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CCRU logoCambridge Coastal Research Unit (CCRU)

Providing highest quality scientific research to underpin sustainable coastal management

 

Research projects

Research projects

Current projects

Information to follow.


Earlier projects

Temperate Coasts

Projects include:

Tropical Coasts

The 1990s have been characterised by a growing interest in the assessment of coral reef condition and the threats, both natural and anthropogenic, that reefs face now and in the near-future. One process of particular concern has been the phenomenon of 'coral bleaching'. This term is used to describe the whitening of corals which results from the degeneration and/or loss of symbiotic algae, the zooxanthellae, and/or the loss of cells containing zooxanthellae, from coral tissues. Elevated sea surface temperatures and high solar irradiance at UV wavelengths, by overcoming coral photo-protective mechanisms, play a key role in driving coral bleaching processes. Within the last decade, the mapping of remotely-sensed SST 'hotspots' has confirmed the importance of large-scale, El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) -related heating, cooling and migrations of ocean water masses as a prime determinant of widespread, mass coral bleaching episodes.

Projects include: