The equipment also revealed deep channels cut into the delta, suggesting activity of hyperpycnal flows - high density sediment currents capable of scouring the seabed.

The survey was part of the Eurostrataform project which is being coordinated by SOC and has been established to collect data relating to the movement of sediment on European z data will be analysed at Southampton and used for calibration purposes in sediment transport models being developed jointly by SOC and the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTARR) in Colorado.

Equipment deployed included a Marine Electronics 1640 sonar in a sidescan mode and a sand ripple imaging counterpart for examining seabed forms within the mouth of the River Rhone.

With a narrow horizontal beam and wide vertical beam patterns, the latter operates as a slave to a host computer for subsequent digitisation of data at surface rental centres in Houston and Singapore. It is typically mounted near to the seabed for scanning a circular area of up to 5m.