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99-619: The West Sole gas field is a natural gas and associated condensate field located under the North Sea 44 miles (70 km) off the East Yorkshire coast. The field produced Britain’s first offshore natural gas in 1967. The West Sole gas field is a substantial natural gas field located in the UK North Sea . The field is named after the Sole Pit area of the southern North Sea beneath which the field

198-479: A nonpoint source of pollution , as it can carry human-made contaminants or natural forms of pollution (such as rotting leaves). Human-made contaminants in runoff include petroleum , pesticides , fertilizers and others. Much agricultural pollution is exacerbated by surface runoff, leading to a number of down stream impacts, including nutrient pollution that causes eutrophication . In addition to causing water erosion and pollution, surface runoff in urban areas

297-505: A Tuath . The North Sea has provided waterway access for commerce and conquest. Many areas have access to the North Sea because of its long coastline and the European rivers that empty it. There is little documentary evidence concerning the North Sea before the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 CE, however, archaeological evidence reveals the diffusion of cultures and technologies from across or along

396-704: A challenge to their dominance of the North Sea until the 20th century. Tensions in the North Sea were again heightened in 1904 by the Dogger Bank incident . During the Russo-Japanese War , several ships of the Russian Baltic Fleet, which was on its way to the Far East, mistook British fishing boats for Japanese ships and fired on them, and then upon each other, near the Dogger Bank, nearly causing Britain to enter

495-932: A local program specifying design requirements, construction practices and maintenance requirements for buildings and properties is in Santa Monica, California . Erosion controls have appeared since medieval times when farmers realized the importance of contour farming to protect soil resources. Beginning in the 1950s these agricultural methods became increasingly more sophisticated. In the 1960s some state and local governments began to focus their efforts on mitigation of construction runoff by requiring builders to implement erosion and sediment controls (ESCs). This included such techniques as: use of straw bales and barriers to slow runoff on slopes, installation of silt fences , programming construction for months that have less rainfall and minimizing extent and duration of exposed graded areas. Montgomery County , Maryland implemented

594-527: A portion of it may infiltrate as it flows overland. Any remaining surface water eventually flows into a receiving water body such as a river , lake , estuary or ocean . Urbanization increases surface runoff by creating more impervious surfaces such as pavement and buildings that do not allow percolation of the water down through the soil to the aquifer . It is instead forced directly into streams or storm water runoff drains , where erosion and siltation can be major problems, even when flooding

693-510: A rich source of energy resources, including wind and wave power . The North Sea has featured prominently in geopolitical and military affairs, particularly in Northern Europe , from the Middle Ages to the modern era. It was also important globally through the power northern Europeans projected worldwide during much of the Middle Ages and into the modern era. The North Sea was the centre of

792-434: A single water sample and conducting chemical or physical tests on that sample. In the 1950s or earlier, hydrology transport models appeared to calculate quantities of runoff, primarily for flood forecasting . Beginning in the early 1970s, computer models were developed to analyze the transport of runoff carrying water pollutants. These models considered dissolution rates of various chemicals, infiltration into soils, and

891-630: A small time period. Reduced crop productivity usually results from erosion, and these effects are studied in the field of soil conservation . The soil particles carried in runoff vary in size from about 0.001 millimeter to 1.0 millimeter in diameter. Larger particles settle over short transport distances, whereas small particles can be carried over long distances suspended in the water column . Erosion of silty soils that contain smaller particles generates turbidity and diminishes light transmission, which disrupts aquatic ecosystems . Entire sections of countries have been rendered unproductive by erosion. On

990-699: A vast merchant marine, a large fishing fleet, powerful navy, and sophisticated financial markets made the Dutch the ascendant power in the North Sea, to be challenged by an ambitious England. This rivalry led to the first three Anglo-Dutch Wars between 1652 and 1673, which ended with Dutch victories. After the Glorious Revolution in 1688, the Dutch prince William ascended to the English throne. With unified leadership, commercial, military, and political power began to shift from Amsterdam to London. The British did not face

1089-522: A volume of 54,000 cubic kilometres (13,000 cu mi). Around the edges of the North Sea are sizeable islands and archipelagos , including Shetland , Orkney , and the Frisian Islands . The North Sea receives freshwater from a number of European continental watersheds, as well as the British Isles . A large part of the European drainage basin empties into the North Sea, including water from

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1188-438: A waste of agricultural chemicals, but also an environmental threat to downstream ecosystems. Pine straws are often used to protect soil from soil erosion and weed growth. However, harvesting these crops may result in the increase of soil erosion. Surface run-off results in a significant amount of economic effects. Pine straws are cost effective ways of dealing with surface run-off. Moreover, Surface run-off can be reused through

1287-472: A watercourse is unable to convey the quantity of runoff flowing downstream. The frequency with which this occurs is described by a return period . Flooding is a natural process, which maintains ecosystem composition and processes, but it can also be altered by land use changes such as river engineering. Floods can be both beneficial to societies or cause damage. Agriculture along the Nile floodplain took advantage of

1386-450: A well defined channel. Soil surface roughness causes may cause runoff to become concentrated into narrower flow paths: as these incise, the small but well-defined channels which are formed are known as rills. These channels can be as small as one centimeter wide or as large as several meters. If runoff continue to incise and enlarge rills, they may eventually grow to become gullies. Gully erosion can transport large amounts of eroded material in

1485-611: Is 17 °C (63 °F) in the summer and 6 °C (43 °F) in the winter. The average temperatures have been trending higher since 1988, which has been attributed to climate change . Air temperatures in January range on average between 0 and 4 °C (32 and 39 °F) and in July between 13 and 18 °C (55 and 64 °F). The winter months see frequent gales and storms. The salinity averages between 34 and 35 grams per litre (129 and 132 g/US gal) of water. The salinity has

1584-442: Is a primary cause of urban flooding , which can result in property damage, damp and mold in basements , and street flooding. Surface runoff is defined as precipitation (rain, snow, sleet, or hail ) that reaches a surface stream without ever passing below the soil surface. It is distinct from direct runoff , which is runoff that reaches surface streams immediately after rainfall or melting snowfall and excludes runoff generated by

1683-461: Is a series of asymmetrical trenches between 20 and 30 kilometres (12 and 19 mi) long, one and two kilometres (0.6 and 1.2 mi) wide and up to 230 metres (750 ft) deep. Other areas which are less deep are Cleaver Bank , Fisher Bank and Noordhinder Bank . The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the North Sea as follows: On the Southwest. A line joining

1782-518: Is also home to marine mammals. Common seals , grey seals , and harbour porpoises can be found along the coasts, at marine installations, and on islands. The very northern North Sea islands such as the Shetland Islands are occasionally home to a larger variety of pinnipeds including bearded , harp , hooded and ringed seals , and even walrus . North Sea cetaceans include various porpoise , dolphin and whale species. Plant species in

1881-742: Is bounded by the Orkney Islands and east coast of Great Britain to the west and the northern and central European mainland to the east and south, including Norway , Denmark , Germany , the Netherlands , Belgium , and France . In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover , the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via

1980-636: Is no snow, runoff will come from rainfall. However, not all rainfall will produce runoff because storage from soils can absorb light showers. On the extremely ancient soils of Australia and Southern Africa , proteoid roots with their extremely dense networks of root hairs can absorb so much rainwater as to prevent runoff even with substantial amounts of rainfall. In these regions, even on less infertile cracking clay soils , high amounts of rainfall and potential evaporation are needed to generate any surface runoff, leading to specialised adaptations to extremely variable (usually ephemeral) streams. This occurs when

2079-561: Is not. Increased runoff reduces groundwater recharge, thus lowering the water table and making droughts worse, especially for agricultural farmers and others who depend on the water wells . When anthropogenic contaminants are dissolved or suspended in runoff, the human impact is expanded to create water pollution . This pollutant load can reach various receiving waters such as streams, rivers, lakes, estuaries and oceans with resultant water chemistry changes to these water systems and their related ecosystems. As humans continue to alter

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2178-442: Is otherwise difficult or impossible to obtain because it models the interactions among hydrologic variables (with different probability distributions), resulting in a population of values representing likely long-term outcomes from runoff processes and the potential effects of various mitigation measures. SELDM also provides the means for rapidly doing sensitivity analyses to determine the possible effects of varying input assumptions on

2277-676: Is recorded to have killed more than 100,000 people. In 1362, the Second Marcellus Flood , also known as the Grote Manndrenke , hit the entire southern coast of the North Sea. Chronicles of the time again record more than 100,000 deaths, large parts of the coast were lost permanently to the sea, including the now legendary lost city of Rungholt . In the 20th century, the North Sea flood of 1953 flooded several nations' coasts and cost more than 2,000 lives. 315 citizens of Hamburg died in

2376-455: Is required, to minimize escape of pollutants into sanitary or stormwater sewers . The U.S. Clean Water Act (CWA) requires that local governments in urbanized areas (as defined by the Census Bureau ) obtain stormwater discharge permits for their drainage systems. Essentially this means that the locality must operate a stormwater management program for all surface runoff that enters

2475-433: Is situated. The gas reservoir is a Rotliegendes sandstone of Lower Permian age located at a depth of 9,000 feet (2,740 m) with a thickness of 262–430 feet (80–131 m). The reservoir is capped by Zechstein salt. The West Sole structure runs north-west to south-east and is about 12 miles long and 3 miles wide (19 km by 4.8 km). It was discovered in 1965 and extends over Block 48/6 only. The original determination of

2574-526: Is the Norwegian trench , which extends parallel to the Norwegian shoreline from Oslo to an area north of Bergen . It is between 20 and 30 kilometres (12 and 19 mi) wide and has a maximum depth of 725 metres (2,379 ft). The Dogger Bank , a vast moraine , or accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris, rises to a mere 15 to 30 m (50 to 100 ft) below the surface. This feature has produced

2673-432: Is the stochastic empirical loading and dilution model (SELDM) is a stormwater quality model. SELDM is designed to transform complex scientific data into meaningful information about the risk of adverse effects of runoff on receiving waters, the potential need for mitigation measures, and the effectiveness of such management measures for reducing these risks. SELDM provides a method for rapid assessment of information that

2772-510: The Baltic Sea . The largest and most important rivers flowing into the North Sea are the Elbe and the Rhine – Meuse . Around 185 million people live in the catchment area of the rivers discharging into the North Sea encompassing some highly industrialized areas. For the most part, the sea lies on the European continental shelf with a mean depth of 90 metres (300 ft). The only exception

2871-521: The Battle of Heligoland Bight , the Battle of the Dogger Bank , and the Battle of Jutland . World War I also brought the first extensive use of submarine warfare , and a number of submarine actions occurred in the North Sea. The Second World War also saw action in the North Sea, though it was restricted more to aircraft reconnaissance and action by fighter/bomber aircraft, submarines and smaller vessels such as minesweepers and torpedo boats . After

2970-550: The Easington gas terminal , East Yorkshire. The West Sole gas composition and properties are as follows. The West Sole and adjacent fields have been developed through a number of offshore installations. Some of these installations were one of the 'Villages' gas fields; named after villages lost to the sea along the Holderness coast. These villages include: Cleeton, Dimlington, Hoton, Hyde, Newsham and Ravenspurn. Gas production from

3069-516: The English Channel was triggered by the earthquake, which in turn caused a tsunami. The tsunami triggered by the 1755 Lisbon earthquake reached Holland, although the waves had lost their destructive power. The largest earthquake ever recorded in the United Kingdom was the 1931 Dogger Bank earthquake , which measured 6.1 on the Richter magnitude scale and caused a small tsunami that flooded parts of

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3168-625: The European continental shelf , it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north. It is more than 970 kilometres (600 mi) long and 580 kilometres (360 mi) wide, covering 570,000 square kilometres (220,000 sq mi). It hosts key north European shipping lanes and is a major fishery . The coast is a popular destination for recreation and tourism in bordering countries, and

3267-508: The Last Glacial Maximum when the sea began to flood the European continental shelf. In 2006 a bone fragment was found while drilling for oil in the North Sea. Analysis indicated that it was a Plateosaurus from 199 to 216 million years ago. This was the deepest dinosaur fossil ever found and the first find for Norway. Copepods and other zooplankton are plentiful in the North Sea. These tiny organisms are crucial elements of

3366-954: The Latin names Mare Germanicum and Oceanus Germanicus , and these persisted in use until the First World War. Other common names in use for long periods were the Latin terms Mare Frisicum , as well as the English equivalent, "Frisian Sea". The modern names of the sea in the other local languages are: Danish : Vesterhavet , lit.   'West Sea' [ˈvestɐˌhɛˀvð̩] or Nordsøen [ˈnoɐ̯ˌsøˀn̩] , Dutch : Noordzee , Dutch Low Saxon : Noordzee , French : Mer du Nord , West Frisian : Noardsee , German : Nordsee , Low German : Noordsee , North Frisian : Weestsiie , lit.   'West Sea', Swedish : Nordsjön , Bokmål : Nordsjøen [ˈnûːrˌʂøːn] , Nynorsk : Nordsjøen , Scots : North Sea and Scottish Gaelic : An Cuan

3465-465: The North Sea flood of 1962 . Though rare, the North Sea has been the site of a number of historically documented tsunamis . The Storegga Slides were a series of underwater landslides, in which a piece of the Norwegian continental shelf slid into the Norwegian Sea. The immense landslips occurred between 8150 BCE and 6000 BCE, and caused a tsunami up to 20 metres (66 ft) high that swept through

3564-985: The Phare de Walde (Walde Lighthouse, in France, 50°59'37"N, 1°54'53"E) and Leathercoat Point (England, 51°10'01.4"N 1°24'07.8"). northeast of Dover. On the Northwest. From Dunnet Head (58°40'20"N, 3°22'30"W) in Scotland to Tor Ness (58°47'N) in the Island of Hoy , thence through this island to the Kame of Hoy (58°55'N) on to Breck Ness on Mainland (58°58'N) through this island to Costa Head (3°14'W) and Inga Ness (59'17'N) in Westray through Westray, to Bow Head, across to Mull Head (North point of Papa Westray ) and on to Seal Skerry (North point of North Ronaldsay ) and thence to Horse Island (South point of

3663-797: The Shetland Islands). On the North. From the North point (Fethaland Point) of the Mainland of the Shetland Islands, across to Graveland Ness (60°39'N) in the Island of Yell , through Yell to Gloup Ness (1°04'W) and across to Spoo Ness (60°45'N) in Unst island, through Unst to Herma Ness (60°51'N), on to the SW point of the Rumblings and to Muckle Flugga ( 60°51′N 0°53′W  /  60.850°N 0.883°W  / 60.850; -0.883 ) all these being included in

3762-589: The Skagerrak and Kattegat , narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively. In the north it is bordered by the Shetland Islands , and connects with the Norwegian Sea , which is a marginal sea in the Arctic Ocean . The North Sea is more than 970 kilometres (600 mi) long and 580 kilometres (360 mi) wide, with an area of 750,000 square kilometres (290,000 sq mi) and

3861-610: The Vikings' rise . The Hanseatic League , the Dutch Republic , and the British each sought to gain command of the North Sea and access to the world's markets and resources. As Germany's only outlet to the ocean, the North Sea was strategically important through both world wars. The coast has diverse geology and geography. In the north, deep fjords and sheer cliffs mark much of its Norwegian and Scottish coastlines respectively, whereas in

3960-463: The food chain supporting many species of fish. Over 230 species of fish live in the North Sea. Cod , haddock , whiting , saithe , plaice , sole , mackerel , herring , pouting , sprat , and sandeel are all very common and are fished commercially. Due to the various depths of the North Sea trenches and differences in salinity, temperature, and water movement, some fish such as blue-mouth redfish and rabbitfish reside only in small areas of

4059-535: The littoral is low and marshy. The east coast and south-east of the North Sea ( Wadden Sea ) have coastlines that are mainly sandy and straight owing to longshore drift , particularly along Belgium and Denmark. The southern coastal areas were originally flood plains and swampy land. In areas especially vulnerable to storm surges, people settled behind elevated levees and on natural areas of high ground such as spits and geestland . As early as 500 BC, people were constructing artificial dwelling hills higher than

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4158-434: The soil is saturated and the depression storage filled, and rain continues to fall, the rainfall will immediately produce surface runoff. The level of antecedent soil moisture is one factor affecting the time until soil becomes saturated. This runoff is called saturation excess overland flow, saturated overland flow, or Dunne runoff. Soil retains a degree of moisture after a rainfall . This residual water moisture affects

4257-729: The 13th century the Hanseatic League , though centred on the Baltic Sea , started to control most of the trade through important members and outposts on the North Sea. The League lost its dominance in the 16th century, as neighbouring states took control of former Hanseatic cities and outposts. Their internal conflict prevented effective cooperation and defence. As the League lost control of its maritime cities, new trade routes emerged that provided Europe with Asian, American, and African goods. The 17th century Dutch Golden Age saw Dutch maritime power at its zenith. Important overseas colonies,

4356-489: The 1960s, and early on contact of pesticides with water was known to enhance phytotoxicity . In the case of surface waters, the impacts translate to water pollution , since the streams and rivers have received runoff carrying various chemicals or sediments. When surface waters are used as potable water supplies, they can be compromised regarding health risks and drinking water aesthetics (that is, odor, color and turbidity effects). Contaminated surface waters risk altering

4455-566: The British coast. Shallow epicontinental seas like the current North Sea have since long existed on the European continental shelf . The rifting that formed the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, from about 150  million years ago , caused tectonic uplift in the British Isles. Since then, a shallow sea has almost continuously existed between

4554-501: The Earth's surface; eroded material may be deposited a considerable distance away. There are four main types of soil erosion by water : splash erosion, sheet erosion, rill erosion and gully erosion. Splash erosion is the result of mechanical collision of raindrops with the soil surface: soil particles which are dislodged by the impact then move with the surface runoff. Sheet erosion is the overland transport of sediment by runoff without

4653-501: The Middle Ages through the 15th century, the northern European coastal ports exported domestic goods, dyes, linen, salt, metal goods and wine. The Scandinavian and Baltic areas shipped grain, fish, naval necessities, and timber. In turn, the North Sea countries imported high-grade cloths, spices, and fruits from the Mediterranean region. Commerce during this era was mainly conducted by maritime trade due to underdeveloped roadways. In

4752-480: The Netherlands. The North Sea Floods of 1953 and 1962 were the impetus for further raising of the dikes as well as the shortening of the coast line so as to present as little surface area as possible to the punishment of the sea and the storms. Currently, 27% of the Netherlands is below sea level protected by dikes, dunes, and beach flats. Coastal management today consists of several levels. The dike slope reduces

4851-900: The North Sea are home to nature reserves including the Ythan Estuary , Fowlsheugh Nature Preserve, and Farne Islands in the UK and the Wadden Sea National Parks in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. These locations provide breeding habitat for dozens of bird species. Tens of millions of birds make use of the North Sea for breeding, feeding, or migratory stopovers every year. Populations of black-legged kittiwakes , Atlantic puffins , northern gannets , northern fulmars , and species of petrels , seaducks , loons (divers), cormorants , gulls , auks , and terns , and many other seabirds make these coasts popular for birdwatching . The North Sea

4950-610: The North Sea area; thence up the meridian of 0°53' West to the parallel of 61°00' North and eastward along this parallel to the coast of Norway, the whole of Viking Bank is thus included in the North Sea. On the East. The Western limit of the Skagerrak [A line joining Hanstholm ( 57°07′N 8°36′E  /  57.117°N 8.600°E  / 57.117; 8.600 ) and the Naze ( Lindesnes , 58°N 7°E  /  58°N 7°E  / 58; 7 )]. The average temperature

5049-510: The North Sea during the Migration Period . They made successive invasions of the island from what is now the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany. The Viking Age began in 793 with the attack on Lindisfarne ; for the next quarter-millennium, the Vikings ruled the North Sea. In their superior longships , they raided, traded, and established colonies and outposts along the coasts of the sea. From

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5148-607: The North Sea include species of wrack , among them bladder wrack , knotted wrack , and serrated wrack. Algae , macroalgal, and kelp , such as oarweed and laminaria hyperboria, and species of maerl are found as well. Eelgrass , formerly common in the entirety of the Wadden Sea, was nearly wiped out in the 20th century by a disease. Similarly, sea grass used to coat huge tracts of ocean floor, but have been damaged by trawling and dredging have diminished its habitat and prevented its return. Invasive Japanese seaweed has spread along

5247-495: The North Sea to Great Britain and Scandinavia and reliance by some prehistoric cultures on fishing, whaling, and seaborne trade on the North Sea. The Romans established organised ports in Britain, which increased shipping and began sustained trade the diffusion of cultures and technologies from across or along the North Sea to Great Britain and Scandinavia and reliance by some prehistoric cultures on fishing, whaling, and seaborne trade on

5346-416: The North Sea until the 20th century, when numbers declined due to overfishing . Other factors like the introduction of non-indigenous species , industrial and agricultural pollution , trawling and dredging , human-induced eutrophication , construction on coastal breeding and feeding grounds, sand and gravel extraction, offshore construction , and heavy shipping traffic have also contributed to

5445-574: The North Sea, having the greatest effect on Scotland and the Faeroe Islands . The Dover Straits earthquake of 1580 is among the first recorded earthquakes in the North Sea measuring between 5.6 and 5.9 on the Richter scale. This event caused extensive damage in Calais both through its tremors and possibly triggered a tsunami , though this has never been confirmed. The theory is a vast underwater landslide in

5544-448: The North Sea. Crustaceans are also commonly found throughout the sea. Norway lobster , deep-water prawns , and brown shrimp are all commercially fished, but other species of lobster , shrimp , oyster , mussels and clams all live in the North Sea. Recently non-indigenous species have become established including the Pacific oyster and Atlantic jackknife clam . The coasts of

5643-506: The North Sea. The Romans established organised ports in Britain, which increased shipping and began sustained trade and many Scandinavian tribes participated in raids and wars against the Romans and Roman coinage and manufacturing were important trade goods. When the Romans abandoned Britain in 410, the Germanic Angles , Frisians , Saxons , and Jutes began the next great migration across

5742-496: The North Sea. The wave continues to travel northward in the Atlantic Ocean, and once past the northern tip of Great Britain, the Kelvin wave turns east and south and once again enters the North Sea. The eastern and western coasts of the North Sea are jagged, formed by glaciers during the ice ages . The coastlines along the southernmost part are covered with the remains of deposited glacial sediment. The Norwegian mountains plunge into

5841-546: The Orkney Islands through the mid-16th century, as both Sable Island and Orkney Islands lay within their normal range. Grey whales also resided in the North Sea but were driven to extinction in the Atlantic in the 17th century Other species have dramatically declined in population, though they are still found. North Atlantic right whales , sturgeon , shad , rays , skates , salmon , and other species were common in

5940-633: The U.S. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) in 1976, and later the Water Quality Act of 1987 , states and cities have become more vigilant in controlling the containment and storage of toxic chemicals, thus preventing releases and leakage. Methods commonly applied are: requirements for double containment of underground storage tanks , registration of hazardous materials usage, reduction in numbers of allowed pesticides and more stringent regulation of fertilizers and herbicides in landscape maintenance. In many industrial cases, pretreatment of wastes

6039-670: The climate through the addition of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, precipitation patterns are expected to change as the atmospheric capacity for water vapor increases. This will have direct consequences on runoff amounts. Urban runoff is surface runoff of rainwater, landscape irrigation, and car washing created by urbanization . Impervious surfaces ( roads , parking lots and sidewalks ) are constructed during land development . During rain , storms, and other precipitation events, these surfaces (built from materials such as asphalt and concrete ), along with rooftops , carry polluted stormwater to storm drains , instead of allowing

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6138-540: The coasts of the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Denmark and low-lying areas of eastern England particularly around The Wash and Fens . Storm surges are caused by changes in barometric pressure combined with strong wind created wave action . The first recorded storm tide flood was the Julianenflut , on 17 February 1164. In its wake, the Jadebusen , (a bay on the coast of Germany), began to form. A storm tide in 1228

6237-575: The decline. For example, a resident orca pod was lost in the 1960s, presumably due to the peak in PCB pollution in this time period. The OSPAR commission manages the OSPAR convention to counteract the harmful effects of human activity on wildlife in the North Sea, preserve endangered species , and provide environmental protection. All North Sea border states are signatories of the MARPOL 73/78 Accords, which preserve

6336-555: The energy of the incoming sea, so that the dike itself does not receive the full impact. Dikes that lie directly on the sea are especially reinforced. The dikes have, over the years, been repeatedly raised, sometimes up to 9 metres (30 ft) and have been made flatter to better reduce wave erosion. Where the dunes are sufficient to protect the land behind them from the sea, these dunes are planted with beach grass ( Ammophila arenaria ) to protect them from erosion by wind, water, and foot traffic. Storm surges threaten, in particular,

6435-404: The fertile top soil and reduces its fertility and quality of the agricultural produce. Modern industrial farming is another major cause of erosion. Over a third of the U.S. Corn Belt has completely lost its topsoil . Switching to no-till practices would reduce soil erosion from U.S. agricultural fields by more than 70 percent. The principal environmental issues associated with runoff are

6534-427: The fields is summarised on the table. Note: mcm = million cubic metres, bcm = billion cubic metres. The production profile, in mcm/y, of the West Sole gas field was as shown. Up to the end of 1977 18,154 mcm had been produced. North Sea Download coordinates as: The North Sea lies between Great Britain , Denmark , Norway , Germany , the Netherlands , Belgium and France . An epeiric sea on

6633-508: The finest fishing location of the North Sea. The Long Forties and the Broad Fourteens are large areas with roughly uniform depth in fathoms (forty fathoms and fourteen fathoms or 73 and 26 m or 240 and 85 ft deep, respectively). These great banks and others make the North Sea particularly hazardous to navigate, which has been alleviated by the implementation of satellite navigation systems . The Devil's Hole lies 320 kilometres (200 mi) east of Dundee , Scotland. The feature

6732-701: The first local government sediment control program in 1965, and this was followed by a statewide program in Maryland in 1970. Flood control programs as early as the first half of the twentieth century became quantitative in predicting peak flows of riverine systems. Progressively strategies have been developed to minimize peak flows and also to reduce channel velocities. Some of the techniques commonly applied are: provision of holding ponds (also called detention basins or balancing lakes ) to buffer riverine peak flows, use of energy dissipators in channels to reduce stream velocity and land use controls to minimize runoff. Chemical use and handling. Following enactment of

6831-500: The form of water pollution to even more sensitive aquatic habitats. Secondly, runoff can deposit contaminants on pristine soils, creating health or ecological consequences. The other context of agricultural issues involves the transport of agricultural chemicals (nitrates, phosphates, pesticides , herbicides, etc.) via surface runoff. This result occurs when chemical use is excessive or poorly timed with respect to high precipitation. The resulting contaminated runoff represents not only

6930-411: The gas in place amounted to 57 billion cubic metres. The field was originally licensed to BP Exploration UK Ltd, in 2012 ownership was transferred to Perenco UK Ltd. Production from the field began in March 1967; this was the first British offshore natural gas delivered onshore for commercial use. Gas and associated condensate are exported from the field via two pipelines (16 inch and 24 inch diameter) to

7029-422: The growth of elephant mass. In Nigeria , elephant grass is considered to be an economical way in which surface run-off and erosion can be reduced. Also, China has suffered significant impact from surface run-off to most of their economical crops such as vegetables. Therefore, they are known to have implemented a system which reduced loss of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) in soil. Flooding occurs when

7128-399: The high central plateau of Madagascar , approximately ten percent of that country's land area, virtually the entire landscape is devoid of vegetation , with erosive gully furrows typically in excess of 50 meters deep and one kilometer wide. Shifting cultivation is a farming system which sometimes incorporates the slash and burn method in some regions of the world. Erosion causes loss of

7227-521: The highest variability where there is fresh water inflow, such as at the Rhine and Elbe estuaries, the Baltic Sea exit and along the coast of Norway. The main pattern to the flow of water in the North Sea is an anti-clockwise rotation along the edges. The North Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean receiving the majority of ocean current from the northwest opening, and a lesser portion of warm current from

7326-492: The impacts to surface water, groundwater and soil through transport of water pollutants to these systems. Ultimately these consequences translate into human health risk, ecosystem disturbance and aesthetic impact to water resources. Some of the contaminants that create the greatest impact to surface waters arising from runoff are petroleum substances, herbicides and fertilizers . Quantitative uptake by surface runoff of pesticides and other contaminants has been studied since

7425-483: The marine environment by preventing pollution from ships. Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands also have a trilateral agreement for the protection of the Wadden Sea , or mudflats , which run along the coasts of the three countries on the southern edge of the North Sea. The North Sea has had various names throughout history. One of the earliest recorded names was Septentrionalis Oceanus , or "Northern Ocean", which

7524-521: The melting of snowpack or glaciers. Snow and glacier melt occur only in areas cold enough for these to form permanently. Typically snowmelt will peak in the spring and glacier melt in the summer, leading to pronounced flow maxima in rivers affected by them. The determining factor of the rate of melting of snow or glaciers is both air temperature and the duration of sunlight. In high mountain regions, streams frequently rise on sunny days and fall on cloudy ones for this reason. In areas where there

7623-768: The metabolic processes of the aquatic species that they host; these alterations can lead to death, such as fish kills , or alter the balance of populations present. Other specific impacts are on animal mating, spawning, egg and larvae viability, juvenile survival and plant productivity. Some research shows surface runoff of pesticides, such as DDT , can alter the gender of fish species genetically, which transforms male into female fish. Surface runoff occurring within forests can supply lakes with high loads of mineral nitrogen and phosphorus leading to eutrophication . Runoff waters within coniferous forests are also enriched with humic acids and can lead to humification of water bodies Additionally, high standing and young islands in

7722-786: The most devastating of natural disasters. The use of supplemental irrigation is also recognized as a significant way in which crops such as maize can retain nitrogen fertilizers in soil, resulting in improvement of crop water availability. Mitigation of adverse impacts of runoff can take several forms: Land use controls. Many world regulatory agencies have encouraged research on methods of minimizing total surface runoff by avoiding unnecessary hardscape . Many municipalities have produced guidelines and codes ( zoning and related ordinances ) for land developers that encourage minimum width sidewalks, use of pavers set in earth for driveways and walkways and other design techniques to allow maximum water infiltration in urban settings. An example of

7821-845: The municipal separate storm sewer system ("MS4"). EPA and state regulations and related publications outline six basic components that each local program must contain: Other property owners which operate storm drain systems similar to municipalities, such as state highway systems, universities, military bases and prisons, are also subject to the MS4 permit requirements. Runoff is analyzed by using mathematical models in combination with various water quality sampling methods. Measurements can be made using continuous automated water quality analysis instruments targeted on pollutants such as specific organic or inorganic chemicals , pH , turbidity, etc., or targeted on secondary indicators such as dissolved oxygen . Measurements can also be made in batch form by extracting

7920-470: The need for Monte Carlo models to simulate stormwater processes because of natural variations in multiple variables affecting runoff quality and quantity. The benefit of the Monte Carlo analysis is not to decrease uncertainty in the input statistics but to represent the different combinations of the variables that determine potential risks of water-quality excursions. One example of this type of stormwater model

8019-492: The prevailing flood levels. It was only around the beginning of the High Middle Ages , in 1200 AD, that inhabitants began to connect single ring dikes into a dike line along the entire coast, thereby turning amphibious regions between the land and the sea into permanent solid ground. The modern form of the dikes supplemented by overflow and lateral diversion channels, began to appear in the 17th and 18th centuries, built in

8118-504: The rate of rainfall on a surface exceeds the rate at which water can infiltrate the ground, and any depression storage has already been filled. This is also called Hortonian overland flow (after Robert E. Horton ), or unsaturated overland flow. This more commonly occurs in arid and semi-arid regions, where rainfall intensities are high and the soil infiltration capacity is reduced because of surface sealing , or in urban areas where pavements prevent water from infiltrating. When

8217-463: The sea creating deep fjords and archipelagos . South of Stavanger, the coast softens, the islands become fewer. The eastern Scottish coast is similar, though less severe than Norway. From north east of England , the cliffs become lower and are composed of less resistant moraine , which erodes more easily, so that the coasts have more rounded contours. In the Netherlands, Belgium and in East Anglia

8316-484: The seasonal flooding that deposited nutrients beneficial for crops. However, as the number and susceptibility of settlements increase, flooding increasingly becomes a natural hazard. In urban areas, surface runoff is the primary cause of urban flooding , known for its repetitive and costly impact on communities. Adverse impacts span loss of life, property damage, contamination of water supplies, loss of crops, and social dislocation and temporary homelessness. Floods are among

8415-413: The shores of the sea clogging harbours and inlets and has become a nuisance. Due to the heavy human populations and high level of industrialization along its shores, the wildlife of the North Sea has suffered from pollution, overhunting, and overfishing. Flamingos and pelicans were once found along the southern shores of the North Sea, but became extinct over the second millennium. Walruses frequented

8514-464: The smaller opening at the English Channel. These tidal currents leave along the Norwegian coast. Surface and deep water currents may move in different directions. Low salinity surface coastal waters move offshore, and deeper, denser high salinity waters move inshore. The North Sea located on the continental shelf has different waves from those in deep ocean water. The wave speeds are diminished and

8613-402: The soil on an up-slope portion of a hill, the water may flow laterally through the soil, and exfiltrate (flow out of the soil) closer to a channel. This is called subsurface return flow or throughflow . As it flows, the amount of runoff may be reduced in a number of possible ways: a small portion of it may evapotranspire ; water may become temporarily stored in microtopographic depressions; and

8712-442: The soil's infiltration capacity . During the next rainfall event, the infiltration capacity will cause the soil to be saturated at a different rate. The higher the level of antecedent soil moisture, the more quickly the soil becomes saturated. Once the soil is saturated, runoff occurs. Therefore, surface runoff is a significantly factor in the controlling of soil moisture after medium and low intensity storms. After water infiltrates

8811-557: The south, the coast consists mainly of sandy beaches, estuaries of long rivers and wide mudflats . Due to the dense population, heavy industrialisation , and intense use of the sea and the area surrounding it, various environmental issues affect the sea's ecosystems. Adverse environmental issues – commonly including overfishing , industrial and agricultural runoff , dredging , and dumping, among others – have led to several efforts to prevent degradation and to safeguard long-term economic benefits. The North Sea

8910-579: The tropics and subtropics can undergo high soil erosion rates and also contribute large material fluxes to the coastal ocean. Such land derived runoff of sediment nutrients, carbon, and contaminants can have large impacts on global biogeochemical cycles and marine and coastal ecosystems. In the case of groundwater, the main issue is contamination of drinking water, if the aquifer is abstracted for human use. Regarding soil contamination , runoff waters can have two important pathways of concern. Firstly, runoff water can extract soil contaminants and carry them in

9009-550: The ultimate pollutant load delivered to receiving waters . One of the earliest models addressing chemical dissolution in runoff and resulting transport was developed in the early 1970s under contract to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This computer model formed the basis of much of the mitigation study that led to strategies for land use and chemical handling controls. Increasingly, stormwater practitioners have recognized

9108-790: The uplands of the Fennoscandian Shield and the British Isles. This precursor of the current North Sea has grown and shrunk with the rise and fall of the eustatic sea level during geologic time. Sometimes it was connected with other shallow seas, such as the sea above the Paris Basin to the south-west, the Paratethys Sea to the south-east, or the Tethys Ocean to the south. During the Late Cretaceous, about 85  million years ago , all of modern mainland Europe except for Scandinavia

9207-554: The war on the side of Japan. During the First World War , Great Britain's Grand Fleet and Germany's Kaiserliche Marine faced each other in the North Sea, which became the main theatre of the war for surface action. Britain's larger fleet and North Sea Mine Barrage were able to establish an effective blockade for most of the war, which restricted the Central Powers ' access to many crucial resources. Major battles included

9306-417: The war, hundreds of thousands of tons of chemical weapons were disposed of by being dumped in the North Sea. Surface runoff Surface runoff is a major component of the water cycle . It is the primary agent of soil erosion by water . The land area producing runoff that drains to a common point is called a drainage basin . Runoff that occurs on the ground surface before reaching a channel can be

9405-489: The water to percolate through soil . This causes lowering of the water table (because groundwater recharge is lessened) and flooding since the amount of water that remains on the surface is greater. Most municipal storm sewer systems discharge untreated stormwater to streams , rivers , and bays . This excess water can also make its way into people's properties through basement backups and seepage through building wall and floors. Surface runoff can cause erosion of

9504-406: The wave amplitudes are increased. In the North Sea there are two amphidromic systems and a third incomplete amphidromic system. In the North Sea the average tide difference in wave amplitude is between zero and eight metres (26 ft). The Kelvin tide of the Atlantic Ocean is a semidiurnal wave that travels northward. Some of the energy from this wave travels through the English Channel into

9603-519: Was a scattering of islands. By the Early Oligocene , 34 to 28 million years ago , the emergence of Western and Central Europe had almost completely separated the North Sea from the Tethys Ocean, which gradually shrank to become the Mediterranean as Southern Europe and South West Asia became dry land. The North Sea was cut off from the English Channel by a narrow land bridge until that

9702-560: Was breached by at least two catastrophic floods between 450,000 and 180,000 years ago. Since the start of the Quaternary period about 2.6  million years ago , the eustatic sea level has fallen during each glacial period and then risen again. Every time the ice sheet reached its greatest extent, the North Sea became almost completely dry, the dry landmass being known as Doggerland , whose northern regions were themselves known to have been glaciated. The present-day coastline formed after

9801-616: Was cited by Pliny . He also noted that the Cimbri called it Morimarusa – "Dead Sea". The name "North Sea" probably came into English, however, via the Dutch Noordzee , who named it thus either in contrast with the Zuiderzee ("South Sea"), located south of Frisia , or because the sea is generally to the north of the Netherlands. Before the adoption of "North Sea", the names used in English were "German Sea" or "German Ocean", referred to as

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