely seen species are minke whale , fin whale , sei whale , humpback whale , North Atlantic right whales which are now considered to be almost extinct in eastern North Atlantic, sperm whale , northern bottlenose whale , long-finned pilot whale , orca , white-beaked dolphin , striped dolphin and Risso's dolphin . In 2005,
2088-562: The British engineering firm Symonds. At 80 km (50 mi), it would have been by far the longest rail tunnel on earth with an estimated cost approaching £20 billion. An offshore wind farm was developed on the Arklow Bank, Arklow Bank Wind Park , about 10 km (6.2 mi) off the coast of County Wicklow in the south Irish Sea. The site currently has seven GE 3.6 MW turbines , each with 104-metre (341 ft) diameter rotors ,
2160-514: The Convention on the IHO, the secretariat is headed by a Secretary-General, supported by two Directors. As before, all three senior members of the secretariat continue to be elected to their positions by the Member States at the regular Assembly of the IHO (formerly, IHO Conferences). The secretariat staff comprise a number of technical specialists, administrators, and support personnel. The bulk of
2232-563: The Dee Estuary and the estuaries are also important as nurseries for flatfish , herring and sea bass . Muddy seabeds in deeper waters are home to populations of the Dublin Bay prawn , also known as "scampi". The open sea is a complex habitat in its own right. It exists in three spatial dimensions and also varies over time and tide. For example, where freshwater flows into the Irish Sea in river estuaries its influence can extend far offshore as
Kirkcudbright Bay - Misplaced Pages Continue
2304-478: The Dragon discovery. The most likely hydrocarbon source rocks are Early Jurassic marine mudstones. These are fully mature for oil generation in the west of the British sector and are mature for gas generation nearby in the Irish sector. Gas-prone, Westphalian pre-rift coal measures may also be present at depth locally. The Cardigan Bay Basin was subjected to two Tertiary phases of compressive uplift, whereas maximum burial that terminated primary hydrocarbon generation
2376-708: The East Irish Sea Basin is at a mature exploration phase. Early Namurian basinal mudstones are the source rocks for these hydrocarbons. Production from all fields is from fault-bounded traps of the Lower Triassic formation, principally the aeolian Sherwood Sandstone reservoir, top-sealed by younger Triassic continental mudstones and evaporites . Future mineral exploration will initially concentrate on extending this play , but there remains largely untested potential also for gas and oil within widespread Carboniferous fluvial sandstone reservoirs. This play requires intraformational mudstone seal units to be present, as there
2448-474: The IHO website. S-100 is aligned with the ISO 19100 series of geographic standards, thereby making it fully compatible with contemporary geospatial data standards. Because S-100 is based on ISO 19100, it can be used by other data providers for their maritime-related (non-hydrographic) data and information. Various data and information providers from both the government and private sector are now using S-100 as part of
2520-470: The IHO's technical and specialist expertise comes from Member States' personnel, often assisted by invited industry experts, who all provide technical contributions through participation in various IHO committees and working groups. A Council, comprising a sub-set of all the IHO Member States, meets annually and oversees the work of the IHO. A full description, together with details of the workings of all
2592-756: The Irish Sea and its surrounding coastline, ranging from flower-like fan-worms to predatory swimming crabs to large chameleon -like cuttlefish . Some of the most significant for other wildlife are the reef-building species like the inshore horse mussel of Strangford Lough, the inter-tidal honeycomb worm of Morecambe Bay, Cumbria and Lancashire , and the sub-tidal honeycomb worm of the Wicklow Reef . These build up large structures over many years and, in turn, provide surfaces, nooks and crannies where other marine animals and plants may become established and live out some or all of their lives. There are quite regular records of live and stranded leatherback turtles in and around
2664-449: The Irish Sea are of international importance for birds. They are vital feeding grounds on migration flyways for shorebirds travelling between the Arctic and Africa. Others depend on the milder climate as a refuge when continental Europe is in the grip of winter. Twenty-one species of seabird are reported as regularly nesting on beaches or cliffs around the Irish Sea. Huge populations of
2736-408: The Irish Sea as part of operations at Sellafield since 1952. The rate of discharge began to accelerate in the mid- to late 1960s, reaching a peak in the 1970s and generally declining significantly since then. As an example of this profile, discharges of plutonium (specifically Pu ) peaked in 1973 at 2,755 terabecquerels (74,500 Ci) falling to 8.1 TBq (220 Ci) by 2004. Improvements in
2808-466: The Irish Sea. This species travels north to the waters off the British Isles every year following the swarms of jellyfish that form its prey. Loggerhead turtle, ridley sea turtle and green turtle are found very occasionally in the Irish Sea but are generally unwell or dead when discovered. They have strayed or been swept out of their natural range further south into colder waters. The estuaries of
2880-470: The Isle of Man is particularly noted for its rarities and diversity, as are the horse mussel beds of Strangford Lough. Scallops and queen scallops are found in more gravelly areas. In the estuaries, where the bed is more sandy or muddy, the number of species is smaller but the size of their populations is larger. Brown shrimp , cockles and edible mussels support local fisheries in Morecambe Bay and
2952-756: The Middle Jurassic section. The Liverpool Bay Development was BHP 's largest operated asset. It comprises the integrated development of five offshore oil and gas fields in the Irish Sea: Oil is produced from the Lennox and Douglas fields. It is then treated at the Douglas Complex and piped 17 km (11 mi) to an oil storage barge ready for export by tankers. Gas is produced from the Hamilton, Hamilton North and Hamilton East reservoirs. After initial processing at
Kirkcudbright Bay - Misplaced Pages Continue
3024-467: The North Channel of around six months with peak concentrations off the northeast Irish coast occurring 18–24 months after peak discharge. Less soluble elements such as plutonium are subject to much slower redistribution. Whilst concentrations have declined in line with the reduction in discharges they are markedly higher in the eastern Irish Sea compared to the western areas. The dispersal of these elements
3096-529: The UK, the heaviest seafood consumers in Cumbria received a radioactive dosage attributable to Sellafield discharges of 220 μSv (0.022 rem) in 2005. This compares to average annual dose of naturally sourced radiation received in the UK of 2,230 μSv (0.223 rem). Discussions of linking Britain to Ireland began in 1895, with an application for £15,000 towards the cost of carrying out borings and soundings in
3168-400: The adjoining shores , the seabed and the open sea itself. The information on the invertebrates of the seabed of the Irish Sea is rather patchy because it is difficult to survey such a large area, where underwater visibility is often poor and information often depends upon looking at material brought up from the seabed in mechanical grabs. However, the groupings of animals present depend to
3240-459: The bay at its head, where there are extensive tidal flats. The peninsula of St Mary's Isle divides the bay into two, with the river Dee on the west side and Manxman’s Lake on the east. At the mouth of the bay, close to the western shore, is the island of Little Ross , off which a hazardous sandbar has resulted in many shipwrecks. Much of the eastern shore is occupied by the Dundrennan Range ,
3312-426: The east. The depth of the western channel ranges from 80 m (260 ft) to 275 m (900 ft). Cardigan Bay in the south, and the waters to the east of the Isle of Man , are less than 50 m (160 ft) deep. With a total water volume of 2,430 km (580 cu mi) and a surface area of 47,000 km (18,000 sq mi), 80% is to the west of the Isle of Man. The largest sandbanks are
3384-474: The field of standardization since the IHO was founded. The IHO has encouraged the formation of Regional Hydrographic Commissions (RHCs). Each RHC coordinates the national surveying and charting activities of countries within each region and acts as a forum to address other matters of common hydrographic interest. The 15 RHCs plus the IHO Hydrographic Commission on Antarctica effectively cover
3456-408: The freshwater is lighter and "floats" on top of the much larger body of salt water until wind and temperature changes mix it in. Similarly, warmer water is less dense and seawater warmed in the inter-tidal zone may "float" on the colder offshore water. The amount of light penetrating the seawater also varies with depth and turbidity. This leads to differing populations of plankton in different parts of
3528-720: The greatest wildlife resource of the Irish Sea lies in its estuaries : particularly the Dee Estuary , the Mersey Estuary , the Ribble Estuary , Morecambe Bay , the Solway Firth , the Firth of Clyde , Belfast Lough , Strangford Lough , Carlingford Lough , Dundalk Bay , Dublin Bay and Wexford Harbour . However, a lot of wildlife also depends on the cliffs, salt marshes and sand dunes of
3600-563: The implementation of the e-Navigation concept that has been endorsed by the UN International Maritime Organization (IMO). Another in the series of publications of interest is S-23, Limits of Oceans and Seas . The 3rd edition dates back to 1953 while the potential 4th edition, started in 1986, has remained a draft since 2002. It was distributed to IHO members, but its official publication has been suspended pending agreement between South Korea and Japan regarding
3672-633: The late 12th century from Porthclais near St. Davids , Wales , in Hulks , Snekkars , Keels and Cogs to Wexford Harbour , Leinster . The Tudors crossed the Irish Sea to invade in 1529 in caravels and carracks . In 1690 the English fleet set sail for the Williamite War in Ireland from Hoylake , Wirral , the departure becoming permanently known as King's Gap as a result. Because Ireland has neither tunnel nor bridge to connect it with Great Britain ,
SECTION 50
#17328448963833744-404: The most convenient form to enable them to be readily used; of instituting a prompt system of mutual exchange of hydrographic information between all countries; and of providing an opportunity to consultations and discussions to be carried out on hydrographic subjects generally by the hydrographic experts of the world." This is still the major purpose of the IHO. As a result of the 1919 Conference,
3816-423: The north by the North Channel . Anglesey , North Wales , is the largest island in the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man . The term Manx Sea may occasionally be encountered ( Welsh : Môr Manaw , Irish : Muir Meann Manx : Mooir Vannin , Scottish Gaelic : Muir Mhanainn ). On its shoreline are Scotland to the north, England to the east, Wales to the southeast, Northern Ireland and
3888-519: The organs of the IHO is available on the IHO website: www.iho.int The IHO develops hydrographic and nautical charting standards. These standards are subsequently adopted and used by its member countries and others in their surveys, nautical charts, and publications. The almost universal use of the IHO standards means that the products and services provided by the world's national hydrographic and oceanographic offices are consistent and recognizable by all seafarers and for other users. Much has been done in
3960-447: The partners are currently advancing a focused work programme in order to better understand and hopefully mitigate these risks. However, given its location in shallow water and close proximity to shore, the prospect is of great interest as exploration drilling, together with any future development costs, are likely to be low. Below is a list of cities and towns around the Irish Sea coasts in order of size: The most accessible and possibly
4032-640: The presence of a large undrilled structural closure at Lower Triassic level situated about 10 kilometres (6 mi) offshore Dublin. This feature, known as the Dalkey Island exploration prospect, may be prospective for oil, as there are prolific oil productive Lower Triassic reservoirs nearby in the eastern Irish Sea offshore Liverpool. Whilst the Dalkey Island exploration prospect could contain about 870 million barrels (140,000,000 m ) of oil in place, this undrilled prospect still has significant risk and
4104-401: The sea and varying communities of animals that feed on these populations. However, increasing seasonal storminess leads to greater mixing of water and tends to break down these divisions, which are more apparent when the weather is calm for long periods. Plankton includes bacteria, plants ( phytoplankton ) and animals ( zooplankton ) that drift in the sea. Most are microscopic, but some, such as
4176-513: The secretariat was renamed the "IHO Secretariat," which consists of an elected Secretary-General, two supporting Directors, and a small permanent staff (18 in 2020) at the Organization’s headquarters in Monaco. Until 2016 the IHO was administered by a secretariat headed by a Directing Committee comprising a President and two Directors. Since 8 November 2016, upon the entry in to force of revisions to
4248-455: The southeast of Caernarfon Bay are imaging a continuation of the dyke swarm into this area too, or whether they are instead associated with deeply buried Permian syn-rift volcanics . Alternatively, the fault block traps could have been recharged by exsolution of methane from formation brines as a direct result of the Tertiary uplift (cf. Doré and Jensen, 1996). The Cardigan Bay Basin forms
4320-858: The train and the ferry. The British ship LCT 326 sank in the Irish sea and was discovered in March 2020. In September 2021, the British Navy ship HMS Mercury was discovered; it sank in 1940. The British ship SS Mesaba was sunk by the Imperial German Navy U-118 in 1918 and discovered in 2022. This ship is well known for sailing near the Titanic and for attempting to warn the Titanic about dangerous icebergs. The Caernarfon Bay basin contains up to 7 cubic kilometres (1.7 cu mi) of Permian and Triassic syn-rift sediments in an asymmetrical graben that
4392-469: The treatment of waste in 1985 and 1994 resulted in further reductions in radioactive waste discharge although the subsequent processing of a backlog resulted in increased discharges of certain types of radioactive waste. Discharges of technetium in particular rose from 6.1 TBq (160 Ci) in 1993 to a peak of 192 TBq (5,200 Ci) in 1995 before dropping back to 14 TBq (380 Ci) in 2004. In total 22 petabecquerels (590 kCi) of Pu
SECTION 60
#17328448963834464-460: The various species of jellyfish and sea gooseberry , can be much bigger. Diatoms and dinoflagellates dominate the phytoplankton. Although they are microscopic plants, diatoms have hard shells and dinoflagellates have little tails that propel them through the water. Phytoplankton populations in the Irish Sea have a spring "bloom" every April and May, when the seawater is generally at its greenest. Crustaceans , especially copepods , dominate
4536-587: The vast majority of heavy goods trade is done by sea. Northern Ireland ports handle 10 million tonnes (9,800,000 long tons; 11,000,000 short tons) of goods trade with the rest of the United Kingdom annually; the ports in the Republic of Ireland handle 7.6 million tonnes (7,500,000 long tons; 8,400,000 short tons), representing 50% and 40% respectively of total trade by weight. The Port of Liverpool handles 32 million tonnes (31,000,000 long tons; 35,000,000 short tons) of cargo and 734,000 passengers
4608-515: The water in Liverpool Bay was historically contaminated by dumping of sewage sludge at sea but this practice became illegal in December 1988 and no further sludge was deposited after that date. With 210 billion cubic metres (7.5 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas and 176 million barrels (28,000,000 m ) of petroleum estimated by the field operators as initially recoverable hydrocarbon reserves from eight producing fields (DTI, 2001),
4680-400: The world's first commercial application of offshore wind turbines over three megawatts in size. The operating company, Airtricity , has indefinite plans for nearly 100 further turbines on the site. Further wind turbine sites include: International Hydrographic Organization The International Hydrographic Organization ( IHO ) (French: Organisation Hydrographique Internationale )
4752-754: The world. The IHO, in partnership with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, directs the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans program. Establishment of the Chart Specifications Committee and International Charts: Most IHO publications, including the standards, guidelines and associated documents such as the International Hydrographic Review , International Hydrographic Bulletin ,
4824-465: The zooplankton. However, many animals of the seabed, the open sea and the seashore spend their juvenile stages as part of the zooplankton. The whole plankton "soup" is vitally important, directly or indirectly, as a food source for most species in the Irish Sea, even the largest. The enormous basking shark , for example, lives entirely on plankton and the leatherback turtle 's main food is jellyfish. A colossal diversity of invertebrate species live in
4896-510: Was discharged over the period 1952 to 1998. Current rates of discharge for many radionuclides are at least 100 times lower than they were in the 1970s. Analysis of the distribution of radioactive contamination after discharge reveals that mean sea currents result in much of the more soluble elements such as caesium being flushed out of the Irish Sea through the North Channel about a year after discharge. Measurements of technetium concentrations post-1994 has produced estimated transit times to
4968-538: Was established in June 1921 as the International Hydrographic Bureau (IHB). In 1970, the organization adopted its current name as part of a new International Convention on the IHO, which was agreed upon by its member nations. The term "International Hydrographic Bureau" continued to describe the IHO's secretariat until 8 November 2016, when a major revision to the Convention took effect. Following this change,
5040-620: Was held at Washington, D.C. , and it was proposed to establish a "permanent international commission." Similar proposals were made at the sessions of the International Congress of Navigation held at Saint Petersburg in 1908 and the International Maritime Conference held at Saint Petersburg in 1912. In 1919, the national Hydrographers of Great Britain and France cooperated in taking the necessary steps to convene an international conference of Hydrographers. London
5112-469: Was probably around the end of the Cretaceous , or earlier if Cretaceous strata, now missing, were never deposited in the basin. Despite the Tertiary structuration, the Dragon discovery has proved that potentially commercial volumes of hydrocarbons were retained at least locally in Cardigan Bay. In addition to undrilled structural traps, the basin contains the untested potential for stratigraphic entrapment of hydrocarbons near synsedimentary faults, especially in
5184-534: Was selected as the most suitable place for this conference, and on 24 July 1919, the First International Conference opened, attended by the Hydrographers of 24 nations. The object of the conference was "To consider the advisability of all maritime nations adopting similar methods in preparation, construction, and production of their charts and all hydrographic publications; of rendering the results in
#382617