Buried scour marks as indicators of palaeo-current direction at the Mary Rose wreck site

A 3-dimensional seismic reflection survey (using a Chirp source) of the excavated Mary Rose wreck site (King Henry VIII's flagship, wrecked in 1545) was conducted in the East Solent, off the south coast of England. The high resolution geophysical survey identified two `brightspot' anomalies, buried to a depth of 4-5 m, trending east-west adjacent to the western margin of the excavation hole. These anomalous reflectors are interpreted as infilled palaeoscour features associated with the wrecking and subsequent degradation of the Mary Rose. The features were previously unrecognized on the site, and to the authors' knowledge this is the first time that such preserved longitudinal palaeo-scour marks have been recognized in the sedimentary record. Implications associated with the preservation and identification of the scour features are discussed. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.