METEOR M111

The aim of the DIONYSUS cruise is to conduct a detailed survey of the active margin of S. Italy (Calabria and E. Sicily), a region struck repeatedly by ighly destructive earthquakes and tsunamis (e.g. 1908 Messina eq (72,000 deaths) and 1693 Catania eq (60,000 deaths)). The source of the Catania eq. is uncertain and may have been the shallow NW dipping fault plane of the Calabria subduction zone. Furthermore, the deep structure of the sub seafloor in the Ionian Sea has never been investigated by a modern OBS survey and controversy still exists regarding the exact nature of the crust. The main objectives of this cruise are thus to image the deep structure of the subduction zone and the adjacent Tethyan margins formed during Mesozoic rifting (e.g. - Malta escarpment). This cruise will provide important structural information on the south Tethyan margin to resolve this debate, and deep crustal imaging to help improve the regional hazard assessment. The proposed 24 day cruise will be primarily a deep refraction seismic survey, (60 OBS/OBH supplied equally from the GEOMAR and IFREMER pools) co-located on previously acquired high-quality MCS lines, which have been pre-stack depth migrated in the course of the preliminiary work conducted for this proposal. Two profiles will have an onshore extension (INGV Rome).