COMPLETION OF PROJECT PHASE A (Work Package 1)
14-23 JULY 2020
This crucial and important stage of borehole drilling in Lemnos was carried out in July and involved the use of a percussive machine on a motorized vehicle which travelled from Thessaloniki to the island. The actual fieldwork work was supervised by the geologists of AUTH and members of the research team Professors G. Syridis and O. Koukousioura. The drilling holes were opened in spots carefully chosen after the positive results of the geophysical study carried out by Professor P. Tsourlos of AUTH were completed. The recovered core samples were successful in terms of the overall depths reached and their content.
Following a strict geological protocol, the samples obtained were taken to the Department of Geology of AUTH for testing and the necessary evaluation as to their quality and promising results. Present in the process of the opening up of the core samples were, apart from the geologists G. Syridis and O. Koukousioura, the sedimentologist Dr. M. Gkouma and the anthracologist Professor M. Ntinou.
The preliminary assessment of the results was extremely positive, with the samples thought to be of high quality and promising for the presence of rich biomarkers regarding the palaeoenvironment, the geomorphological evolution of the area, chronology etc.
Moreover, the systematic sampling of sediments was carried out for a series of laboratory analysis by research members (magnetic measurements by Professor E. Aidona, palaeoenvironmental proxies by Professor M. Ntinou etc.) and for absolute chronology purposes. Drones were also used for producing topographical plans and reconstructing the relief of the area.
