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Irish Sea
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Irish Sea
Satellite image
Limits and ports: ◘ ferry port / ◘ freight only
Location
British Isles
Coordinates
53°N 5°W / 53°N 5°W / 53; -5Coordinates: 53°N 5°W / 53°N 5°W / 53; -5
Type
Sea
Basin countries
United Kingdom; Republic of Ireland; Isle of Man
Surface area
46,007 km2 (17,763 sq mi)
Water volume
2,800 km3 (2.3×109 acre⋅ft)
Islands
Anglesey and Holy Island, Isle of Man and Calf of Man, Bardsey Island, Walney, Lambay, Ireland's Eye
Settlements
(see below)
Location of the Irish Sea
From the pier at Dún Laoghaire
a suburban seaside town in County Dublin, Ireland
Dublin Bay
Brittas Bay
The Irish Sea (Irish: Muir Éireann / An Mhuir Mheann,[1] Manx: Y Keayn Yernagh,[2] Scots: Erse Sea, Scottish Gaelic: Muir Èireann,[3] Ulster-Scots: Airish Sea, Welsh: Môr Iwerddon) separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain; linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland[4] in the north by the Straits of Moyle.
Anglesey, Wales, is the largest island in the Irish Sea. The second in size is the Isle of Man and the sea may occasionally, but rarely, be referred to as the Manx Sea (Irish: Muir Meann,[5] Manx: Mooir Vannin, Scottish Gaelic: Muir Mhanainn).[6][7][8] The Irish Sea is of significant economic importance to regional trade, shipping and transport, fishing, and power generation in the form of wind power and nuclear power plants. Annual traffic between Great Britain and Ireland amounts to over 12 million passengers and 17 million tonnes (17,000,000 long tons; 19,000,000 short tons) of traded goods.
Contents
1 Topography
2 Shipping
3 Oil and gas exploration
3.1 Caernarfon Bay Basin
3.2 Cardigan Bay Basin
3.3 Liverpool Bay
3.4 East Irish Sea Basin
3.5 Dalkey Island Exploration Prospect
4 Cities and towns
5 Islands
6 Environment
7 Radioactivity
8 Proposed tunnel projects
9 Wind power
10 In popular culture
11 See also
12 References
12.1 Bibliography
13 Further reading
14 External links
Topography[edit]
The Irish Sea is connected to 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 190 miles (310 km) long and 20–30 miles (32–48 km) wide on its western side and shallower bays to the east. The western channel's depth ranges from 80 metres (260 ft) up to 275 m (902 ft) in the Beaufort's Dyke in the North Channel.
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 km3 (580 cu mi) and a surface area of 47,000 km2 (18,000 sq mi), 80% is to the west of the Isle of Man. The largest sandbanks are 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 120 miles (190 km) and narrows to 47 miles (76 km).[9]
The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Irish Sea (with St George's Channel) as follows,
On the North. The Southern limit of the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland, defined as a line joining the South extreme of the Mull of Galloway (54°38'N) in Scotland and Ballyquintin Point (54°20'N) in Ireland.
On the South. A line joining St. David's Head in Wales (51°54′N 5°19′W / 51.900°N 5.317°W / 51.900; -5.317) to Carnsore Point in Ireland (52°10′N 6°22′W / 52.167°N 6.367°W / 52.167; -6.367).[4]
The Irish Sea has undergone 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.
Shipping[edit]
Ireland has no tunnel or bridge connection to Great Britain; 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 thousand passengers a year.[10] 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.[11]
Ports in the Republic handle 3,600,000 travellers crossing the sea each year, amounting to 92% of all Irish Sea travel.[12] This has been steadily dropping for a number of years (20% since 1999), probably as a result of low cost airlines.[citation needed]
Ferry connections from Wales to Ireland across the Irish Sea include Fishguard and Pembroke to Rosslare, Holyhead to Dún Laoghaire and Holyhead to Dublin. From Scotland, Cairnryan connects with both Belfast and Larne. There 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:
54°50′N 05°05′W / 54.833°N 5.083°W / 54.833; -5.083
54°45′N 05°45′W / 54.750°N 5.750°W / 54.750; -5.750
52°30′N 06°15′W / 52.500°N 6.250°W / 52.500; -6.250
52°00′N 05°05′W / 52.000°N 5.083°W / 52.000; -5.083
Arriva Trains Wales, Iarnród Éireann, Irish Ferries, Stena Line, Northern Ireland Railways, Stena Line and Abellio ScotRail promote SailRail with through rail tickets for the train and the ferry.[13]

Oil and gas exploration[edit]
Caernarfon Bay Basin[edit]
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Caernarfon Bay
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 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 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 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 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).
Cardigan Bay Basin[edit]
Cardigan Bay
The Cardigan Bay Basin forms 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 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 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 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 untested potential for stratigraphic entrapment of hydrocarbons near synsedimentary faults, especially in the Middle Jurassic section.[14][15]
Liverpool Bay[edit]
The Liverpool Bay Development is BHP Billiton Petroleum's largest operated asset. It comprises the integrated development of five offshore oil and gas fields in the Irish Sea:
Douglas oil field
Hamilton gas field
Hamilton North gas field
Hamilton East gas field
Lennox oil and gas field
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 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 filed 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 the water in Liverpool Bay was historically contaminated by dumping of sewage sludge at sea[16] but this practice became illegal in December 1988 and no further sludge was deposited after that date.[17]
East Irish Sea Basin[edit]
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With 210 billion cubic metres (7.5 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas and 176 million barrels (28,000,000 m3) of petroleum estimated by the field operators as initially recoverable hydrocarbon reserves from eight producing fields (DTI, 2001), 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 is no top-seal for reservoirs subcropping the regional base Permian unconformity in the east of the basin, and Carboniferous strata crop out at the sea bed in the west.
Dalkey Island Exploration Prospect[edit]
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 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 m3) of oil in place, this undrilled prospect still has significant risk and 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.[citation needed]
Cities and towns[edit]
Below is a list of cities and towns around the Irish Sea coasts in order of size:
Rank
City/town
County
Region/province
Population
Country
1 Dublin County Dublin Leinster 1,173,179 Republic of Ireland
2 Liverpool Merseyside North West 864,122 England
3 Belfast County Antrim Ulster 847,153 Northern Ireland
4 Blackpool Lancashire North West 142,065 England
5 Southport Merseyside North West 90,381 England
6 Birkenhead Merseyside North West 88,818 England
7 Bangor County Down Ulster 61,011 Northern Ireland
8 Wallasey Merseyside North West 60,284 England
9 Barrow-in-Furness Cumbria North West 56,745 England
10 Crosby Merseyside North West 51,789 England
11 Lytham St Annes Lancashire North West 42,954 England
12 Drogheda County Louth Leinster 40,956 Republic of Ireland
13 Dundalk County Louth Leinster 39,004 Republic of Ireland
14 Morecambe Lancashire North West 34,768 England
15 Bray County Wicklow Leinster 32,600 Republic of Ireland
16 Colwyn Bay Conwy Clwyd 31,353 Wales
17 Thornton-Cleveleys Lancashire North West 31,157 England
18 Douglas - Isle of Man 27,938 Isle of Man
19 Carrickfergus County Antrim Ulster 27,903 Northern Ireland
20 Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown Leinster 26,525 Republic of Ireland
21 Fleetwood Lancashire North West 25,939 England
22 Workington Cumbria North West 25,207 England
23 Rhyl Denbighshire Clwyd 25,149 Wales
24 Whitehaven Cumbria North West 23,986 England
25 Llandudno Conwy Clwyd 20,701 Wales
26 Wexford County Wexford Leinster 20,188 Republic of Ireland
27 Larne County Antrim Ulster 18,775 Northern Ireland
28 Arklow County Wicklow Leinster 14,353 Republic of Ireland
29 Aberystwyth Ceredigion Dyfed 13,040 Wales
30 Holyhead Holy Island Isle of Anglesey 11,431 Wales
Islands[edit]
Listed are the islands in the Irish Sea which are either at least one square kilometer in area, or which have a permanent population.
Anglesey and Holy Island are included separately.
Name
Area (km²)
Rank (area)
Permanent Population[18]
Rank (pop.)
Country
Anglesey 675 01 56,092 02 Wales
Isle of Man[19] 572 02 84,497 01 Isle of Man
Holy Island 39 03 13,579 03 Wales
Walney Island[20] 13 04 11,388 04 England
Lambay Island 5.54 05 <10 08 Republic of Ireland
Bull Island 3 06 <20 07 Republic of Ireland
Ramsey Island 2.58 07 0 - Wales
Bardsey Island 1.79 09 <5 10 Wales
Calf of Man 2.50 08 0 - Isle of Man
Barrow Island Unknown - 2,616 05 England
Roa Island Unknown - 100 06 England
Ynys Gaint Unknown - <10 08 Wales
Piel Island 0.20 - <5 10 England
Ynys Castell Unknown - <5 10 Wales
Ynys Gored Goch 0.004 - <5 10 Wales
Environment[edit]
The most accessible and possibly 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, Loch Ryan, 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 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 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 the Isle of Man is particularly noted for its rarities and diversity,[21] 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 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".[22]
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 the freshwater is lighter and "floats" on top of the much larger body of saltwater 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 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 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 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 the Irish Sea and its surrounding coastline, ranging from flower-like fan-worms to predatory swimming crabs to large chameleon-like cuttlefish.[22] Some of the most significant for other wildlife are the reef-building species like the inshore horse mussel of Strangford Lough and the inter-tidal honeycomb worm of Morecambe Bay, Cumbria and Lancashire. 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 turtle in and around 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.[23]
The estuaries of 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.[22]
Twenty-one species of seabird are reported as regularly nesting on beaches or cliffs around the Irish Sea. Huge populations of the sea duck, common scoter, spend winters feeding in shallow waters off eastern Ireland, Lancashire and North Wales.[22]
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[24] 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.[22] In 2005, 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;[25] it had not been implemented by 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, the Wirral, St Annes, Barrow-in-Furness Borough, and Cumbria.[22]
Radioactivity[edit]
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.[26]
Low-level radioactive waste has been discharged into 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 241Pu) peaked in 1973 at 2,755 terabecquerels (74,500 Ci)[27] falling to 8.1 TBq (220 Ci) by 2004.[28] Improvements in 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.[27][28] In total 22 petabecquerels (590 kCi) of 241Pu was discharged over the period 1952 to 1998.[29] Current rates of discharge for many radionuclides are at least 100 times lower than they were in the 1970s.[30]
Analysis[31][32] 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 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 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.[33] 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 sea water contamination by caesium 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.[34] The environmental monitoring report for the period 2003 to 2005 published by 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.[35] Doses of man-made radioactivity received by the heaviest consumers of seafood in Ireland in 2005 was 1.10 μSv (0.000110 rem).[36] This compares with 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).[37] 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 the UK, the heaviest seafood consumers in Cumbria received a radioactive dosage attributable to Sellafield discharges of 220 μSv (0.022 rem) in 2005.[38] This compares to average annual dose of naturally sourced radiation received in the UK of 2,230 μSv (0.223 rem).[39]
Proposed tunnel projects[edit]
Main article: Irish Sea fixed crossing
Discussions of linking Britain to Ireland began in 1895,[40] with an application for £15,000 towards the cost of carrying out borings and soundings in 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.[41] A tunnel project has been discussed several times in the Irish parliament.[42][43][44][45] The idea for a 21-mile (34 km) 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 the British engineering firm Symonds. At 50 miles (80 km), it would have been by far the longest rail tunnel on earth with an estimated cost approaching £20 billion.[46]
Wind power[edit]
Barrow Offshore windfarm, off Walney Island
See also: List of offshore wind farms in the Irish Sea
An offshore wind farm was developed on the Arklow Bank,[47] 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, 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:
The North Hoyle site 8 kilometres (5 mi) off the coast from Rhyl and Prestatyn in North Wales, containing thirty 2 MW turbines.[48] operated by NPower Renewables
Burbo Bank site 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) off the north Wirral coast
Robin Rigg Wind Farm in the Solway Firth
Thirty 90-metre (300 ft) 3 MW turbines are operating in a wind farm 7 km (4.3 mi) the coast of Walney Island.[49]
Turbines are being erected off the coast of Clogherhead (to be called the Oriel Wind Farm)[50]
In popular culture[edit]
During World War I the Irish Sea became known as "U-boat Alley", because the U-boats moved their emphasis from the Atlantic to the Irish Sea after the United States entered the war in 1917.[51][52]
The Port of Barrow-in-Furness, one of Britain's largest shipbuilding centres and home to the United Kingdom's only submarine-building complex, is only a minor port.
The Irish Sea figures prominently in the Mabinogion. In the second branch of the Mabinogion the Irish Sea is crossed from the south to Harlech by Matholwch, the Irish King, who has come to seek the hand of Branwen ferch Llŷr, sister of Bendigeidfran, King of the Island of the Mighty. Branwen and Matholwch marry, but when she becomes abused by Matholwch, her brother crosses the sea from Wales to Ireland to rescue her. Within the story the Irish Sea is said to be shallow; in addition it contains two rivers, the Lli and the Archan.[53]
The fictional Sodor, an island in both Wilbert Awdry's The Railway Series and the children's TV show, Thomas and Friends, is located in the Irish Sea.[54]
See also[edit]
List of crossings of the Irish Sea
Transport in Ireland
Transport in the United Kingdom
Transport on the Isle of Man
References[edit]
Jump up ^ "Muir Éireann". téarma.ie – Dictionary of Irish Terms. Foras na Gaeilge and Dublin City University. Retrieved 18 Nov 2016.
Jump up ^ "Ellan Vannin" (in Manx). Centre for Manx Studies ("Laare-Studeyrys Manninagh"). Archived from the original on 4 March 2011. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
Jump up ^ Cambridge Medieval Celtic Studies, Issues 33–35 University of Cambridge (Gran Bretaña). Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic 1997
^ Jump up to: a b "Limits of Oceans and Seas, 3rd edition + corrections" (PDF). International Hydrographic Organization. 1971. p. 42 [corrections to page 12]. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
Jump up ^ Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language[permanent dead link]
Jump up ^ Bannerman, David Armitage (1963). The Birds of the British Isles: Volume 12. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd. p. 84.
Jump up ^ "The Caledonian". The Caledonian. New York: Caledonian Publishing Co. 4: 25. 1903.
Jump up ^ "Irish Sea Facts". Irish Sea Conservation. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
Jump up ^ M J Howarth. "Hydrography of the Irish Sea" (PDF). United Kingdom Department of Trade and Industry. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
Jump up ^ Port Statistics, (Link), Mersey Docks Website
Jump up ^ UK Port Traffic Highlights: 2002, (pdf), UK Maritime Statistics, Dept of Transport
Jump up ^ Direct Passenger Movement by Sea from and to Ireland (Republic), (link), Central Statistics Office of Ireland
Jump up ^ "SailRail". Irishrail.ie. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
Jump up ^ "Petroleum prospectivity of the principal sedimentary basins on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf" (pdf), Department of Trade and Industry, 2003
Jump up ^ Liverpool Bay, England (Link), BHP Oil Ltd
Jump up ^ C.Michael Hogan. 2011. Irish Sea. eds. P.Saundry & C.Cleveland. Encyclopedia of Earth. National Council for Science and the Environment. Washington DC
Jump up ^ Hansard - Pollution of Liverpool Bay
Jump up ^ Population figures are from 2001 Census, except: Isle of Man, from 2006.
Populations of smaller islands are estimated at 5 per known inhabited house
Jump up ^ Isle of Man Census 2006 Archived 17 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine. (excluding the population of 2 living on the Calf of Man)
Jump up ^ National Statistics – Walney North (Ward) and Walney South (Ward)
Jump up ^ Barne, J.H., Robson, C.F., Kaznowska, S.S., Doody, J.P., & Davidson, N.C., eds. 1996. Coasts and seas of the United Kingdom. Region 13 Northern Irish Sea: Colwyn Bay to Stranraer, including the Isle of Man. Peterborough, Joint Nature Conservation Committee, ISBN 1-873701-87-X
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Irish Sea Study Group Report, Part 1, NATURE CONSERVATION, Liverpool University Press, 1990 ISBN 0-85323-227-X
Jump up ^ Irish Sea Leatherback Turtle Project – aiming to understand the populations, origins and behaviour of leatherback turtles in the Irish Sea http://www.jellyfish.ie/turtle.asp
Jump up ^ "Background Document for the Northern right whale Eubalaena glacialis" (PDF). The OSPAR Convention (496). 2010. ISBN 978-1-907390-37-1. Retrieved 2015-01-03.
Jump up ^ "Plan to bring grey whales back to Britain". The Telegraph. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
Jump up ^ Sellafield nuclear reprocessing facility, (Link) Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine., Greenpeace
^ Jump up to: a b The Past, Current and Future Radiological Impact of the Sellafield Marine Discharges on the People Living in the Coastal Communities Surrounding the Irish Sea, (Link), Environment Agency – Table 3
^ Jump up to: a b Monitoring our Environment – Discharges and Monitoring in the UK – Annual Report 2004, (Link), British Nuclear Group – Table 2
Jump up ^ León Vintró et al. (2000), p. 2.
Jump up ^ Quality Status Report – Regional QSR III, (Link) Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine., OSPAR – Chapter 4 Chemistry, p64
Jump up ^ León Vintró et al. (2000), sections 3–4.
Jump up ^ McMahon et al., 2005, (Link), Transfer of conservative and non-conservative radionuclides from the Sellafield Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing plant to the coastal waters of Ireland
Jump up ^ Quality Status Report – Regional QSR III, (Link) Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine., OSPAR – Chapter 4 Chemistry, p66
Jump up ^ Ryan et al. (2005), p. 7.
Jump up ^ Ryan et al. (2005), Table 45.
Jump up ^ Ryan et al. (2005), p. 26.
Jump up ^ Ryan et al. (2005), p. 27.
Jump up ^ Radioactivity in Food and the Environment 2005, (Link), Cefas – p11
Jump up ^ Watson et al., 2005 (Link), Health Protection Agency – Ionising Radiation Exposure of the UK Population: 2005 Review
Jump up ^ "TUNNEL UNDER THE SEA", The Washington Post, 2 May 1897 (Archive link)
Jump up ^ "An Irishman's Diary" by Wesley Boyd, (Link), The Irish Times, Feb 2004 (subscription required)
Jump up ^ Written Answers. – Sea Transport, (Link) Archived 12 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine., Dáil Éireann – Volume 384 – 16 November 1988
Jump up ^ Written Answers. – Irish Sea Railway Ferry, (Link) Archived 29 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine., Dáil Éireann – Volume 434 – 19 October 1993
Jump up ^ Written Answers. – Ireland-UK Tunnel, (Link), Dáil Éireann – Volume 517 – 29 March 2000
Jump up ^ Written Answers – Transport Projects, (Link), Dáil Éireann – Volume 597 – 15 February 2005
Jump up ^ Bridge to Northern Ireland mooted, BBC News Scotland, 22 August 2007
Jump up ^ "Arklow Bank Wind Park". Airtricity.
Jump up ^ Northhoyle
Jump up ^ "Barrow Offshore windfarm".
Jump up ^ Oriel Wind project status
Jump up ^ U-Boat Alley by Roy Stokes, published by Compuwreck, ISBN 0-9549186-0-6
Jump up ^ The War in Maps: The Irish Sea, (Link), UBoat.net
Jump up ^ Williams, Ifor. Pedeir Keinc y Mabinogi. University of Wales Press.
Jump up ^ "Where is Sodor, home of Thomas the Tank Engine?". BBC. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
Bibliography[edit]
Luis León Vintró; Kilian J. Smith; Julie A. Lucey; Peter I. Mitchell (4–6 December 2000). The environmental impact of the Sellafield discharges (PDF). SCOPE-RADSITE Workshop. Brussels.
R. W. Ryan; A. Dowdall; M. F. Fegan; E. Hayden; K. Kelleher; S. Long; I. McEvoy; L. McKittrick; C. A. McMahon; M. Murray; K. Smith; S. Sequeira; J. Wong; D. Pollard. Radioactive Monitoring of the Irish Environment 2003–2005 (PDF). Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 March 2009.
Further reading[edit]
Cowsill, Miles; Hislip, Gordon (2016). Ferries of the Irish Sea: across four decades. Ramsey, Isle of Man: Ferry Publications. ISBN 9781906608644.
Herdman, W.A.; Dawson, Robert A. (1902). Fishes and fisheries of the Irish Sea. London: George Philip & Son Ltd.
External links[edit]
Look up irish sea in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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Geography of Greece
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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A geographical map of Greece and its offshore territories
Greece is a country in Southern Europe, located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Its mainland is located at the southernmost tip of the Balkan Peninsula and is bordered on the north by Albania, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria; to the east by the Aegean Sea and Turkey, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea and to the west by the Ionian Sea and Italy.
The country consists of a large mainland and two additional smaller peninsulas projecting from it; the Chalkidice and the Peloponnese, which is separated from the mainland by the Isthmus of Corinth. Greece also features a large number of islands, of various sizes, both large ones including Crete, Euboea, Rhodes and Corfu, and groups of smaller ones such as the Dodecanese and the Cyclades. According to the CIA World Factbook, Greece has 13,676 kilometres (8,498 mi) of coastline, the largest in the Mediterranean Basin.[1]
Greece is largely mountainous, with its latitude ranging from 35°00′N to 42°00′N and in longitude from 19°00′E to 28°32′E. As a result, the country has considerable climatic variation.
Contents
[hide]
1 Climate
2 Physical geography
2.1 Main points of Greece
2.2 Mainland
2.3 Islands
2.3.1 Aegean
2.3.2 Ionian Islands
2.3.3 Crete
2.4 Land use
3 Environment
4 See also
5 References
Climate[edit]
Main article: Climate of Greece
link=File:Greece%27s_K%C3%B6ppen_Climate_Types_Peel_et_al._%282007%29.png
Greece's climate is divided into three main classes:
A Mediterranean climate features mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers. Temperatures rarely reach extremes, although snowfalls do occur occasionally even in Athens, Cyclades or Crete during the winter.
An alpine climate is found primarily in Western Greece (Epirus, Central Greece, Thessaly, Western Macedonia as well as central parts of the Peloponnese such as Achaea, Arkadia and parts of Lakonia).
A temperate climate is found in Central and Eastern Macedonia and parts of Thrace, including Komotini, Xanthi and northern Evros. This climate is characterized by cold, damp winters and hot, dry summers.
Greece's largest island, Crete, due to its geographical position and vast size, straddles two climatic zones, the Mediterranean and the North African, mainly falling within the former. As such, the climate in Crete is primarily temperate. The atmosphere can be quite humid, depending on the proximity to the sea, while winter is fairly mild. Snowfall is common on the mountains between November and May, but rare in low-lying areas, especially near the coast. During the summer, average temperatures may reach the low 30s °C, with maxima touching the mid 40s. The south coast of the island, including the Mesara Plain and Asterousia Mountains, falls in the North African climatic zone, and thus reaches higher temperatures throughout the year. In southern Crete, date palms bear fruit and swallows remain all year round, without migrating to Africa.
Physical geography[edit]
Greece is located in Southern Europe, bordering the Ionian Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, between Albania and Turkey. It is a peninsular country, possessing an archipelago of about 3,000 islands.
It has a total area of 131,957 km2 (50,949 sq mi),[2] of which land area is 130,647 km2 and internal waters (lakes and rivers) account for 1,310 km2. Land boundaries with Albania (212 km), Republic of Macedonia (234 km), Bulgaria (472 km) and Turkey (192 km) measure approximately 1,110 km in total. Of the country's total territory, 83.33% or 110,496 km2 (42,663 sq mi) is mainland territory and the rest 16.67% or 21,461 km2 (8,286 sq mi) is island territory.[3]
Greece's coastline measures 13,676 km (8,498 mi).
80% of Greece is mountainous. The Pindus mountain range lies across the center of the country in a northwest-to-southeast direction, with a maximum elevation of 2,637 m. Extensions of the same mountain range stretch across the Peloponnese and underwater across the Aegean, forming many of the Aegean Islands including Crete, and joining with the Taurus Mountains of southern Turkey. Central and western Greece contain high and steep peaks intersected by many canyons and other karstic landscapes, including the Meteora and the Vikos Gorges – the latter being one of the largest of the world and the third deepest after the Copper Canyon in Mexico and the Grand Canyon in the United States, plunging vertically for more than 1,100 metres.[citation needed]
Mount Olympus is the highest point in Greece and the fourth highest in relative topographical prominence in Europe,[citation needed] rising to 2,919 m above sea level. The Rhodope Mountains form the border between Greece and Bulgaria; that area is covered with vast and thick forests.
Greece's lowest point is sea level.[4]
Plains are found in eastern Thessaly, in central Macedonia and in Thrace.
Main points of Greece[edit]
The main points of Greece are [5]
North: Ormenio village (41°45′41″ N, 26°13′15″ E)
South: Gavdos island (34°48′11″ N, 24°07′25″ E)
East: Strongyli island (36°06′17″ N, 29°38′39″ E)
West: Othonoi island (39°51′11″ N, 19°22′41″ E)
Macedonia
Thessaly
Sporades
Islands
Epirus
Central Greece
Thrace
Peloponnese
Attica
Cyclades
Dodecanese
North Aegean
Islands
Crete
Ionian
Islands
Albania
Rep. Macedonia
Bulgaria
Turkey
Mediterranean Sea
Ionian-
Sea
Aegean-
Sea
Regions of Greece
ATHENS
Thessaloniki
Kavala
---Thasos
Alexandroupolis
--Samothrace
Corfu
Igoumenitsa
Larissa
Volos
Ioannina
Chalcis
Patras
Serres
Kozani
Florina
Lamia
Arta
Agrinio
Chania
Kalamata
Corinth
Nafplion
Sparta
Piraeus
Eleusina
Lavrion
Heraklion
M.Olympus (2917 m)
Lefkada
Kefalonia
Zakynthos-
Lemnos
Lesbos
Chios
Samos
Andros
Tinos
Mykonos
Icaria
--Patmos
Naxos
Milos
Santorini---
Kos
Rhodes
Karpathos
Kassos
Kythira
Gavdos
Megisti
Cities and islands of Greece
Greece's cities, main towns, main rivers, islands and selected archaeological sites.
Mainland[edit]
Mainland Greece forms the southernmost part of the Balkan peninsula with two additional smaller peninsulas projecting from it: the Chalcidice and the Peloponnese. The north of the country includes the regions of Macedonia and Thrace. To the south the mainland narrows and includes the regions of Epirus, Thessaly and Central Greece, where the region of Attica and the capital city Athens are located. Further south, the smaller peninsula of Peloponnese is separated from the rest of the Greek mainland by the Corinthian Gulf and the Isthmus of Corinth.
Mainland Greece covers about 80% of the country's total territory and is largely mountainous. The largest mountain range of Greece is the Pindus range, the southern extension of the Dinaric Alps, which forms the spine of the Greek mainland, separating Epirus from Thessaly and Macedonia. The country's tallest mountain is Mount Olympus, which also separates Thessaly from Macedonia. Its highest peak rises to 2,919 m above sea level, making it the second highest of the Balkan peninsula after Musala in the Rila Mountains.
Islands[edit]
Further information: List of islands of Greece
Greece has a vast number of islands, with most of them being in the Aegean Sea and the rest in the Ionian Sea. Estimates of the number of islands vary between 1,200 and 6,000.[6] A figure frequently cited in travel guides is 1,425 islands, of which 166 are said to be inhabited.[7] The Greek Tourism Organization reports a figure of 6,000, with 227 of them inhabited.[8] Paris Match, however, raises this number to 9,841 islands, of which only 169 has a recorded continuous human presence. [9]
The Greek islands amount for about 20% of the country's total territory,[10] and vary greatly in size as well as in climate. The country's largest island is Crete, with Euboea being second largest. Other large Greek islands include Rhodes and Lesbos in the Aegean sea, as well as Corfu and Cephalonia in the Ionian sea. Many of the smaller Greek islands form groups or chains, often called archipelagos, with notable examples being the Cyclades and the Sporades in the south and central Aegean sea respectively.
Aegean[edit]
Main articles: Aegean Islands, Aegean Sea, and List of Aegean Islands
The islands of the Aegean Sea are situated between mainland Greece to the west and north, Anatolia to the east and the island of Crete to the south. Traditionally, the islands are classified into seven groups, from north to south:
North Aegean Islands
Sporades
Euboea
Saronic Islands
Cyclades
Dodecanese (Southern Sporades)
Crete
Ionian Islands[edit]
Main article: Ionian Islands
The Ionian Islands are a group of seven islands. The six northern islands lie off the western coast of Greece, in the Ionian Sea. The other island, Kythira, lies off the southern tip of the Peloponnese. Kythira is part of the modern region of Attica and is therefore not regarded as part of the modern region of the Ionian Islands (Ionioi Nisoi). The Ionian Islands are distinct from the historical region of Ionia, which is today part of western Turkey.
Crete[edit]
NASA photograph of Crete
Crete is the largest island of Greece and second largest in the Eastern Mediterranean, after Cyprus. The island spans 260 km from east to west and 60 km at its widest. The island narrows in the region close to Ierapetra, where it is only 12 km wide. Crete covers an area of 8,336 km2 (3,219 sq mi), with a coastline of 1046 km. It is surrounded to the north by the Sea of Crete; to the south by the Libyan Sea; to the west by the Myrtoan Sea; and to the east by the Karpathion Sea. It lies approximately 160 km south of the Greek mainland.
Crete is characterized by a mountain range crossing from west to east, formed by three different subranges:
The White Mountains or Lefka Ori (2,452 m);
The Idi Range (Psiloritis (35°11′N 24°49′E / 35.18°N 24.82°E / 35.18; 24.82) 2,456 m);
The Dikti Mountains (2,148 m)
These encompass fertile plateaus, such as Lasithi, Omalos and Nidha; caves such as Diktaion and Idaion; and gorges such as the Samariá Gorge. The protected area of the Samariá Gorge is the home of the Cretan goat, or kri-kri, while the endangered Bearded vulture or lammergeyer libes in the Cretan mountains and gorges.
Crete's rivers include the Ieropotamos River on the southern part of the island.
Land use[edit]
Arable land: 19.71%
Permanent crops: 8.95%
Other: 71.37% (2012 est.)
Irrigated land: 15,550 km2 (2007)
Environment[edit]
Greece's natural hazards include severe earthquakes, floods, droughts and wildfires. Current environmental issues include air pollution and water pollution.
Greece is party to the following international agreements:
Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 97, Wetlands
Mount Olympus
Volcanic crater, Santorini
Achelous River
Taygetus (Mountain Range)
Pindus National Park
Vikos–Aoös National Park
Samariá Gorge
Kremasta (lake)
Mount Pelion
Potidea Kanal, Chalkidiki
Manganari beach, Ios (island)
Landscape of Stymfalia with Mount Kyllini
Palm beach of Vai (Crete)
Navagio, Zakynthos
Mount Parnassus
See also[edit]
Geography of Europe
Greek names of mountains
List of earthquakes in Greece
List of islands of Greece
National parks of Greece
References[edit]
A Geological Companion to Greece and the Aegean by Michael and Reynold Higgins, Cornell University Press, 1996
Jump up ^ "The World Fact Book – Field Listing :: Coastline". CIA. Retrieved 2011-03-17.
Jump up ^ CIA World Fact Book, [1]
Jump up ^ Artificial Structures and Shorelines
Jump up ^ CIA. "Europe::Greece". The World Factbook. CIA. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
Jump up ^ "Statistical Yearbook of Greece 2009 & 2010" (PDF). Hellenic Statistical Authority. p. 27. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-12-13.
Jump up ^ Marker, Sherry; Kerasiotis, Peter (2010). "Greece in depth". In Nadeau, Mark. Frommer's Greece. Hoboken: Wiley. p. 12.
Jump up ^ Poffley, Frewin (2002). Greek Island Hopping. Thomas Cook. p. 15.
Jump up ^ Ellinikos Organismos Tourismou (EOT). "Greek islands". Archived from the original on 3 June 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
Jump up ^ parismatch.com. "Top 5 : Les plus belles îles grecques". Retrieved 6 March 2017.
Jump up ^ "The Law of the Sea".
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