Marine Geology

Goals

The research developed fits the objectives of the Division of Geology and Marine Georecursos of IPMA, I.P., namely in the area of sedimentology and in the knowledge of the morphology of the seabed.

Research activities

Marine Geology essentially integrates the following research strands:

1) coastal geology and support for coastal management;

2) study of holocenic paleoenvironments (the last 10,000 years) based on estuarine and marine cores;

3) evidence of tsunamis in the continental shelf sedimentary record;

Also included is the seabed mapping component with the acquisition and processing of multibeam bathymetry and acoustic backscatter data.

Laboratory / Equipments

The EEMT Marine and Coastal Geology Laboratory represents one of the centers of the “Geological Oceanography Laboratory (GOLD)” financed by the National Roadmap for Research Infrastructures of Strategic Interest (RNIE) under the EMSO-PT project. It consists of two rooms and a container where the existing equipment (mostly acquired within the scope of the referred project) allows the sedimentological characterization of marine and coastal sediments.

Room 1

Malvern Mastersizer 3000 – determines grain sizes by laser diffractometry (0.01 µm – 3500 µm range).

Calcimeter Eijekelkamp – determines the carbonate content.

Distribuidor de sedimentos – Retsch PT 100 – performs random, and the most representative as possible, division of sediment samples.

Sediment Mill – Retsch PM 100 – performs the grinding of sediments for analysis of carbonates and organic matter.

Room 2

Retsch Camsizer P4 – Analyzes grain size and shape by image analysis (20 µm – 30 mm range).

Micro-Raman – Witec Alpha 300R – allows the identification of the mineralogy of sand / microplastic grains by comparing the determined spectral signature with an existing database.

Lupa Leica MZ16 with camera and monitor.

Containerized Laboratory

Geotek MSCL-XCT – It allows linear X-rays (2 D) of computed tomography (3D). With this type of analysis (non-destructive) it is possible to define and characterize sedimentary structures in drilling, which allows to know the deposition conditions.