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MARCAN is a 5 year research project, funded by a European Research Council Starting Grant, which investigates the role of offshore groundwater in the geomorphic evolution of continental margins.
Sustainable management of offshore groundwater resources (Helmholtz European Partnering) - SMART is a new international and interdisciplinary project that aims to develop a best practice guide examining if and how offshore groundwater aquifers may be used sustainably to relieve water scarcity for coastal communities around the world.
RhodoMalta is a 2 year research project funded by Marie Curie Actions that integrates acoustic data, core samples and data collected by robotic explorers to develop a model of coralline algae evolution.
TrawledSeas is a 2 year research project funded by Marie Curie Actions that investigates the role of bottom trawling on the geomorphic evolution of deep (>200 m) sea regions.
SubSpread is a 2 year research project funded by Marie Curie Actions that investigates the mechanics of submarine spreading and its relation to earthquakes
The European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) consists of more than 100 organisations assembling marine data, products and metadata to make these fragmented resources more available to public and private users relying on quality-assured, standardised and harmonised marine data. The Marine Geology and Seafloor Surveying group contributes data from the central Mediterranean to the Bathymetry and Geology groups.
The project Assessing Geohazards, Environmental Implications and Economic Significance of Submarine Landslides across the World’s Continental Margins (S4SLIDE) focuses on facilitating the interaction of scientists, engineers, industry and government representatives, and other parties interested in submarine mass movements and their geohazard potential. This project is part of an initiative by the International Geoscience Programme (IGCP) and UNESCO.
LithoMar is a task force established under the auspices of the International Lithosphere Program. It investigates to what extent endogenic processes (tectonics, volcanism, and fluid flow circulation) at submarine divergent margins and oceanic hotspots affect and interact with exogenic processes, over long- and short-term spatio-temporal scales, with a focus on deep-sea sedimentary processes and best practices in terms of technologies and methodological approaches.
AGITHAR is a COST Action to improve, standardize, and promote tsunami research.
This is an IODP expedition that will investigate the palaeoseismological record of the Japan Trench.
Assessment of Bottom-trawling Resuspension Impacts in deep benthic Communities.
Fine scale Observations following earthquake-triggered Canyon flUShing by AUV
The Submarine Geomorphology Working Group was established by the International Association of Geomorphologists during the 8th International Conference on Geomorphology held in Paris in 2013.
The objectives of the group are to:
MGMTOFGR is a two-year project funded by the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST) and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), China. The main objectives of this project are to develop an approach to determine the characteristics of offshore freshened groundwater resources from geophysical data via the development and testing of a protocol and software codes.
Offshore Groundwater Resources in a Changing Marine Environment: Continental Shelf Surrounding PEI. This is a project funded by the Ocean Frontier Institute and it tests the hypothesis that offshore aquifers are hosted in fractured consolidated clastic sediments, and that the dynamics of the Laurentide Ice Sheet during the last glacial-interglacial cycle(s) contributed to their recharge.
Past
MEDSALT is a COST Action that aims to address the causes, timing, emplacement mechanisms, and consequences at local and planetary scale of the largest and most recent 'salt giant' on Earth: The late Miocene (Messinian) salt layer in the Mediterranean basin.
MIGRATE is a COST Action that integrates the expertise of a large number of European research groups and industrial players to promote the development of multidisciplinary knowledge on the potential of gas hydrates as energy resource.
Permaforst and gas hydrate related marine release in the Arctic and impact on climate change - European cooperation for long term monitoring
Submerged prehistoric archaeology and landscapes of the continental shelf.
Hydro geophysical studies for the characterization and monitoring of freshwater in coastal area: Laboratory and test site applications (CNR-University of Malta) – The purpose of HYFREW is to identify a series of actions that can be used by the research groups to develop a comprehensive systematic methodology for the prediction and prevention of fresh water – sea water interaction in coastal areas.
Canyon and landslide processes of non-tropical carbonate escarpments (SCARP) is a 4-year project funded by a Marie Curie Career Integration Grant. The aim of SCARP is to characterise the morphology of non-tropical carbonate escarpments in unprecedented detail, investigate the nature and dynamics of canyon and landslide processes responsible for their morphology, and understand their role in sediment export and non-tropical carbonate margin development. SCARP entails the integration of diverse geophysical and sedimentological datasets acquired from the Malta Escarpment (Mediterranean Sea) during a number of research cruises, and their analyses using innovative data processing, numerical and statistical techniques, and state-of-the-art sedimentological, geotechnical, and geochoronological methods.
Carbonate vs. siliciclastic margins: A multi-scale comparison of submarine canyon and landslide morphologies and processes (CAESAR) is a project funded by a Fulbright Visiting Scholarship. Carried out in collaboration with Dr Charlie Paull (MBARI), the project synthesises and evaluates knowledge on the stratigraphy, morphology and formation processes of carbonate escarpments globally, and identifies new research directions to advance the study of carbonate escarpments. The focus of the study are the four largest and best investigated carbonate escarpments globally – Blake, Campeche, Florida and Malta Escarpments.
IGCP 619 aims to improve our understanding of the geohazards and resources associated with contourites, and their feedback mechanisms with global climate change and deep water ecosystems.
A proposal for a National Seabed Mapping Programme for the Maltese Islands.