The mud volcano province on the Atlantic Moroccan margin: towards a natural laboratory for joint European-Maghreb research

The field of giant mud volcanoes recently discovered off Larache on Morocco's Atlantic margin offers a unique setting to foster cooperative, process-oriented research of joint European and Maghreb teams. The variety of mud volcano sizes and shapes, inviting for a scrutiny of the processes controlling eruption episodicity and mud rheology, the full spectrum of associated fluid flow phenomena (bubbling seeps, chimneys, gas hydrates, carbonate crusts, carbonate mounds) and the wealth of extreme environment ecosystems, ranging from microbial communities to cold-water corals, call for a major research momentum, in coherence and pace with the large EU programmes on European margins. The shallow depth of this mud volcano province and its proximity to the shore, even suggesting a continuum with onshore geology, provides a unique natural laboratory and test bench for innovative sampling and long-term monitoring.