The RECORD_2013 oceanographic cruise (Geochemical response of deep-sea corals to paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic variations in the Strait of Sicily) was carried out according to priority objectives functional to some international (MISTRAL / PALEOMEX / COFIMED) and national (RITMARE) projects, and EU-COCONET. In particular, it aimed to: 1) Acquire hydrological transects with sampling of water for the physico-chemical characterization of water masses; 2) Carry out the first multidisciplinary survey (mapping, geophysics, biology, ROV documentation and hydrology) of the new white coral area discovered in the summer of 2103 off the coast of Sardinia; 3) To carry out a geophysical survey of the Biserta canyon (Tunisia) and its exploration for the possible identification of current and sub fossil deep coral sites; 4) Obtain sediment samples in the Tunisian sectors of the Sardinian Channel and the Sicilian Channel functional to late Holocene paleoclimatic studies.