Understanding marine geohazards in the Mediterranean Sea: tectonic dynamics, cascading events and risk assessment

The Mediterranean Sea, a region defined by the active interaction of the African and Eurasian plates, represents one of the world’s most complex natural laboratories for studying marine geohazards. This tectonically dynamic environment has generated some of the most catastrophic marine events in recorded history, including large earthquakes, tsunamis, submarine landslides, and volcanic eruptions. Its densely populated coastlines, extensive maritime infrastructure, and rich cultural heritage magnify the potential societal consequences of such hazards. Recent multidisciplinary research—combining seismological, geological, and geodetic data—has revealed nuanced insights into fault segmentation, slope instability, and basin evolution, yet major uncertainties remain regarding the interplay of cascading processes and their temporal recurrence. While local hazard assessments exist, a unified basin-scale understanding that integrates both northern and southern margins remains largely absent, hindering the accuracy of early-warning systems and coordinated risk mitigation efforts.

This Research Topic aims to harmonize and advance scientific knowledge on marine geohazards across the Mediterranean Sea by synthesizing ongoing developments in tectonic, sedimentary, and volcanic research. Specifically, it seeks to explore how distinct geodynamic regimes—ranging from subduction and back-arc extension in the north to oblique compression and transcurrent faulting along the African margin—control the spatial variability and recurrence of catastrophic marine events. The objective is to facilitate comparative studies that integrate onshore and offshore datasets, enabling a comprehensive view of deformation mechanisms, slope instabilities, and tsunami dynamics. By fostering collaboration between geoscientists, oceanographers, and hazard modelers, this initiative strives to develop refined, trans-Mediterranean frameworks that improve risk assessment, mitigation strategies, and societal preparedness.

Spanning both coastal and deep-sea domains, this Research Topic is limited to the Mediterranean Basin but embraces all relevant temporal scales and methodological approaches. To gather further insights in this multidisciplinary field, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

o Comparative tectonic and geodynamic evolution of northern versus southern Mediterranean margins

o Cascading hazard processes linking earthquakes, landslides, and tsunamis

o Seismo-stratigraphic and bathymetric analyses of submarine slope instabilities

o Paleo-tsunami and historical event reconstruction for recurrence estimation

o Innovative modeling approaches for tsunami propagation and impact forecasting

o Applications of multi-parametric and geodetic monitoring for early warning systems

o Integrative risk-mapping methodologies bridging marine and terrestrial datasets

Appendix – Article Types: Original Research, Reviews, Methods, and Technology Reports.