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Plymouth Field Course 2019
Group 7
Plymouth Sound is a bay on the English Channel straddling the border between Devon and Cornwall 1. Its southwest and southeast corners are Penlee Point in Cornwall, and Wembury point in Devon, with Plymouth Breakwater between Bovisand and Cawsand Bay protecting the important military and commercial port 2.
With a broad range of reef and sedimentary habitats along with its associated tributaries, Plymouth Sound supports an extremely rich diversity of flora and fauna, including several of Europe’s most threatened species 3. As a result, Plymouth Sound and Estuaries Marine Protected area contains Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), Special Protection Areas (SPAs), and also the Plymouth Sound and Estuaries SAC 1.
Plymouth Sound also contains the Plymouth Sound Shores and Cliffs Geological SSSI 4, with a diversity of geological features visible on outcrops, such as steep inclines, folds, and overturned strata 5. On 03.07.2019, Group 7 carried out a Field Geology investigation to Renney Rocks, a site within this SSSI, to expand our knowledge of the geology of the area. To find out more about our methodology and findings at Renney Rocks, click here.
The following day, a habitat map was produced using sidescan sonar near the Renney Rocks study site, in Plymouth Sound, to study the extent to which the geology of the area affected the diversity of habitats and their resident fauna.
To view our poster summarising our main findings, click here.
Raw data and ancillary from the side scan habitat map is available in the Group 7 folder on the FTP server from the University of Southampton.
Figure 1 - Map of Renney Rocks and the geological formations with field annotations
Figure 2 - Image of the team in the field at Renney rocks taking dip and strike measurements.