Ionian Sea Survey
Texas A&M, University of Patras & University of Ferarra
High-resolution side scan sonar mosaic collected aboard the NR1, July 2001.
Area approximately 10 x 3 kilometers in the central Ionian Sea.
Periodic hiatuses in the data are due to navigation/computer error and are being repaired.
The most significant feature located during the survey was a large area of 'lithoherms' or carbonate mounds on the seafloor (see high-resolution sonar images, left). The lithoherms range in size from seveal meters to hundreds of meters long and wide, and more than twenty meters in height. Thriving coral colonies are present on the tops of the herms and appear to be periodically covered by upslope mass wasting events. Also, erosional features formed by the helical flow of near-bottom currents flowing over the herms present as small 'furrows.' This current is highly directional and is most likely a component of Adriatic cold-water outflow over the sill at the Straits of Otranto directly to the north/northeast.
Return to top of page

Survey Locations Investigated by UA/DISL & GERG w/ NR1
 
Bathymetry/contour plot of VK826 & Side-scan sonar mosaic of central-right 'high-spot'
Bathy/contour plot represents approximately 36-square kilometers.
Side-scan sonar data is approximately 1-square kilometer.


Return to top of page

Home |DT Cruise | Maps | Sites of interest | JIP Project | NR1 Research | GOM Slope | Archeological Oceanography

webmaster