This marine geophysics training is organized as part of the Master STePE (Earth and Planetary Sciences, Environment), GEO-P course (Geosciences-Planetology) of Sorbonne University. It concerns more particularly the level of Master1 and the course 4TEG06 (second semester of the academic year). It takes place at the Institut de la Mer Villefranche (IMEV).

The goal of this course is to give students a first applied training on geophysical acquisition methods through the implementation of a multitrace seismic reflection tool onboard the R/V Tethys II.

The training consists of marine acquisitions (two days per student) and classroom work (courses / practicals on the principles of acquisition, processing and interpretation of seismic profiles). Because of its proximity to the IMEV where the course takes place, the geological object studied is the North Ligurian continental margin, off Nice / Monaco. This margin is a good example of a passive margin that has recorded various tectonic and sedimentary processes.

During the course, the days at sea allow students to understand the acquisition parameters used in marine seismic acquisition and their influence on the final seismic images of the deposit architecture. Back in the classroom, the raw data is processed by the students to generate seismic profiles. These images allow the students to apply the principles of seismic stratigraphy by identifying seismic facies, reflector geometries and reflector termination configurations. Once interpreted, these images can be used to map seismic units in 2D and then in 3D over the first few kilometer below the seafloor and to give them a geological significance. The whole sequence "acquisition - processing - interpretation of data" is therefore practiced very concretely during the course.