Mediterranean Sea Research the new frontier Mediterranean sea Zvi - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Mediterranean Sea Research – the new frontier

Mediterranean sea

Zvi Ben-Avraham Head, MERCI - Mediterranean Sea Research Center

• f Israel

Opportunity and need

 The southeastern Mediterranean is a unique oceanographic system - a natural laboratory providing opportunities for new, globally important and exciting science.  Rising pressure from its heavily populated coasts and

• ffshore exploit raise urgent environmental worries, and

the need for scientifically driven sustainable resource management.  Yet, due to poor local resources and political cooperation it is one of the poorly studied regions in the world!

The Eastern Mediterranean

DTM – John K. Hall, 2006

a b

Crustal Transition Zone

Ben-Avraham et al., 2002

Ben-Avraham et al., 2002

50 100 km

Galilee-Lebanon Judea-Samaria Negev Eratosthenes Cyprus

Hall, 2003

Ben-Avraham et al., 2002

Crustal Provinces

Ben-Avraham and Ginzburg, 1990

One of the most active and variable regions globally, the Mediterranean is an ocean at the last seconds (geologically) of its existence.

Messinian salt

Nile delta

10 km

Messinian Salinity crisis (5.96 -5.33 Ma)

M N 3 1 2 TWT (sec)

Biomass & N:P ratio Total Sea Surface Temperature change 1982-2003

Located at a climatic junction and isolated from the global ocean circulation, the ultra

• ligotrophic (a marine desert) Southeastern

Mediterranean is a sensitive gauge of natural and anthropogenic changes.

IODP Leg-160 “Sapropel” layers

Suez Canal 1869

Ferdinand de Lesseps

Mediterranean Sea

Gulf of Suez

• One-way invasion: Red Sea to

Eastern Mediterranean

• ~10% of all living species in

eastern Mediterranean are of an Erythrean origin (Por, 1970)

• Among Fish 90% are

invaders

System Level- Evolution and ecology; Biological oceanography Organism Level- Biology of marine organisms; Behavior and sensory systems

• f marine animals

Cellular and Molecular Level- Physiology of marine life; Developmental biology and immunology of marine life

Research of invading species

The biological system of the southeastern Mediterranean is changing drastically:  Invading species are taking the place

• f locals.

 The coastal ecosystem is diminishing.

The major beach platform building Vermatid (Dendrapoma Petraeum)

Fish caught by trawling

1990-4 2008-11

The center of human culture evolved around the eastern Mediterranean, now bearing priceless remains of our history and heritage as affected by environmental events and changes.

Ecosystem stress in the eastern Mediterranean

• Pollution
• Fishing
• Water desalinization
• Climate change effects
• Migration of organisms
• Tourism and recreation
• Exploitation – gas (oil?)
• Earthquake and tsunami
• Expansion – artificial islands
• Sand shortage – Aswan Dam

Our challenge

Man, Sea & Society Israel Oceanograp hic & Limnological Research Ltd. Faculty of Natural Sciences Faculty of Humanities Faculties of Law & Social Sciences Marine GeoSciences Dr M Strauss Marine Biology Maritime Civilizations

The Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences

Recanati Institute

• f Marine

Studies Israel Center of Mediterrane an Marine Research Charney School of Marine Sciences School Head Zvi Ben Avraham

Tamar Mari-B Treatment Facility

Unprecedented offshore development:

 Global technical challenges  Environmental concerns

Confirmed reservoirs Planned 3D seismic surveys Wells to be drilled in the coming year

Hadera desalination plant בתנ" ג2020

The BP Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico serves as a global warning sign A similar spill in the southeastern Mediterranean may have catastrophic consequences

Noa-2

Mari-B Pinnacles Noa-2 Submarine slide scars

New discoveries and development projects emphasize the critical need and potential of modern deep sea research

• f the Mediterranean offshore of Israel.

The current situation

• Institutional acknowledgement of the needs for

high quality modern marine research is poor.

• Limited and outdated marine research

infrastructure (e.g. the national research vessel

• f Israel is the 50-year old R/V Shiqmona).
• A poorly funded marine monitoring program.
• Meager national research grants are insufficiently funded for modern and

seagoing research. Lack of specific marine engineering curriculums.

• Large scale offshore development is managed primarily by foreign

consultants, for lack of a strong Israeli alternative. Several academic initiatives focusing on Mediterranean research and teaching are presently active in Israel, led primarily by our consortium members.

Aims and vision

• To provide an interdisciplinary scientific framework and common

resource base at the national level for Mediterranean marine research in Israel.

• To pool the broad marine sciences knowledge base and capabilities,

currently distributed in six universities and two governmental research institutes, towards excellent collaborative science. Only together we can match a serious marine research facility abroad.

• To address the challenges facing Israel in sustainable development of

its Mediterranean offshore, and promote a global scientific leadership in marine sciences. The current proposal aims to setup the basic framework and provide seed money for realizing the full scope of our vision.

Biology Geology & Geophysics Maritime Law Political Sciences Economics Environmental Resources Management Archaeology & History Remote sensing Physical & chemical Oceanography Engineering & Technology

A wide scope of interdisciplinary and a broad base of expertise

(90% of the leading marine scientists in Israel)

Primary scientific research objectives

• 1. Marine energy resources of the Israeli EEZ: potential, technology,

environmental impacts and a balanced management policy.

• 2. The basic oceanographic workings of the southeastern Mediterranean

water mass.

• 3. Biology of the Levantine basin and potential anthropogenic impacts.
• 4. Regional to global environmental impacts of climatic and anthropogenic

changes.

• 5. Marine natural hazards – controls, risks, alerts and mitigation.
• 6. Coastal preservation and development.
• 7. Marine bio-resources in the Israeli Mediterranean.
• 8. Innovative development of research technologies.

Infrastructure

• 1. Research vessels to address both coastal and deep water needs. `
• 2. Seagoing instrumentation including onboard facilities, robotic

underwater vehicles (AUV & ROV), broad sampling equipment.

• 3. Coastal facilities and national marine services including running sea

water based systems, diving facilities and coastal measurement devices.

• 4. Monitoring stations and underwater observation network (e.g. following

the ESOMIN model).

• 5. Analytical laboratories (within the founder university and associated

institutes) .

SLOCUM glider

Photos taken from Rutgers COOL room website

Photo is taken from Blufin web site

AUV (Blufin 12S)

Interuniversity Graduate Program in Marine Sciences

Objective

• Pool the resources of all partners to create a shared graduate

program for advanced studies in marine sciences.

• Admission of 10-12 excellent students per year
• Direct PhD with solid background in physical, chemical,

geological, and biological oceanography, and with some field experience.

• This program will supplement existing programs at the various

universities.