MAURESC

Type	Oceanographic cruise
Ship	Téthys II
Ship owner	CNRS until 2019 - IFREMER since 2020
Dates	04/09/2003 - 13/09/2003
Chief scientist(s)	SAGE Françoise , GAULLIER Virginie , MAILLARD-LENOIR Agnès
	LABORATOIRE GEOAZUR - UMR 7329 / UR082 250 rue Albert Einstein CS 10269 Campus Azur 06905 Sophia-Antipolis +33 (0)4 92 94 26 02 commesi@geoazur.unice.fr https://www.oca.eu/fr/acc-geoazur
DOI	10.17600/3450090
Objective	The MAURESC cruise is part of a general approach to (1) systematically survey the various Messinian sedimentary sequences, from the start of the salinity crisis to the reflooding of the basin,(2) characterize their geometry and correlations which taking account of variations in expected inputs depending on the distribution of canyons, on the one hand between the margin and the basin and on the other over the entire western Mediterranean, and (3) establish the overall chronology to test spatial-temporal coherency of observations in order to quantify the consequences of Mediterranean drying on the basin's geological environment. In making use of the MAURESC cruise, special attention is given to studying the transition between the evaporites deposited in the basin under shallow water and the detrital products linked to erosion of the margin and the hinterland during the very low sea level episode. Studies conducted over the past two years, notably on the western Sardinian margin (SESAME cruise, 2001) and in the Gulf of Lions, had effectively not enabled it to be clearly determined whether the detrital bodies of fluviatile origin were contemporary to the only upper evaporites which marked the end of the crisis or if they also accompanied part of the massive salt deposits or even the reflooding of the basin at the Mio-Pliocene. These new data should supply some limits for the end of the crisis, particularly about the relative duration of the rise in sea level, highlighting any possible stages of sea level plateaux during the rise, or on the contrary the catastrophic nature of the reflooding of the basin. The related programs are the ECLIPSE and GDR margins "Gulf of Lions". The area surveyed had the following boundary coordinates: 43 deg 20/7 deg 05, 42 deg 50/8 deg 10, 42 deg 30/6 deg 15, 42 deg 00/7 deg 20.

Bibliography

Publications

Obone-Zue-Obame Edda Marlene, Gaullier Virginie, Sage Francoise, Mallard Agnes, Lofi Johanna, Vendevlle Bruno, Thinon Isabelle, Rehault Jean-Pierre, Mauresc Shipboard Scientific Party (2011). The sedimentary markers of the Messinian salinity crisis and their relation with salt tectonics on the Provencal margin (western Mediterranean): results from the "MAURESC" cruise. Bulletin De La Societe Geologique De France, 182(2), 181-196. https://doi.org/10.2113/gssgfbull.182.2.181

References of Articles published in other Periodicals or Scientific Works acclaimed in the Field

Clauzon Georges, Suc Jean-Pierre, Popescu Speranta-Maria, Melinte-Dobrinescu Mihaela Carmen, Quillévéré Frédéric, Warny Sophie A, Fauquette Sévrine, Armijo Rolando, Meyer Bertrand, Rubino Jean-Loup, Lericolais Gilles , Gillet Hervé, Cagatay M. Namik, Ucarkus Gülsen, Escarguel Gilles, Jouannic Gwénaël, Dalesme Florent (2008). Chronology of the Messinian events and paleogeography of the Mediterranean region s.l. CIESM workshop monographs, (33), 31-37.

Gaullier Virginie, Loncke Lies, Vendeville Bruno, Deverchere Jacques, Droz Laurence, Obone Zue Obame Edda Marlène, Mascle Jean (2008). Salt tectonics in the deep Mediterranean: indirect clues for understanding the Messinian Salinity Crisis. CIESM workshop monographs, (33), 91-96.