ASSEMBLAGE: Workpackages

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ASSEMBLAGE

		Workpackages

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Workpackage 1	Workpackage 6
Workpackage 2	Workpackage 7
Workpackage 3	Workpackage 8
Workpackage 4	Workpackage 9
Workpackage 5	Workpackage 10

Workpackage 1

DWP 1

Project Management

Start date

month 1

Participant codes :

1 (leader)

Person-months per participant:

Objectives

	To have the project progress following the scheduled planning of the work plan (Gantt chart, deliverables and milestones).
	To co-ordinate each partner contribution.
	To enable quick decision making-system to solve/treat problems that may arise during the course of the project.
	To co-ordinate and complete the administrative and financial requirements of the RTD contract.
	To enable circulation flow.

Deliverables

D1: Web site and mailing list
D2: Annual scientific and financial reports / Progress scientific reports
D3: Publications and Proceedings

and Deliverable dates

3
3,13,25
18, 36

Milestones

M1: Consortium agreement and opening website (1%)
M2: Steering Committees meetings and reports (3%)
M3: Scientific Committees and reports (2%)

Workpackage 2

DWP 2

Inventory of existing data and construction of a database

Start date

month 1

Participant codes :

5 (leader)

Person-months per participant:

Objectives

	To review and compile all data relevant to the project.
	To structure the compiled data set in a user friendly format.
	To design and build the project database in a user friendly format.
	To re-evaluate (revalidate) the database through Geographic Information System which will allow geo-referencing, structuring, editing managing and analysing of all the scientific information from the project.

Deliverables

D4: Catalogue of available information – meta-database
D5: Database with existing data
D6: Bibliographic reference list

and Deliverable dates

4
24, 36
24, 36

Milestones

M1: First database based on existing data (2%)
M2: Final database (Website, CD-ROM) (5%)

Workpackage 3

DWP 3

Geomorphology

Start date

month 4

Participant codes :

1 (leader)

Person-months per participant:

Objectives

	Recognition of erosional and ravinement surfaces which are a response of the sediments to sea-level fluctuations.
	Characterisation of the morphology of surface structures such as positive relief (ridges, shorelines) and faults.
	Interpretation of backscatter imagery from a multibeam echo sounder or a side-scan sonar to study active and relict morphological features.
	Selection of areas in which the paleo-geography, paleo-shorelines, sand ridges, paleo-valleys (from the Danube, Dniepr, Dniestr and other rivers) are to be studied.
	Selection of areas where samples are to be taken for the identification and dating of the last sea-level rise.

Deliverables

D7: Interpretation of multibeam and side-scan sonar datain the context of geomorphology
D8: 3D data terrain models
D9.1: Cruise reports (2 months after completion of cruise)

and Deliverable dates

30
5

Milestones

M1: Swath bathymetry and side-scan sonar processing and interpretation (7%)
M2: Final report on the shelf geomorphology (3%)
M3: Cruises followed by cruise reports (1%)

Workpackage 4

DWP 4

Seismic and sequence stratigraphy

Start date

month 4

Participant codes :

1 (leader)

Person-months per participant:

Objectives

	Application of sequence stratigraphic models to correlate the sequences mapped to sea-level fluctuations.
	Recognition of erosional and ravinement surfaces on the seismic sections).
	Analysis of the reflection terminations (erosional truncation, onlap, toplap, downlap) and of the sequence internal configurations (i.e., seismic facies) for identification of small-scale seismic units and their boundaries.
	Selection of areas in which the paleogeography, paleo-shorelines, sand ridges and paleo-valleys (from the Danube, Dniepr, Dniestr and other rivers) are to be studied.
	Selection of areas in which cores are to be taken for the identification and dating of the last sea-level rise.

Deliverables

D10: Interpretation of seismic profiles and the resulting seismicstratigraphic models
D11: Pseudo 3D data terrain models for seismic sequences
D9.2: Cruise reports (2 months after completion of cruise)

and Deliverable dates

24
30
5

Milestones

M1: Seismic processing and interpretation (15%)
M2: Final report on seismic stratigraphy (5%)
M3: Cruises followed by cruise reports (1%)

Workpackage 5

DWP 5

Litho- and biostratigraphy

Start date

month 4

Participant codes :

5 (leader)

Person-months per participant:

Objectives

	Determination of sediments parameters sensitive to sea-level change or correlative change in climate.
	Characterisation of temporal changes in mollusc and macrofossil assemblages so as to assess major environmental and climate changes.
	Analysis of clay minerals to obtain information on source areas and the paleo-depositional environment.
	Isotope studies.
	Reconstruction of vegetation records (which reflect paleo-climatic conditions) as well as changes in the past vegetation using palynology.
	Reconstruction of the paleo-climate using paleomagnetic methods. This involves the characterization of secular variations by means of the depositional remanent magnetisation and correlation with AMS 14C dating.
	Analysis of different types of mineralogy from the point of view of their magnetic properties in order to draw conclusions on the kind of environment or dominant climate at the time of deposition.

Deliverables

D12: Lithological logs, digital photographs, gamma and magnetic susceptibility logs
D13: Report on results of core analyses
D9.3: Cruise reports (2 months after completion of cruise)

and Deliverable dates

20
32
5

Milestones

M1: Core acquisition, opening, sediment sampling and description (8%)
M2: Report on reconstruction of the paleo-sedimentary environment (3%)
M3: Establishment of a stratigraphic framework (3%)
M4: Cruises followed by cruise reports (1%))

Workpackage 6

DWP 6

Geochemistry of sediments and age dating

Start date

month 6

Participant codes :

3 (leader)

Person-months per participant:

Objectives

	AMS 14C age dating of suitable shell material.
	Characterisation of the different states of the paleo-environment using information on the source of organic matter.
	Determination of the time and dynamics of transition between the different paleo-environmental states.
	Ba and barite will be used as productivity proxies and therefore as a record of climate changes leading to variations in ocean productivity.
	Data from chemical analyses of redox sensitive elements.
	Mineralogical data from bulk sediments and clay fraction and chemical analyses of detrital elements.

Deilverables

D14: Isotope curves; tables of absolute ages obtained fromon dating of samples
D15: Report on reconstruction of the paleo-depo-environment

and Deliverable dates

36
36

Milestones

M1: Stable isotope measurements and age dating (7%)
M2: Report on organic geochemical and trace element contents (2%)
M3: Report on reconstruction of the paleo-environment (2%)

Workpackage 7

DWP 7

Occurrence of gas hydrates

Start date

month 5

Participant codes :

1 (leader)

Person-months per participant:

Objectives

	The aim is to determine the occurrence of gas hydrates in the North-western part of the Black Sea and its importance for possible further exploration.
	Investigate the effect of methane released from gas hydrate dissociation.
	Determine the isotopic values (18O and 13C) of foraminifera carbonate tests to define beginning, duration, and termination of gas hydrate dissociation.
	The objective is to map from multibeam and seismic data the presence of oceanic hydrates in order to prevail their effect on slope and sediment stability.

Deliverables

D16: Report on velocity analysis and on core informationabout methane release
D17: Gas Hydrate localisation maps with their extend in isolines

and Deliverable dates

34
32

Milestones

M1: Seismic data interpretation, determination of BSRs (2%)
M2: Quantification of gas hydrate and free gas zone in sediments (1%)M3: Final reports of gas hydrate reservoir characteristics in the Black Sea and estimation of the influence of the dissociation of gas hydrates stored in the oceanic sediments on the atmosphere methane content (1%)

Workpackage 8

DWP 8

Organic matter, sapropels

Start date

month 6

Participant codes :

4 (leader)

Person-months per participant:

Objectives

	Detailed investigations of sedimentary organic matter including studies on biomarkers and on stable isotope distributions.
	Characterization of different states of the paleo-environment using information on the amount and source of organic matter.
	Role of freshwater discharge and seawater input in the initiation, formation and cessation of Black Sea sapropels
	Interaction between freshwater and seawater closely related to the development and cessation of anoxic conditions

Deliverables

D18: Report on the nature and source of organic matter in the sediments
D19: Report on the chronology of continental and marine events and their rolein the evolution of anoxia

and Deliverable dates

32
32

Milestones

M1: Evaluation of mineral syngenesis and diagenesis in relation to sapropel (3%)
M2: Report on the role of sapropel formation in climate change (1%)
M3: Provision of a scenario for interactions between climate, sea-level rise, Black Sea circulation, and anox a.(1%)

Workpackage 9

DWP 9

Modelling of sapropel formation and other sedimentary processes

Start date

month 1

Participant codes :

8 (leader)

Person-months per participant:

Objectives

	Construction of an ecosystem model for the Black Sea based on previous developments.
	Coupling of this model with a 1D physical model and aggregation of state variables.
	Harmonisation of the criteria for building an efficient model of long-term changes of the Black Sea system with the objectives of the projec
	Extension of the modelling work to include the direct coupling of a low-resolution basin-wide general circulation model with the ecological model.

Deliverables

D20: A computationally efficient ecological model to evaluate impactsof climate change
D21: Quantification of climate change impacts and sensitivity ofthe Black Sea system
D22: Making available results of this WP to other WP’s for acomprehensive data interpretation
D23: Quantification of key physical and biological processescontrolling the Black Sea ecosystem

and Deliverable dates

12
24
30
30

Milestones

M1: Set-up of 1D physical model (1%)
M2: Set-up of the ecological model and of the reduced gravity model for the Bosphorus plume, optimisation of parameters (1%)
M3: Coupling of models and process studies (3%)
M4: Scenarios of long-term climatic changes (3%)
M5: Regionalisation of climatic impacts during particular time slices with the aid of a 3D model (2%)

Workpackage 10

DWP 10

Assessment of the B-S sedimentary system related to global change

Start date

month 31

Participant codes :

1 (leader)

Person-months per participant:

Objectives

Detailed integration and co-ordination of the results of geomorphologic, stratigraphic and litho-biostratigraphic interpretation for a fuller understanding of the processes affecting sedimentation in this particular inland basin for the last Quaternary period with advises on exploitation of the North-western Black Sea resources.

The aim is to validate or refute the hypothesis of a rapid flooding event in the Black Sea during the Holocene. Confirmation of flooding 7,150 yr ago would open up the possibility of human settlement (Neolithic villages) on the shelf prior to this event and eventually provide a historical background for the tale of the Flood that was described in the scripture and passed down through the generations. A synthesis of data from WP2 to WP9 will shed light on this issue.

Deliverables

D24: Report on a general synthesis of the data acquired andanalysed
D25: Assessment of the last sea-level rise in the Black Sea
D26: Assessment of the North-western Black Sea sedimentary system, with highlights on the resources

and Deliverable dates

36
36
36

Milestones

M1: Synthesis of results WP2-WP9 (4%)
M2: Report on sea level fluctuations during the past 25,000 yr and the related sediment processes (3%)
M3: Integration of historical data with results from our observations, models and synthesis as an integrated base (3%)