Regional Cooperation in Eastern Mediterranean Research

Regional Cooperation in Eastern Mediterranean Research Zvi Ben-­‐Avraham Head, MERCI -­‐ Mediterranean Sea Research Center of Israel Founding Director, Charney School of Marine Sciences, University of Haifa Director, Minerva Dead Sea Research Center, Tel Aviv University 1 Eastern Mediterranean Basin
Opportunity and need q  The southeastern Mediterranean is a unique oceanographic system -­‐ a natural laboratory providing opportuni:es for new, globally important and exci:ng science. q  Rising pressure from its heavily populated coasts and offshore exploit raise urgent environmental worries, and the need for scien:fically driven sustainable resource management. q  Yet, due to poor local resources and poli:cal coopera:on it is one of the poorly studied regions in the world! The Eastern
Mediterranean
DTM – John K. Hall, 2006
One of the most ac:ve and variable regions globally, the Mediterranean is an ocean at the last seconds (geologically) of its existence. Messinian salt Nile delta Messinian Salinity crisis (5.96 -­‐5.33 Ma)
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M
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N
10 km
TWT (sec)
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Located at a clima:c junc:on and isolated from the global ocean circula:on, the ultra oligotrophic (a marine desert) Southeastern Mediterranean is a sensi:ve gauge of natural and anthropogenic changes. IODP Leg-­‐160 “Sapropel
” layers Total Sea Surface Temperature change 1982-­‐2003 Biomass & N:P ra:o Mediterranean Sea
Suez Canal
1869
§  One-way invasion: Red Sea to
Eastern Mediterranean
§  ~10% of all living species in
eastern Mediterranean are of an
Erythrean origin (Por, 1970)
•  Among Fish 90% are
invaders
Ferdinand de Lesseps
Gulf of Suez
Research of invading species System Level-­‐ EvoluDon and ecology; Biological oceanography Organism Level-­‐ Biology of marine organisms; Behavior and sensory systems of marine animals Cellular and Molecular Level-­‐ Physiology of marine life; Developmental biology and immunology of marine life The center of human culture evolved around the eastern Mediterranean, now bearing priceless remains of our history and heritage as affected by environmental events and changes. Ecosystem stress in the eastern Mediterranean Our challenge § 
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Pollution Fishing Water desalinization Climate change effects Migration of organisms Tourism and recreation Exploitation – gas (oil?) Earthquake and tsunami Expansion – artificial islands Sand shortage – Aswan Dam Unprecedented offshore development: v  Global technical challenges v  Environmental concerns Hadera desalination plant Mari-­‐B Tamar Treatment Facility Artificial islands: Natbag 2020 The BP Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico serves as a global warning sign A similar spill in the southeastern Mediterranean may have catastrophic consequences Hercucules and Argus
Control Room
New discoveries and development projects emphasize the cri:cal need and poten:al of modern deep sea research of the Mediterranean offshore of Israel. Mari-­‐B Pinnacles Submarine slide scars Noa-­‐2 Noa-­‐2 what happened in Israel?
The recent discoveries of significant reserves of natural gas in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Israel have catapulted the Mediterranean Sea into the internaDonal spotlight and onto Israel's naDonal agenda. In response to these developments and for the first Dme in Israel's history, Seven of its universiDes, a college and two governmental research insDtutes have agreed to work cooperaDvely under the leadership of the University of Haifa to address an unprecedented array of scienDfic, technological, economic, security, and environmental challenges and opportuniDes. A wide scope of interdisciplinary and a broad base of exper:se (90% of the leading marine scien:sts in Israel) Environmental Resources Management Archaeology & History Remote sensing Economics Mari2me Law Engineering & Technology Biology Physical & chemical Oceanography Poli2cal Sciences Geology & Geophysics 19 New Research Vessel for the State of Israel – The Bat Galim * Through Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research -­‐ IOLR (owned by the Ministry of Energy and Water) 20 Deep Sea Marine Research Technologies §  AUVs (Autonomous Underwater Vehicles)
The AUV is used for deep water (up to 4.5 km) high resolution hydrographic surveying (seafloor and sub-­‐bottom profiling) and oceanographic measurements for technical data.
21 §  ROV (Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicle)
The ROV is used for selective target-­‐oriented sampling. Unlike blind sampling systems, the researcher here can choose the sampled object and control the sample type and quantity. This need exists in the biological disciplines as well as in the various areas of chemistry and geology. 22 §  Sea Gliders -­‐ Deep sea research instrumentation Ocean gliders are autonomous underwater vehicles which enable in-­‐situ observations of the upper 1 km of the ocean over extended periods of time. They can carry sensors for physical, biogeochemical and optical parameters. 23 Establishment of the Deep Sea Facility in IOLR §  The facility in now being planned to include the technical maintenance and research center for the deep-­‐sea unmanned underwater vehicles, a full scale research and engineering pool, and the following laboratories: §  the Underwater OpDcal Sensing Laboratory, Underwater AcousDc CommunicaDon Laboratory §  Marine Engineering Laboratory §  Mechanical and Electrical Workshops and a Diving Center. 24 Crea:ng academic collabora:on among eastern Mediterranean countries in the field of marine sciences using science as a tool for bridging people and cultures Primary scien:fic research opportuni:es 1.  Marine energy resources of the Levant basin: poten:al, technology, environmental impacts and a balanced management policy. 2.  The basic oceanographic workings of the southeastern Mediterranean water mass. 3.  Biology of the Levan:ne basin and poten:al anthropogenic impacts. 4.  Regional to global environmental impacts of clima:c and anthropogenic changes. 5.  Marine natural hazards – controls, risks, alerts and mi:ga:on. 6.  Coastal preserva:on and development. 7.  Marine bio-­‐resources in the eastern Mediterranean. 8.  Innova:ve development of research technologies. Possible collabora:ve regional programs: Interna:onal Conferences Mul:-­‐Na:onal Research Expedi:ons Exchange of Researchers and Students Regional Marine-­‐Research
Consor:um of Universi:es Thank You!