SW of Crete, NE flank of the Mediterranean Ridge and Ionian Bathyal Plain

Sediment microfossil morphology parameters

Unconsolidated sediment corers

3 stations, located: at a morphological high on the continental slope SW of Crete, in the 'mud pit' of the 'Urania' brine lake (NE flank of the Mediterranean Ridge) and on top of the Victor Hensen Sea Hill (Ionian Bathyal Plain), respectively. The sea bottom sampling in the SINAPSI campaign were finalized to characterization of sapropel, with special care to sapropel S-1. In formulating possible formation models for the sapropels in the Eastern Mediterranean, the following parameters are essential: geographical extension and continuity of the level in a basin; minimum and maximum depth of foundings in the sediment; apparent variations in sapropel thickness, related to water depth and geographical location. The sapropel evidences were searched moving from the western limit of the Eagean Sea into the Ionian Sea, toward SW (Syrte Basin and Sicily Channel) and W (Sicily Strait). In relatively shallow waters (1000 m) we adopted a gravity corer instead of the box corer: it allows also to obtain a more deep sediment recovery. Station 2 was performed in the 'mud pit' of the 'Urania' brine lake, to recover a sample of the anoxic sediments

University of Milano, Bicocca, Dept.of Geological Sciences and Geotechnologies
Piazza della Scienza 4
MILANO

20126
Italy