An international team of geologists led by a Maltese scientist are set to explore a huge underwater cliff stretching to the east of Malta and Sicily.
The Malta Escarpment extends 250km southwards from the eastern coast of Sicily towards the eastern coast of the Maltese Islands and beyond.
The cliff reaches a height of 3.5km in certain places, which is higher than Mount Etna, making it one of the largest features on the ocean floor.
It is incised by a series of deep valleys, creating a complex landscape that has been difficult to survey in the past.
Led by Aaron Micallef, from the University’s Department of Physics, the expedition, called Cumecs-2, will use state-of-the-art technology on board an Italian research vessel to produce a detailed seafloor map of the cliff while collecting samples at a depth of more than 3km. This will allow the scientists to understand the nature of the cliff and how it was formed.
These are important research questions because the Malta Escarpment hosts natural hazards such as underwater landslides.
It can also potentially provide a good record of past earthquakes in the central Mediterranean.
The team is made up of scientists and students from the University of Malta, National Oceanography Centre (UK), National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (New Zealand), University College Dublin (Ireland) and Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e Geofisica (Italy).
It will leave Catania on August 31 and is an EU-funded project.
Those interested in the expedition can follow the activities on board the vessel through cumecs2.blogspot.com and Facebook page www.facebook.com/cumecs2.