{"id":15248,"date":"2026-07-31T14:30:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T11:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/geoecomar.ro\/?p=15248"},"modified":"2026-08-03T14:38:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T11:38:02","slug":"%f0%9f%8c%8a-mare-nigrum-research-vessel-is-once-again-searching-for-the-secrets-of-the-black-sea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/geoecomar.ro\/en\/noutati\/%f0%9f%8c%8a-mare-nigrum-research-vessel-is-once-again-searching-for-the-secrets-of-the-black-sea\/","title":{"rendered":"Mare Nigrum research vessel is once again searching for the secrets of the Black Sea!\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Expedition MN297 is underway!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

GeoEcoMar\u2019s research vessel Mare Nigrum has set sail again for its 297th oceanographic campaign. On board, a team of GeoEcoMar researchers continues a decades-long story: understanding one of the most fascinating and vulnerable seas on the planet. 🚢<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Black Sea is no ordinary sea. Beneath its calm surface lies the largest anoxic basin in the world - an oxygen-deprived deep where time seems to stand still, and where sediments preserve, layer by layer, thousands of years of climatic and geological history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expedition MN297 explores the southern sector of the Romanian coast, f<\/strong>rom Eforie to Mangalia, focusing on the marine protected areas of this region, up to a depth of 40 meters - where the richness of marine life and the fragility of ecosystems meet. 🗺️<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What we're investigating during this campaign:<\/strong>
🔹 Detailed mapping of the seafloor and active geological processes
🔹 Mapping benthic habitats and assessing their ecological status
🔹 Collecting sediment cores for palaeoclimatic and geochemical studies
🔹 Monitoring water quality and the ecological status of the marine environment<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A special focus of this expedition is the mapping of benthic habitats - the world of the seafloor, where invertebrates, biological communities and the sedimentary substrate form complex ecosystems, often unseen yet essential to the health of the entire sea. By combining acoustic remote-sensing data (bathymetry, sonar) with benthic sampling and direct observations, we map the distribution of these habitats and assess their ecological status. 🐚<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working within the marine protected areas between Eforie and Mangalia gives this campaign a special significance: here, at depths of up to 40 metres, lie some of the most valuable and sensitive habitats in the entire Romanian sector of the Black Sea. Mapping and assessing them helps us identify key areas, track the impact of human pressures, and provide the scientific basis needed for the protection and sustainable management of these areas. 🔬<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every sample brought to the surface, every dataset collected, adds another piece to the great puzzle of the Black Sea. The knowledge is essential for protecting this ecosystem and understanding the undergoing changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Behind these results lies the work of the team on board: researchers and specialists in marine geology, geochemistry, geo-ecology, benthic biology and ecology, and oceanography, alongside the crew of Mare Nigrum, who turn the sometimes demanding conditions at sea into valuable scientific data. 💪<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The expedition is carried out under the COREProgramme, through the projects PN23300101 and PN23300202, which support fundamental and applied research dedicated to the marine environment and the geology of the Black Sea. 🌐⚓<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stay with us - we'll be back with images and updates from the field!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Expedition MN297 is underway! GeoEcoMar\u2019s research vessel Mare Nigrum has set sail again for its 297th oceanographic campaign. On board, a team of GeoEcoMar researchers continues a decades-long story: understanding one of the most fascinating and vulnerable seas on the planet. 🚢 The Black Sea is no ordinary sea. Beneath its calm surface lies the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-projects-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/geoecomar.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/geoecomar.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/geoecomar.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geoecomar.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geoecomar.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15248"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/geoecomar.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15252,"href":"https:\/\/geoecomar.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15248\/revisions\/15252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/geoecomar.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geoecomar.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geoecomar.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}