Research

Supervised by Daniel Garcia-Castellanos (CSIC).
The aim of ESR 2 project is to understand the vertical motions of the Mediterranean margins due to the extreme redistribution of isostatic load during the formation of the MSG.
Hanneke Heida will use large seismic data compilations with deep well logging, for 3 marginal regions: the Balearic promontory, the Alboran Basin, and the Po Basin. The seismic data will provide a detailed, 3D imaging of the erosion surface and salt cumulates characterizing the last stages of the formation of the MSG. Assessing the original vertical position of these features will test the consistency of competing proposed hypotheses on their formation across multiple study areas and will put the student in contact with top-quality, up-to-date data sources and geodynamic concepts.

Supervised by Johanna Lofi and Philippe Pézard (CNRS Montpellier).
The aim of ESR 3 project is to understand the geological evolution of the Balearic promontory (Western Mediterranean) since the formation of the MSG by studying onshore and offshore sedimentary records and their post-deposition deformation.
The Balearic promontory is probably the only place in the Mediterranean basin where well-defined MSG deposits have been preserved. These MSG deposits are trapped in small basins lying at the present time at different depths between the present day coastline (including onshore outcrops) and the deep salt basins. Fadl Raad will focus on studying the MSG sedimentary records, both onshore and offshore, and on the post- MSG deformation (faults, vertical loading) over the promontory. Fadl will carry out a multidisciplinary research including sedimentary, petrophysical and geophysical investigations on a diverse dataset including onshore outcrops, core data (laboratory measurements), borehole geophysics (Techlog, Wellcad softwares), and seismic profiles (Petrel software).

Supervised by Antonio Caruso (UNIPA).
The aim of ESR 4 project is to acquire new insight from stratigraphic relationships between the evaporite series and the pre-Messinian sediments by carrying out detailed geological mapping of wedge-top basins of northwestern Sicily (Salemi-Calatafimi; Belice and Cimina) and the Hyblean plateau (Licodia Eubea).
Athina Tzevahirtzian will carry out a multidisciplinary stratigraphical, sedimentary and petrographical study on several key outcrops and mines located in wedge-top basins to understand their stratigraphic relation with the underlying pre-Messinian sediments. These wedge-top basins will be compared with the well-known Caltanissetta Basin and the Balearic basin by analyzing seismic profiles already available and those studied in marginal outcrops located in the Balearic promontory.

Supervised by Wout Krijgsman (Utrecht University).
The aim of ESR 5 project is to revisit the enigmatic Lago-mare interval and study the key sections on-land and in the deep sea (DSDP cores) on an E-W transect across the Mediterranean with a multi-disciplinary approach combining integrated bio- cyclostratigraphic analyses with high-resolution Sr-isotope records.
The transition from hypersaline evaporitic facies (gypsum and halite) to fresh-brackish Lago-mare facies implies a huge hydrological change in the region. Astronomical tuning of the sedimentary successions together with hydrological reconstructions will help to understand the paleoenvironmental variations in the basin that shows a progressive sequence of climate induced gypsum-marl cycles (Upper Evaporites of Sicily) towards brackish water deposits with fauna (mollusks and ostracods) originating from the Black Sea region. Strontium results will be coupled with salinity reconstructions through numerical models to obtain quantitative constraints.

Supervised by Giovanni Aloisi (IPGP).
The aim of ESR 6 project is to reconstruct the hydrology of selected marginal basins of the Mediterranean Sea during the formation of the MSG using stable isotope tracers.
Laetitia Guibourdenche will work in tight collaboration with field-based ESRs (ESRs 1, 4, 5, 8), and mining sector partner KNAUF, to carry out a detailed sampling of primary gypsum deposits outcropping on land. The isotope composition of gypsum will be measured at the geochemical facilities of IPGP. In collaboration with ESR 7, Laetitia will apply simple numerical box models that simulate the isotopic composition of H2O and dissolved SO4 and Sr in marginal basins. In conjunction with the isotope composition of gypsum, these models will be used to deduce the hydrological cycle that dominated at the time of gypsum deposition in the marginal basins of the Mediterranean Sea, tackling the apparent contradiction of a marine-type evaporitic sequence bearing a continental isotope signal.

Supervised by Paul Meijer (Utrecht University).
The aim of ESR 7 project is to investigate the evolution of circulation, water properties and biogeochemistry of the Mediterranean basin during the formation of the MSG via numerical modelling.
This ESR project will achieve more refinement, both in terms of the water properties being modelled and their spatial distribution within the Messinian basins. Applying these refined models, Ronja Ebner will address the following fundamental questions that keep causing problems in the interpretation of observations from the sedimentary record of the MSG:
(a) how was salt distributed within the water column and between deep and shallow parts of the basin?;(b) was the water column density stratified and did it experience overturning (like the modern-day Dead Sea does)?; (c) did sulphate reduction inhibit gypsum formation in the deep part of a stratified Mediterranean during times of gypsum accumulation in the marginal basins?; (d) are marginal basins expected to be intrinsically different from the deeper parts?

Supervised by Terry Mc Genity(University of Essex).
The aim of ESR 9 project is to understand the survival of halophilic microbial communities inside the brine inclusions of halite, providing a model system for investigating the conditions that could have preserved traces of life in evaporites both on Earth (e.g. Messinian halite) and Mars.

The specific objectives are to:
1) Determine the influence of environmental conditions on the growth and survival of halophilic microbial communities and pure cultures inside halite crystals, by experimentally trapping cells inside brine inclusions, and periodically quantifying viable cells by a combination of labile molecular markers (such as mRNA), recultivation and microscopy. These experiments will be carried out both in Earth surface conditions and under Mars-simulation conditions (using the specialist facilities of partner DLR (German Aerospace Centre).
2) Develop a numerical model simulating fundamental energy flows in microbial cells in order to investigate survival in conditions of severe energy limitation when cells devote nearly all of their energy flow to somatic maintenance, rather than growth and reproduction.
3) Compare the halophilic microbiota living inside different types of halite crystals in Messinian evaporites and present-day analogues (e.g. sampled during a SALTGIANT field course based near the Dead Sea) by surface-sterilising halite followed by analysis of phylogenetic marker genes and cultivation in diverse media, in collaboration with the Icelandic biotechnology partner, MATIS.

Supervised by Zohar Gvirtzman (GSI).
The aim of ESR 11 project is to understand deformation in a young salt giant.
The Levant Basin provides a unique opportunity to model the early stage of salt tectonics when the sedimentary overburden is still relatively thin and the evaporitic unit is still intact.
The study will include a first phase of geological reconstruction and a second phase of numerical modelling.
The main scientific objectives are:

1. to reconstruct the deformation history of the Levant basin since the formation of the MSG
2. to understand how salt giants deform in response to basinward tilting and
   differential sedimentary loading
3. to understand how deformation of subsurface salt affect overriding rocks
4. and to understand strain partitioning within a multi-layered system of evaporites and clastics.

Supervised by Ismael Falcon Suarez (NOC) and Hector Marin-Moreno (NGI).
The aim of ESR 12 project is to quantify the amount and distribution of excess pore pressure below and within the Salt Giant on the Mediterranean basin; to evaluate the likely important role this plays on the evolution of the basin.
The objectives of this project are to constrain the petrophysical parameters of the salt, sub-salt and supra-salt formation from available seismic and borehole data from the Mediterranean Salt Giant and other analogous salt basins.
Then, using the available geochronological information, model the generation of overpressure by disequilibrium compaction, lateral movement of the salt, and mineral diagenesis at different Mediterranean geological environments from the Messinian to the present.
The ultimate aim is to better understand the role of overpressure in the evolution of basins containing rapidly deposited salt layers.

Supervised by Virginie Gaullierand Bruno Vendeville (CNRS Lille).
The aim of ESR 13 project is to use an analogue modeling approach combined with an analysis of natural Mediterranean examples to gain insight into the deformation styles of the MSG.
Gaia Travan will consider examples where there is active crustal tectonics and where the sedimentary cover comprises a mobile salt layer. The ESR will test various crustal tectonic settings (convergence, divergence, strike-slip) and observe how these basement movements are passed on at shallower levels (salt and sedimentary overburden). Experimental results will provide a set of shallow deformation patterns, each one associated with a specific crustal tectonic setting. These results, in return, will be applied to natural examples. This work will shed new light onto key tectonic regions of the MSG, including: regions of divergence (Northwestern Mediterranean basin, Tyrrhenian Sea), young or mature convergence (Algerian and Ligurian Margins, Ionian Sea, Mediterranean Ridge), oblique convergence (Eastern Cyprus Arc), and strike-slip (Levant Basin). Analogue modeling will also help understand the tectonic behavior of the sub-salt.

Supervised by Nestor Herranand David Aubin (Sorbonne Université).
The aim of ESR 15 project is to explore the history of the discovery of the MSG by framing it in a long-term perspective about salt research.
More specifically, it will provide a detailed case study of the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) campaigns that led to the discovery in the context of Cold War oceanography.
The project would involve the identification and compilation of key primary sources about research on the MSG and salt research in general, the inspection of relevant archives and the establishment of an oral history project to collect testimony of the main actors participating in 1960s drilling campaigns. The narrative will contextualize these researches in relation to post WW2 changes in the material culture of oceanography and geology, the development of prospecting campaigns, and the expansion of international cooperation during the Cold War. Indeed, the study will highlight the connections between key actors and research projects and technological, industrial and diplomatic concerns.