Nautilus Explores the Western Mediterranean Sea

The southeastern and southern margins of Spain include the Mazarron Escarpment and several topographic features in the adjacent Alboran Sea (Figure 1), the two primary areas of interest for the E/V Nautilus team in the western Mediterranean Sea. We were interested in exploring the seafloor throughout these areas to (1) investigate the geological complexity associated with this technically active transform plate boundary system, (2) investigate active slope failure and sedimentary depositional environments associated with small submarine canyon systems that incise the continental shelf and slope off southern Spain, (3) inspect and sample several interesting submarine environments that were previously mapped with multibeam sonar systems, (4) document the benthic and pelagic marine life associated with these geological environments, and (5) investigate the oceanographic conditions associated with this westernmost basin of the Mediterranean Sea, where surface Atlantic water flows in above deeper outflowing Mediterranean water.