After my participation to the conference in Victoria (British Columbia), I had the chance to accompany my supervisor (Marzia Rovere) and 3 people from ISMAR to the Eni laboratories in Milan. As they are involved in the SPOT Project (Potentially Triggerable Offshore Seismicity and Tsunamis, ABSTRACT), they had a special authorization to access the data room for a limited time (2 weeks). My supervisor made the demand if I also could have the access to some of the data for my PhD.

Eni is an energy company, one of the global oil and gas super-players employing 33,000 people and operating in oil and gas exploration, production, refining and selling. This one-week visit was a great opportunity to visualize 2D Multi-Channel Seismic profiles they collected in the east of the Gela Basin. One of my main observations is that the pre-existing topography controlled the extension of the MTDs (Mass Transport Deposits).  Moreover, I was able to define a few geological ages along the slope by picking horizons on seismic lines where drilling well profiles are located. In fact, drilling wells were recovered on the Malta Plateau and some of the core logs are accessible online (ViDEPI). Thanks to this, I extended the horizons picked (representing different geological time moments) towards my study area. This was not an easy exercise because many crossing lines have to be picked before reaching the study area and the picking is not always obvious from one line to another. This is why it makes it easier to choose drilling wells (which also have the data available online) close to the study area to reduce the risk of misinterpreting. 

I would like to say thank you to my supervisor for asking an access to the data room and her precious advice, the Eni company for granting access to the data, and my colleagues from ISMAR for answering my questions and helping me with my work.