ROME (ITALPRESS) – Between late 2025 and early 2026, a new oceanographic campaign will set sail aboard the research vessel R/V Gaia Blu of Italy’s National Research Council (CNR), aiming to identify the remains of an ancient landmass that once formed a bridge between southeastern Sicily and the islands of Malta and Gozo.
The project, known as BRIDGES, is the result of a collaboration among researchers from the CNR’s Institute of Marine Sciences (Cnr-Ismar), the National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics (OGS), and the University of Malta. The campaign’s two principal investigators are Maria Filomena Loreto (Cnr-Ismar) and Emanuele Lodolo (OGS).
The expedition will take place aboard the Gaia Blu and will run until January 7, 2026.
It has long been known that during the last Ice Age, around 22,000 years ago, sea levels were approximately 120 meters lower than today. As a result, vast areas between Sicily and Malta were above sea level, forming a natural corridor that animals—and possibly early humans—could have used to move between the two regions, facilitating migratory flows, according to a project statement. What is still lacking, however, is a detailed reconstruction of the landscape as it existed at that time.
According to the official statement, “this campaign represents a major opportunity for Italy and Malta to reconstruct that ancient environment with unprecedented resolution.” The BRIDGES expedition will explore the area using state-of-the-art mapping equipment aboard the R/V Gaia Blu.
The team of researchers on board will reconstruct both the present-day and ancient morphology of the seafloor, identify ancient valleys and former coastlines, and collect sediment samples. These data will help determine when and for how long these landscapes were exposed, as well as whether there are any traces indicating the passage of living beings.
-Photo: CNR press office-
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