In August/September 2018, a German barter expedition will occur on the RV Pelagia from NIOZ to the Red Sea (cruise No. 64PE-445, SaltAx). The vessel will sail from Limassol (Cyprus) and the expedition ends in Safaga (Egypt). The purpose of the expedition is seafloor mapping, shallow seismics and minor seafloor sampling with gravity corer and geological rock dredges for ground truthing. The SaltAx expedition aims to map submarine salt flows in high resolution. The mapping will be combined with shallow (sparker) seismic and magnetic profiles to investigate subsurface structures, the depth of the uppermost salt reflector, internal salt structures and may identify some igneous intrusions into the salt/sediment cover. The aim is to understand the kinematics of salt flowage into the Red Sea rift valley and thus the coverage of a young, volcanically and hydrothermally active mid-ocean rift. Also, the influence of salt blanketing in the rift valley on marine mineral resource formation will be of interest. The project will be funded by GEOMAR - Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, Kiel. Researchers from the University of Manchester (UK), University of Hamburg and Sudan will also participate in the expedition.
Contact person is: Dr. Nico Augustin Email: naugustin@geomar.de |
The areas of interest of expedition 64PE-455 are located in the northern and central Red Sea. The start and end ports are Limassol in Cyprus and Safaga in Egypt, respectively. |
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