Editing Mary Rose (section)

=== Deterioration ===

After the sinking, the partially buried wreck created a barrier at a right angle against the currents of the Solent. Two scour pits, large underwater ditches, formed on either side of the wreck while silt and seaweed was deposited inside the ship. A deep but narrow pit formed on the upward tilting port side, while a shallower, broader pit formed on the starboard side, which had been mostly buried by the force of the impact. The abrasive actions of sand and silt carried by the currents and the activity of fungi, bacteria and wood-boring crustaceans and molluscs, such as the ''[[Teredo navalis|teredo]]'' "shipworm", began to break down the structure of the ship. Eventually the exposed wooden structure was weakened and gradually collapsed. The timbers and contents of the port side were either deposited in the scour pits and remaining ship structure or carried off by the currents. Following the collapse of the exposed parts of the ship, the site was levelled with the seabed and gradually covered by layers of sediment, concealing most of the remaining structure. During the 16th century, a hard layer of compacted clay and crushed shells formed over the ship, stabilising the site and sealing the Tudor-era deposits. Further layers of soft silt covered the site during the 18th and 19th centuries, but frequent changes in the tidal patterns and currents in the Solent occasionally exposed some of the timbers, leading to its accidental rediscovery in 1836 and aiding in locating the wreck in 1971.<ref>{{harvp|Jones|2003|pp=12–24}}; {{harvp|Rule|1983|pp=69–71}}; see {{harvp|Marsden|2003|pp=76–86}} for a detailed stratigraphy of the wrecksite.</ref> After the ship had been raised it was determined that about 40% of the original structure had survived.<ref>Peter Marsden, "Understanding the ''Mary Rose''" in {{harvp|Marsden|2009|p=20}}</ref>