More about the Network
Ocean margins are features on a global scale that mark the transition between continental and oceanic crust. They are the product of predominantly vertical (i.e. subsidence and uplift) rather than horizontal movements. They include sites of some of the largest accumulations of sediments on the Earth’s surface and are among the best indicators that we have of climatic, sediment flux and, sea-level changes in the past. Ocean margins are prone to large-scale slope failures and some are seismically active. The nations of northwest Europe share one of the longest rifted margin systems in the world. Yet, no one nation currently has access to all the resources and technology now required to determine the physical, chemical and biological processes that are occurring at these margins.
This ESF network has been set up to develop a new European-led inter-disciplinary and multi-national programme in ocean margins. Such a network is timely. The international scientific community has already identified the deep structure and rifting processes, sedimentary processes and fluid flow at ocean margins as high priority questions that need to be addressed in the immediate future. Furthermore, the hydrocarbons industry regards deep-water rifted margins as one of the few remaining exploration frontiers for the production of oil and gas.
The challenge for the Network will be firstly to examine common research objectives, discuss the sharing of facilities within Europe, collaborate with industry and national programmes such as the USA «MARGINS» programme, and then to develop a European-led programme to study ocean margins.
Rifted margins are created by one of the fundamental Earth processes; namely the extension and break-up of continental crust to form new ocean basins. They comprise of some of the largest accumulations of sedimentary rocks on the Earth’s surface and are among the best recorders that we have of the way that lithosphere responds to extensional, compressional and strike-slip tectonic forces, sea-level changes, and the transport of sediments from the continental interiors, to the coastal zone and into the deep sea.
The countries of Europe share a variety of margin-types. These include rifted margins with abundant magmatism and thin sediments (e.g. Norway) and margins with little or no magmatism and thick sediments (e.g. SW approaches to UK and France). They also include examples of inactive transform and active margins. While differences in the amount of magmatism and sediments explain the diversity of present-day ocean margins, they obscure our understanding of the physical and chemical processes associated with the break-up of continents and the formation of new ocean basins.
During the past few years, there has been renewed interest by the scientific community in the processes that are occurring at ocean margins. The interactive nature and complexity of these processes has been recognised as has the need for interdisciplinary and multi-national collaborative studies to address them. Furthermore, societal interest in ocean margins has increased. Some margins are the habitat for major reserves of oil and gas. Others have been the site of earthquakes which in some cases have ruptured through the entire crust and triggered large-scale failures on the continental shelf and slope. Since a large percentage of the world’s population lives within a short distance of the coastal zone, ocean margins constitute major natural hazards.
