Fluxes of suspended matter in the East Anglian plume Southern North Sea

The seasonal variation in the suspended sediment distribution in the Southern North Sea has been defined by direct sampling over a grid of stations. The East Anglian plume, a region of relatively high concentrations, develops eastward from eastern England across the Southern Bight during the winter. During the summer the plume concentrations are lower. Using residual currents obtained from a numerical model, together with the depth averaged suspended matter concentrations, allows estimation of the fluxes within the plume. This suggests that 6.6×106 t of suspended matter was transported eastward in one year, with possible errors of ±50%. Comparison with published sediment budgets for the coastal area of eastern England shows that the plume constitutes a major feature transporting sediment across the North Sea.