Fladen Ground is an area in the Scottish sector of the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

, between Scotland and Norway, about northeast of

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

. The

Fair Isle Fair Isle ( ; ), sometimes Fairisle, is the southernmost Shetland island, situated roughly from the Shetland Mainland and about from North Ronaldsay (the most northerly island of Orkney). The entire archipelago lies off the northernmost coa ...

current and adjacent East

Shetland Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...

Atlantic tides contribute to a weak,

anti-clockwise Two-dimensional rotation can occur in two possible directions or senses of rotation. Clockwise motion (abbreviated CW) proceeds in the same direction as a clock's hands relative to the observer: from the top to the right, then down and then to ...

rotating vast vortex or eddy easily shown in the surface of the seabed.Athena Field Development, p 61 Due to stratification of the water column in the summer months, seasonal change of deep water temperature is low. This measures (). Water depths are predominantly between , and the mostly muddy sea floor has accumulated sediments from some storm-driven scouring action to surrounds.Athena Field Development, p 60 The dominant benthic animals are

polychaete Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class of generally marine Annelid, annelid worms, common name, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called c ...

s and

shellfish Shellfish, in colloquial and fisheries usage, are exoskeleton-bearing Aquatic animal, aquatic invertebrates used as Human food, food, including various species of Mollusca, molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish ...

and other

seafood Seafood is any form of Marine life, sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including Fish as food, fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of Mollusca, molluscs (e.g., bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters, and mussel ...

s are common. The name is not used by the British shipping (weather) forecast sectors, which extend the

Long Forties Long Forties is a zone of the northern North Sea that is fairly consistently deep. Extent Long Forties are between the northeast coasts of Scotland and the southwest coast of Norway, centred about 57°N 0°30′E; compare to the Broad Fourt ...

depth zone eastward as Forties (see Long Forties) for simplicity. Fladen Ground is rich in

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

and

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

and offers good

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

.Athena Field Development, p 7Athena Field Development, p 68 Scottish vessels catch low-fat fish species, and

Norway lobster ''Nephrops norvegicus'', known variously as the Norway lobster, Dublin Bay prawn, ' (compare langostino) or ''scampi'', is a slim, coral-colored lobster that grows up to long, and is "the most important commercial crustacean in Europe". It is ...

. Danish and English vessels catch

Northern prawn ''Pandalus borealis'' is a species of caridean shrimp found in cold parts of the northern Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic and northern Pacific Oceans, although the latter population now often is regarded as a separate species, ''P. eous''. The Food ...

.Athena Field Development, p 84

Nature Conservation Marine Protected Area

Since 2014, of the Fladen Ground has been a Nature Conservation Marine Protected Area under the title Central Fladen MPA(NC).

Notes

References

* North Sea Nature Conservation Marine Protected Areas of Scotland {{marine-geo-stub

Nature Conservation Marine Protected Area

See also

Notes

References