The Atlantic Continental Margin was my first major interest as a Marine Geology student and the Gollum Channel in the Porcupine Sea-Bight System became the subject of my Master’s thesis. Slope instabilities, past turbiditic-contouritic sequences and present sediment pathways were studied using a variety of datasets like geophysical data, seafloor imagery and a deep sediment core.

Research for the PhD project changed its location to the shelf sea and to the surficial sediment layer, but the basic principle remained: to study geological processes, past and present, by combining geophysical data with seafloor imagery and sediment samples. The Irish Sea proved to be an exciting environment with a wide variety in sediment coverage and bedform associations. Remarkably preserved glacial terrains have been recently discovered, providing information on the Irish Sea Ice Stream. Straight-crested symmetrical sediment waves of up to 40 m high seem to originate from the post-glacial marine transgression. Their inner structure drawn from seismic profiles are therefore a potential validating tool to test palaeo-tidal models.