The Pacific Geoscience Centre's Marine Studies Section participates in a wide variety of multidisciplinary global and local marine geoscience activities. The objectives are to understand geologic processes which have occurred and are occurring in the marine environment. Over 70% of the earth's surface is covered by the oceans and a large proportion of the world's population lives next to the water. By studying marine geologic processes we can better understand the effects these processes will have on humankind.

Examples:

• By learning about deep ocean vents we begin to know more about the heat flow of the earth and about associated mineral deposits which provide economic mines on land.

• By knowing about the thermal structure of the earth, we can better understand the processes of plate subduction and hence assess the likelihood of a subduction earthquake affecting the coast of British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest.

• By understanding the tectonic setting and the earthquake history of a region we can better understand the likelihood of earthquakes affecting this region in the near future and what affect these earthquakes may have on a region.

• By knowing the structure of the sediment layers beneath the seafloor we can predict the location of resource deposits such as petroleum or gas hydrates.

• By knowing about past climates as evidenced in the marine sediment record we can better understand the significant driving forces for these changes and how climate will change in the future.

• By understanding sediment physical properties and depositional history, we can know if deposits are likely to fail in a submarine landslide, and what impact such failures may have on coastal communities.

• By understanding sediment transport we can know what processes are eroding coastal regions and what the best steps are to mitigate loss of property, or know the transport paths for marine pollutants.

• By understanding the sea level history of a region we can know the likely future sea level change and the coastal zone response.

• By knowing the seafloor composition we can know what type of fish are likely to inhabit a region.

These examples reflect just a few of the reasons for studying the marine geologic environment and a few of the programs with which the staff at Pacific Geoscience Centre are involved. Select below to learn about specific programs and the technologies used to collect data in the marine environment.