Geology and geophysics

ISMAR investigates the evolution of oceanic basins in response to plate tectonics and sedimentary processes. Partnerships with the industry and Government Institutions are established for the study of geo-hazards related to sedimentary processes and for researches in the petroleum geology field.
The geodynamic team studies the evolution of rift basins, mid-ocean ridges and transform faults in the Mediterranean, Red Sea, Equatorial Atlantic and peri-Antarctic seas. The team also works at the definition of active tectonic structures and related geo-hazards within the Mediterranean region. Submarine volcanism and hydrothermal processes are a further object of researches.
The sedimentology group investigates coastal, shelf, slope and basin plain environments to define the role of storms, along-shore, turbidity, cascading and contour currents as well as sediment failure in shaping the architecture of continental margins. The studies range from an integrated basin scale perspective to the scale of elementary depositional bodies to the erosion/depositional events that can be observed today. Sea-floor shaping processes are studied also as a key control on the evolution of deep sea ecosystems.

Right image: Chirp-sonar profile across the North Anatolian Fault beneath the Sea of Marmara (Turkey)