Instabilites sous-marine etudiees par submersibles

Sediment instability appears to be important as a part of global sedimentary budget. Among the various types of sedimentary instabilities, submarine slides are probably the most spectacular and the hardest to study and predict, although their consequences on human and industrial marine activities can be dramatic. IFREMER is conducting a research project on this topic. An area off Nice (France) has been particularly studied because of its recent activity. Mapping and instability area detection have been carried out. With the possibility of direct interactive observation and highly accurate submarine in -situ operation, the submersible is an extremely efficient tool for sediment studies, but diving purposes have to be precisely defined to provide useful information. In the future, the submersible will still be a major key-tool to study marine sediments, although new systems such as video-ROV will be used complementarily. The present evolution of scientific purposes aiming at a better quantitative comprehension of geological processes might broaden the range of submersible applications in the near future.