 From the Etna to the Levantine shore - an ancient tsunami?
December 2006, CIESM News
About 8,000 years ago the collapse of the eastern flank of Mt Etna in Sicily triggered a devastating tsunami that spread across the Mediterranean Sea, hitting distant shores within a few hours. A computer simulation of this ancient catastrophe now reveals its far-reaching effects...
Deep-diving record in the Ligurian Sea
October 2006, CIESM News
The average foraging dives of beaked whales are deeper and longer than reported for any other air-breathing species. They prey by echolocation in deep water and manage to access food sources at about 1900 m depth...
Little Big Monsters - gigantism or miniaturization of deep-sea fauna
August 2006, CIESM News
Based on the narration of ancient mariners and their fear of the deep sea as home of giant creatures, ocean myths and legends developed. As a result, sea monsters frolicking in the ocean were often illustrated in antique cartographic ...
Mediterranean underwater volcano unearths Australian lead
August 2006, CIESM News
The volcanic Marsili seamount rises some 3000 m above the abyssal plain in the south-eastern Tyrrhenian Sea. On its highest peak (~500 m deep), an extensive area of hydrothermal deposition has been explored via a remote TV survey and submersible observations.
Yellow ‘submarines’ surveying the Sea
6 July 2006, CIESM News
The ocean’s role in future climate is one of the key questions in climate change research. To address this contemporary issue, more data of the marine system, in quasi real time, are needed to better understand the highly complex interplay of processes occurring...
Few sharks in the deep sea but bony fish still at risk
14 April 2006, CIESM News
An international team of scientists, led by Prof. Priede of the University of Aberdeen, used baited cameras, long-lines with baited hooks and demersal trawling to study deep-sea habitats in the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean...
ANTARES now part of CIESM HydroChanges
April 2006, CIESM News
The ANTARES Collaboration is constructing a telescope in the deep Mediterranean Sea optimised for the detection of muons from high-energy astrophysical neutrinos. Such a telescope will consist in hundreds of photo-multipliers set for years on an array of sub-surface moorings immersed at...
Jellyfish traverse the sea by ship
March 2006, CIESM News
The anthropogenic introduction of exotic species may threaten native marine biodiversity by altering foodwebs, altering the balance of coastal systems, or displacing endemic species. While damage and preventive control...
Geoscience and the Sibyls sanctuaries locations
February 2006, CIESM News
There were many Sibyls in the ancient world. Sibyls were seeresses who prophesised at certain holy sites under the divine influence of a deity. Among the most renowned is the Delphic Sibyl, also known as Phytia or Herophile...
Main Phoenician harbours rediscovered
30 January 2006, CIESM News
The Phoenicians were excellent seafarers - they formed the major naval and trading power in the Mediterranean region. Phoenician colonies and commercial outposts were spread throughout the Mediterranean and the seamen navigated through the Strait of Gibraltar and much beyond (e.g. Britain) to trade textiles... |
