INTRODUCTION

The slow-spreading Marsili basin is the youngest Basin (<2mY), and the centrally located Marsili volcano is amongst the most interesting and prominent topographic features of the SE Thyrrhenian Sea (Fig.1). Several geological/geophysical expeditions were carried out in the Tyrrhenian back-arc basin by ISMAR-CNR, and are well summarized and presented by [Marani, Gamberi and Bonatti(2004)].

figure

Figure 1: Geographical setting of the Marsili Basin, in the framework of the SE Thyrrhenian Sea. Bathymetric data by [Marani, Gamberi and Bonatti(2004),Bortoluzzi et al.(1999)]

To complement the available data while acquiring new geophysical and oceanographical datasets, a collaborative Project was set up by PRAMA (a private firm active in offshore investigation) and several scientific institutions, among them the University of Chieti, the INGV of Rome and ISMAR-CNR of Bologna, aiming to obtain a better picture of the volcanic edifice, both in the surficial than in the deeper structure.

A request for ship time of R/V Universitatis was presented, with the main objectives listed as follows:

• swath bathymetry and Chirp SBP
• magnetometric and gravimetric investigations
• water sampling and investigations
• bottom sampling

A ship period of 11 days, including 1 day of transit was assigned to the project by CONISMA and scheduled for early summer 2006. This paper reports the shipboard activities during the cruise MRS06 with R/V Universitatis . The cruise started in Pozzuoli 2006-07-10 and ended in Pozzuoli 2006-07-22. Weather conditions were generally good to very good. Hereafter, a description of the ship, equipment and their usage is given, along with details of the general settings, performances and some scientific and technical results.