Scientists from the University of Malta’s Marine Geology and Seafloor Surveying group recently set out on a two-month expedition in New Zealand to investigate offshore groundwater systems – bodies of freshwater occurring in sediments on the ocean floor that hold great potential as sources of drinking water in future.

The expedition is the first stage of a five-year research project called Marcan, led by Dr Aaron Micallef and funded by a European Research Council starting grant. Together with colleagues from New Zealand and Germany, the University geoscientists plan to map a groundwater system offshore near the town of Christchurch in 3D using geophysical instruments and obtain water samples to analyse them in a laboratory. If successful, the survey will be replicated in the Maltese islands in the following years.

The expedition may be followed on the group’s Facebook page below.

www.facebook.com/marinegeologyseafloorsurveying