Public Lectures
TOPICS IN MARINE BIOLOGY ‘Ryan and Pittman's Noah's Flood Theory’, by Mr Daniel Schaffer ‘Coral Beaching and Reconstruction of Time Events Using Stony Corals’, by Mr Gal Dishon ‘Caves and Deep Sea Ecosystems’, by Dr Pierre Chevaldonne ‘Exploration of the French Mediterranean Submarine Canyons’, by Dr Maia Fourt ‘Mediterranean Seagrasses: From the Photosynthesising Cell to the Community’, by Prof Sven Beer
‘Recent Research in Marine Biology, undertaken at the Department of Biology, University of Malta’, by various authors of recently completed MSc and PhD projects 17:00 – 18:00 Wednesday 2 October 2013 nd
Thursday rd
3 October 2013 18:00 – 19:00 17:00 – 18:00 18:00 – 19:00 17:00 – 18:00 Friday 4 October 2013 th
18:00 – 19:00 Organised by the Department of Biology at the University of Malta, in collaboration with Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d’Ecologie marine et continentale (CNRS) and ECOOCEAN All lectures will be held in the NBRR, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Malta Attendance is free of charge but those wishing to attend are kindly requested to
register by contacting Ms Michaela Stivala, at the Department of Biology,
University of Malta, Tel: 23402272; Email: Michaela.stivala@um.edu.mt
Further details on the lectures
Ryan and Pittman's Noah's Flood Theory The evidence and debates on Ryan and Pittman's ‘Noah's Flood theory’, which claims the rapid flooding of the Black Sea basin from the Mediterranean following the melting of terrestrial glaciers that came after the ‘last glacier maximum’, will be reviewed. Coral Beaching and Reconstruction of Time Events Using Stony Corals This lecture will address the worrisome phenomenon of coral bleaching, as well as the methods which allow a scientist to ‘travel back in time’ to reconstruct the ancient history of stony corals. The debate on whether coral bleaching is a modern phenomenon or a challenge that coral reefs already faced in the past, will be reviewed. Caves and Deep Sea Ecosystems The deep sea harbours the largest ecosystem on the planet, yet it is still the most remote and unknown. This lecture will include an overview of the main features of deep‐sea communities, which are wither fuelled by organic matter produced photosynthetically in surface layers or by original chemoautotrophic pathways. Shallow water caves are aphotic islands that can be found in the littoral zone. Interestingly, they share many environmental similarities with the deep sea, including absence of light, low water movement and scarce food. Exploration of the French Mediterranean Submarine Canyons Between November 2008 and August 2010 the French agency of marine protected areas (AAMP) financed two deep‐sea exploration cruises, during which 34 submarine canyons, 8 rocky banks and a sea‐mount were explored using the ROV “Super‐Achille” and the submarine “Remora 2000”. The main objective of these cruises was to collect baseline knowledge of the bathyal ecosystem with the 100 ‐ 600 m depth range. The data collected from nearly 300 dives were processed using a dedicated database. Mediterranean Seagrasses: From the Photosynthesising Cell to the Community This lecture will include an overview of the origin and distribution of seagrasses; the traits that evolved in this plant group in order for them to survive in the marine environment; and the photosynthetic mechanisms that allow them to successfully acquire inorganic carbon for their photosynthetic needs in a medium where the availability of carbon dioxide is low. The photosynthetic light utilisation traits in the opportunistic seagrass Halophila stipulacea that is presently 'invading' the Mediterranean, will also be reviewed. Recent Research in Marine Biology, undertaken at the Department of Biology, University of Malta ‐
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‘Macrofaunal diversity of infralittoral cobble beds in the Maltese islands’, by Mr Julian Evans ‘Functional diversity: a new approach in defining biodiversity’, by Mr Juan Jose Bonello ‘Rocky shore assemblages from natural and artificial substrata in the Maltese Islands’, by Ms Leanne Bonnici ‘Influence of hydrodynamic setting on seagrass Posidonia oceanica meadow architecture’, by Mr Matthew Pace ‘The unknown deep seabed around Malta ‐ filling in the gap’, by Ms Kimberly Terribile