Preservation of modern and mis 5.5 erosional landforms and biological structures as sea level markers: A matter of luck?
The Mediterranean Basin is characterized by a significant variability in tectonic behaviour, ranging from subsidence to uplifting. However, those coastal areas considered to be tectonically stable show coastal landforms at elevations consistent with eustatic and isostatic sea level change models. In particular, geomorphological indicators—such as tidal notches or shore platforms—are often used to define the tectonic stability of the Mediterranean coasts. We present the results of swim surveys in nine rocky coastal sectors in the central Mediterranean Sea using the Geoswim approach. The entire route was covered in 22 days for a total distance of 158.5 km. All surveyed sites are considered to…
Tidal notches, coastal landforms and relative sea-level changes during the Late Quaternary at Ustica Island (Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy)
In this paper we present and discuss data concerning the morphostructural evolution at Ustica Island (Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy) during Late Quaternary. New insights on the relative sea-level changes of Ustica are coming from data collected during a geomorphological field survey around the island, together with the bathymetric analysis of the surrounding seabed and 14C datings on samples of speleothems, flowstones and marine shells found inside three selected sea caves. The survey was mainly accomplished on June 2015 through the first complete snorkel investigation off the about 18 km-long volcanic coast of the island, which allowed to precisely define location, relationship and morphometric fe…
Hatching Success of Caretta caretta on a Mediterranean Volcanic Beach: Impacts from Environmental Parameters and Substrate Composition
New data on the potential impact of environmental parameters and the mineralogical nature of the substrate on the hatching success of the loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta on a volcanic beach on Linosa Island in the central Mediterranean Sea are reported. During 2 years of investigation (2018-19), five nests were observed. The temperature and moisture of the nests were determined along with the grain size and mineralogical nature of the substrate. The temperature values of the nests recorded at depths of 5 and 35 cm showed an average temperature incubation of 32.2°C ± 1.4°C and 32.8°C ± 1.6°C, respectively, with peaks close to 37°C. The sedimentological analysis carried out on two cores…
Developments of innovative methodologies for Marine Relict Sand Deposits (DSMRs) identification and remotely-sensed shoreline extraction
This Industrial PhD project is a part of the theme set out in point “Blu Growth” of the National Strategy of Intelligent Specialization (SNSI) approved by the European Commission, which defines among the objectives the sector that refers precisely to the marine extraction industry: activities of extraction of natural resources from the sea, that can be reported to the ATECO code “08.12.0, Extraction of gravel, sand; extraction of clays and kaolin". The proposal includes research actions aimed at the development of innovative systems and tools useful to identify and study the area where is higher the probability to detect the submerged relict sand deposits in some sector of the Mediterranean…