Research

Submarine slope instability and submarine landslides represent a major geohazard for offshore infra-structures (platforms, pipelines, cables and sub-sea installations) and may even cut back into onshore facilities. They can create local, destructive tsunamis that pose a threat to coastal structures and population. My research interest encompasses several aspects of this phenomenon. I am interested in the interaction between external loading mechanisms and pre-conditioning factors in triggering such events. Particularly, I am interested in the mechanisms by which fluid excess pore pressure develop in marine sediments, and how margin architecture controls the location of submarine slope failures. I am also interested in establishing frequency-magnitude-distribution relationships so as to better characterize the geohazard from these events and the control that natural climatic variations exert in this relationship. Mass Transport Deposits have also a specific meaning in sequence stratigraphic analysis which might be useful in hydrocarbon exploration. On volcanic island environments I am interested in the processes of volcano flank collapse, evolution of the volcanic edifices and interaction with hydrothermal systems. Submarine landslides and associated deposits are one of the many processes that act on continental margins and only one of the various mechanisms by which sediment can be transferred from shallow depths to the deep sea. I am therefore interested in the overall evolution of continental margins and more specifically in submarine canyons, that act as the main conduits for sediment to the deep sea. Glacio-marine depositional systems and the evolution of glaciated continental margins (Arctic and Antarctic) offer a unique record of the past extension of former ice sheets and ice sheet dynamics and is therefore of relevance for understanding the past climate of our planet. The deep marine environment is largely inaccessible by direct means. My research relies mostly on geophysical tools and expensive sampling and in-situ measuring techniques. Therefore I also have an interest in marine technology and subsurface imaging techniques, particularly in high-resolution mapping, 3D seismics and in-situ measuring techniques.