Archival research

Archives contain a large amount of historical data about the different entry paths of munitions to the seas. The evaluation of these documents is of central importance to comprehensively assess the likelihood of munition pollution of marine areas and gain insights into the type of exposure that may occur. Because of this the responsible handling of munitions in the sea starts with archive research. Especially military archives provide important sources.

Careful archive research allows the reconstruction of the use of sea mines, of war activities at sea and of the declaration of certain marine areas for sea-dumping of expendable ammunition.