Abstract Maritime spatial planning, management of marine resources, environmental assessments and forecasting all require good seabed maps. Similarly there is a need to support the objectives to achieve Good Environmental Status in Europe's seas by 2020, set up by the European Commission's Marine Strategy Framework Directive. Hence the European Commission established the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) programme in 2009, which is now in its fourth phase (2019–21). The programme is designed to assemble existing, but fragmented and partly inaccessible, marine data and to create contiguous and publicly available information layers which are interoperable and free of restrictions on use, and which encompass whole marine basins. The EMODnet Geology project is delivering integrated geological map products that include seabed substrates, sedimentation rates, seafloor geology, Quaternary geology, geomorphology, coastal behaviour, geological events such as submarine landslides and earthquakes, and marine mineral occurrences. Additionally, as a new product during the ongoing and preceding phase of the project, map products on submerged landscapes of the European continental shelf have been compiled at various time frames. All new map products have a resolution of 1:100 000, although finer resolution is presented where the underlying data permit. A multi-scale approach is adopted whenever possible. Numerous national seabed mapping programmes worldwide have demonstrated the necessity for proper knowledge of the seafloor. Acting on this, the European Commission established the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) programme in 2009. The national geological survey organizations of Europe have a strong network of marine geological teams through the Marine Geology Expert Group of the association of European geological surveys (Eurogeosurveys). This network was the foundation of the EMODnet Geology consortium which today consists of the national geological surveys of Finland, the UK, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Albania, Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Russia, Germany, Montenegro and Iceland, as well as marine teams of research organizations in Portugal (IPMA), Bulgaria (IO-BAS), Romania (GeoEcoMar), the UK (CEFAS), Greece (HCMR) and Ukraine (PSRGE, replaced in the fourth phase by Institute of Geological Sciences, NAS of Ukraine). The consortium is further strengthened with experts from six universities: Edge Hill University (UK), Sapienza University of Rome (Italy), University of Tartu (Estonia), University of Crete through FORTH-ICS, Institute of Marine Science and Technology of Dokuz Eylul University (Turkey), and EMCOL Research Centre of Istanbul Technical University – altogether, 30 partners and nine subcontractors. The EMODnet Geology programme is now in its fourth phase, which started in September 2019. In addition to geological information, the wider EMODnet programme aims to also bring together information from European seas on seabed habitats, physical properties, chemistry, biology, human activities and hydrography. This paper describes the EMODnet Geology project and the different end products which were delivered in the end of the third phase and will be further developed during the recent fourth phase of the project.

Abstract Analyses of high-resolution multibeam and sub-bottom profiling data, acquired during marine geological field cruises between 2017 and 2019 in the eastern Gulf of Finland (Baltic Sea), enabled the detailed mapping of Quaternary deposits, and revealed diverse submerged glacial and post-glacial landforms (e.g. streamlined moraine ridges, large retreat moraine ridges, De Geer moraines and kettle holes). The morphology of these glacial features provides evidence of the ice-sheet retreat direction and rate throughout the deglaciation of the region, which occurred between 13.8 and 13.3 ka BP (Pandivere­­–Neva Stage) and 12.25 ka BP (Salpausselkä I Stage). Analysis of sub-bottom profiling, supported by piston long-core sampling, indicates periods of bottom erosion/non-deposition during the Holocene caused by relative water-level regressions. Significant negative relief features are also observed in the area for the first time. These linear and curved V-shaped furrows are several kilometres long and 5 m deep, and are tentatively ascribed to bottom current and gas-seepage processes.

Abstract The European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) Project provides freely available data on European seas. The main purpose of EMODnet is to overcome the fragmentation and dishomogeneity of the available data, providing access to a harmonized and interoperable database. The EMODnet Geology Lot includes information at multiple scales on the seabed and its substrate ( http://www.emodnet-geology.eu/ ). The dataset on ‘Geological events and probabilities’ collects information on landslides, earthquakes, volcanic structures, active tectonics, tsunamis and fluid emissions. The Geological Survey of Italy, which coordinates the collation of ‘Geological events and probabilities’ data, provided guidelines to compile layers complemented by comprehensive and detailed patterns of attributes for each feature in order to characterize each type of geological event. Occurrences of events are often associated with each other, particularly in tectonically active areas. Geological events affect both submerged and coastal environments. Data gathered by EMODnet Geology provide a good basis for further studies, contributing to the outlining of different tectonic settings and providing support to the use of marine resources, as well as to the management of marine-coastal areas particularly regarding the identification and assessment of geological and environmental hazards.

Abstract This paper synthesizes the geology of the Atlantic Margin off the coast of Iberia and surrounding Abyssal Plains using published thematic mapping freely downloadable from EMODNET-Geology portal at different scales. Selected information was chosen in order to highlight mineral occurrences and natural hazards overlaid on geological and morphological maps. Altogether, this information is published and interpreted here for the first time; nevertheless this exercise can be carried out by anyone interested and allows different visualizations of geological objects. Cross-correlations of geological objects and processes can easily arise. Because all of the information (each piece of data and metadata) in the EMODNET-Geology portal has bibliographic references associated, readers are able to find the original source of information. It is shown that clicking in and out of layers of information (that cannot be found all together in a single scientific paper) allows quick cross-correlation using the EMODNET Geology thematic portal. This allows a free, versatile and quick way of cross-correlating geological objects and processes in vast marine areas and their comparison with onshore geology.