MARCAN was a 5-year research project that investigated the role of offshore groundwater in the geomorphic evolution of continental margins, and a Starting Grant project supported by the European Research Council.
Launched in January 2017, MARCAN was led by Aaron Micallef of the University of Malta and GEOMAR, who is now a contributor to the Project ‘RESources in Coastal groundwater Under hydroclimatic Extremes’ (RESCUE), funded by Water 4 All and co-funded by the European Union.
MARCAN addressed the hypothesis that topographically driven meteoric groundwater plays a key role in the geomorphic development of passive continental margins. The objectives of MARCAN were to:
define the characteristics and dynamics of topographically driven meteoric groundwater systems in passive continental margins and;
demonstrate that topographically driven meteoric groundwater is an important geomorphic agent in passive continental margins.
The Project specifically focused on submarine canyons eroding bedrock and cohesive sediments in passive continental margins.
MARCAN produced a podcast and documentary videos, as well as a plethora of publications and conference communications.
The 3 year-long RESCUE Project, which already began in March 2024, aims to build knowledge on offshore and deep onshore low salinity aquifers in European coastal areas, to evaluate novel freshwater resources, and help secure a steady supply of water to both population and industry, in times of hydroclimatic extremes. In this context, the Project also attempts to highlight other projects and outputs to bring the topic of groundwater into the spotlight.
Led by the University of Trieste (UNITS), and with a consortium that includes the National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics – OGS, Ruden AS, University of Derby (UoD) and University of Malta (UM), RESCUE’s objective is to help establish the foundations for the evaluation of new resources for local and regional policy makers, while the global applicability of the outputs will allow upscaling to Europe-wide or other large areas worldwide, where water is needed.
