Publications by authors named "Sarah Paradis"
Article Synopsis
- Marine sediments are significant carbon stores, but bottom trawl fisheries disturb seabed habitats, potentially impacting the ocean's carbon dioxide sink.
- Research is concerned that trawling may turn these sediments into a significant source of CO, but there's a lot of uncertainty due to limited understanding of how trawling affects sediment mixing and carbon processes.
- A review protocol will investigate the effects of mobile bottom fishing on carbon processing and storage in sediments by addressing various questions about carbon types, fluxes between benthic and pelagic systems, and the biological and physical controls on this carbon.
Submarine canyons are preferential pathways for transport of particulate matter and contaminants from the shelf to the deep sea. The Gulf of Palermo continental margin has a very narrow shelf (about 2-3 km wide on average) and is incised by several submarine canyons that favour shelf-slope sediment transfer. A sediment core collected on the outer shelf and six sediment cores taken at different depths along the Oreto, Eleuterio and Anerella submarine canyons were analysed to study the transfer and historical record of trace metal contamination in the Gulf of Palermo continental margin.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBottom trawling in submarine canyons can affect their natural sedimentation rates, but studies addressing this issue are still scarce. In the Gulf of Palermo (SW Mediterranean), bottom trawling occurs on the slope around Oreto, Arenella and Eleuterio canyons. Analyses of excess Pb concentrations and grain size fractions in sediment cores from their canyon axes revealed that sedimentation rates and silt contents increased in all canyons in the 1980s, due to the expansion of more powerful trawlers (>500 HP) to deeper fishing grounds.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMany studies highlight that fish trawling activities cause seafloor erosion, but the assessment of the remobilization of surface sediments and its relocation is still not well documented. These impacts were examined along the flanks and axes of three headless submarine canyons incised on the Barcelona continental margin, where trawling fleets have been operating for decades. Trawled grounds along canyon flanks presented eroded and highly reworked surface sediments resulting from the passage of heavy trawling gear.
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