Workshop “Deep-sea Record of Mediterranean Messinian events” (DREAM)

The International workshop “Deep-sea Record of Mediterranean Messinian events” (DREAM) took place in Brisighella (RA) from May 5 to 8 2013. The workshop has been funded to OGS by ECROD (European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling) and ICDP (International Continental Drilling Program) within the Magellan Plus Workshop Series with the purpose of stimulating new ideas for the scientific drilling of the oceans and continental areas ot the Earth.

Goal of this workshop is to gather three generations of scientists to identify locations for multiple-site riser-drilling in the Mediterranean Sea that would allow to solve the open questions still existing about the causes, processes, timing and consequences at local and planetary scale of the Messinian salinity crisis (MSC). Drilling proposals will be addressed to the use of the drilling vessel Chykyu within the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) operated by JAMSTES (Japan)

52 between researchers and PhD students have participated in the workshop. Among them, the three researchers who published in 1973 the classical Nature article that proposed the Messinian (6-5.3 Million years ago) Mediterranean desiccation hypothesis to explain the genesis of the widespread salt and gypsum deposits of the Mediterranean Area. In the photograph, Ken Hsu, Bill Ryan and Maria Bianca are surrounded lovingly by the participants.

http://www.messinianonline.it

http://www.essac.ecord.org/index.php?mod=workshop&page=call-workshop