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Home About Us  Habitat Mapping Pontoon Estuary Offshore

The Fal and Helford area includes 60% marine areas with sea inlets, mud flats, sand flats, lagoons and tidal rivers making up 35%. The wide range of substrata that make up the local sublittoral sandbanks in this area are some of the most biologically rich examples found across the UK; in particular of the Zostera marina (seagrass) which is essential to some fisheries nursery grounds. Additionally , the low tidal range and sheltered nature of the sandbanks puts the Fal and Helford at a heightened risk of damage by human activity such as pollution. Also the low freshwater input from the Fal and Helford has created a wide range of marine habitats with differing niche conditions including sheltered inlets to wave exposed, tidal areas.

Bird, E, (2000), COASTAL GEOMOROPHOLGY- an introduction, Jon Wiley and Sons Ltd, 295

Bowen, G, Dussek, C & Hamilton, R. (1998). POLLUTION RESULTING FROM THE ABANDONMENT AND SUBSEQUENT FLOODING OF THE WHEAL JANE MINE CORNWALL, UK. Geological Society London Special Publications. 128: 93-99.

Hunt, L & Howard, A. (1994). ARSENIC SPECIATION AND DISTRIBUTION IN THE CARNON ESTUARY FOLLOWING THE ACUTE DISCHARGE OF CONTAMINATED WATER FROM A DISUSED MINE. Marine Pollution Bulletin. 28: 33-38.

Rijstenbil, J, Merks, A, Peene, J, Poortvliet, T & Wijnholds, J. (1991). PHYTOPLANKTON COMPOSITION AND SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF COPPER AND ZINC IN THE FAL ESTUARY CORNWALL UK.Hydrobiological Bulletin. 25: 37-44.

Estuary Stations

Offshore Stations

Below is a map that indicates the station positions of the Estuary survey and the Offshore survey relative to each other.

Falmouth Field Course
2016
Group 4

Falmouth is one of the 652 designated SACs Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), SCIs Sites of Community Importance (SCIs) or Candidates for SAC status (cSACs) in the United Kingdom. The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is the deciding managing body that oversee the protection of these localities.

The geography of the Fal area has changed over recent history, with the end of the ice age 18000 years ago that caused the sea levels to rise , forming the modern day ria estuary - a  drowned valley mouth usually with a branching dendritic or tree-like outline (Bird,2000).

The Fal estuary became highly polluted with heavy metals, such as arsenic and copper, in February 1991 when Wheal Jane, a tin mine, was closed and the drainage pumps were removed, causing water levels to rise.

In January 1992, the build-up of water caused the mine to burst, and the contaminated mine water overflowed into the adjacent Carnon River, which drained into the Fal estuary system (Hunt & Howard, 1994). The effects of this event were a drastic reduction in water quality, as depth profiles showed the surrounding waters became more acidic and contained higher concentrations of metals as the depth increased, with a pH of 2.8 and total metal concentration of approximately 5000mgL-1, including iron, zinc and cadmium.  (Bowen, Dussek & Hamilton, 1998). The change in metal concentration affects the phytoplankton composition of the area; and certain species can dominate depending on their tolerance, for example Skeletonema costatum occurred in water with high contents of copper (Rijstenbil et al., 1991).