Marine
What lies beneath Rockall?
December 18, 2015 by Marine Directorate Communications 1 Comment | Category Marine Directorate general, Marine Directorate Science, Marine Planning
Rockall, a tiny island not much bigger than a house, sits on the very extremity of Scotland’s marine environment. Some 180 miles due west of St. Kilda, it is buffeted year round by the extreme winds and swell that the North Atlantic weather generates. As such, it is Scotland’s only truly offshore shallow water ecosystem. The islet of Rockall is actually one tiny part of vast plateau of continent that was submerged beneath the Atlantic millions of years ago. During the last glaciation, when sea-level was lower, a number of islands would have formed a small archipelago out there.
In recent years Marine Scotland explored and mapped the areas around the islet of Rockall; using MRV Scotia’s high resolution ‘swathe’ or multibeam echosounder. This technology allows the seabed to be mapped to within a few metres of spatial resolution. A huge amount of data were generated and after much processing back at the lab, a bathymetric map has now been produced.
Using 3D visualisation software, it is possible to ‘fly-over’ the numerous previously uncharted pinnacles, trenches, mounds, ridges and reefs that surround Rockall. The Rock itself turns out to be a relatively minor feature compared with Helen’s reef to the east, that extends in a great sweeping arc. Rockall and Helen’s reef have been the site of many a shipwreck in the past and we have had enquiries from the public interested in finding wrecks in the area.
So far the data have not revealed anything obviously man-made lying on the seabed, but the map is now available for anybody to examine in detail and will become a feature of National Marine Plan Interactive (NMPi) in due course.
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Ladies and Gentlemen
My name is Andre´Girke and I live in Germany. My great-uncle Gustav Kiehn was boatswain on the German U-boat 39 which is said to have sunk near the Rockalls. You can look up the coordinates on the internet. These coordinates are certainly only rough information, but can be confirmed according to a ship’s log book. The question for you is whether you also detected wrecks or similar objects while scanning the seabed around Rockall?
I have hope that the U39 wreck will be found so that the final answer will clarify where it sank. I look forward to your feedback and remain grateful and hopeful
Andre’ Girke