An international team of geologists  is to explore the Malta Escarpment, an underwater cliff that extends 250 km southwards from the eastern coast of Sicily towards the eastern coast of the Maltese Islands.

In places, this cliff reaches a height of 3.5 km, which is higher than the nearby Mt Etna volcano, making it one of the largest features on the ocean’s floor, the University of Malta said. The cliff is incised by a series of deep valleys, resulting in a complex landscape that has been difficult to survey in the past.

The CUMECS-2 team, led by Dr Aaron Micallef from the Department of Physics, will use state-of-the-art technology on board the Italian research vessel OGS Explora to produce a detailed seafloor map of the cliff and collect samples from more than 3000m water depth.

The information will allow the scientists to understand the nature of the cliff and how it was formed. Answering these questions is important because the Malta Escarpment hosts natural hazards like underwater landslides and can potentially provide a good record of past earthquakes in the central Mediterranean, the University explained.

The CUMECS-2 consists of scientists and students from the University of Malta, National Oceanography Centre (UK), National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (New Zealand), University College Dublin (Ireland) and Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e Geofisica (Italy).

The expedition departs from Catania at the end of the month and is part of SCARP, a project funded by an EU FP 7 Marie Curie Career Integration Grant.

People interested in the expedition can follow the activities on board the vessel on the cruise website (cumecs2.blogspot.com) and Facebook page (www.facebook.com/cumecs2).