IDIL Fieldwork: From Ocean Drilling to Field Discoveries in Italy 🌊

We are pleased to share the recent experience of Geoffrey, a student in our “Earth and Water under Global Change” master’s program (Earth track), during his research trip to Italy 🌍

Geoffrey attended a conference in Sestri Levante, Liguria, where he took part in presentations and poster sessions alongside researchers from various disciplines. All of them were working on samples collected during Expedition 399 of the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) at the Atlantis Massif site in the Atlantic Ocean.

Each scientist contributed their expertise, particularly in geochemistry (Geoffrey’s specialty) but also in magnetism, petrology, deformation, and microbiology. These interdisciplinary exchanges allowed them to compare their findings and gain a better understanding of the links between magmatic, hydrothermal, and microbiological processes within the oceanic lithosphere.

The trip also included two days of fieldwork. Geoffrey first explored the Ligurian coast, near Bonassola and Levanto, to observe terrestrial analogues of the rocks studied at sea. He then traveled to the Erro-Tobbio massif to examine geological processes similar to those on the ocean floor.

This fieldwork experience allowed Geoffrey to connect his field observations with laboratory data and deepen his understanding of rock weathering and the origins of life at depth. Congratulations to Geoffrey on this remarkable scientific achievement! 👏