Pizzi Deneri Field Trips - Etna 2010-2014

Seawater Trace Metals in acidified condition: an accumulation study in the blue mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis off Vulcano Island submarine vents (Italy)

Ocean Acidification studies in the Baia di Levante (Vulcano island, Italy). Advantages and disadvantages of the “in situ” approach.

Years of scientific research have shown that acidification of oceans (OA) is an undisputed fact. Why is it so important to increase knowledge about OA? Because many animals and plants in the ocean have calcium carbonate skeletons or shells, and a decreasing in pH can affect their population health state and the marine-ecosystem structure. Another point of view about OA which must to be considered is that it may alter the behavior of sediment-bound metals, modifying their bioavailability and thus toxicity. The toxic free-ion concentration of metals such as copper may increase by as much as 115% in coastal waters in the next 100 years due to reduced pH. Since increasing atmospheric CO2 over t…

Another kind of “volcanic risk”: the acidification of sea-water. Vulcano Island (Italy) a natural laboratory for ocean acidification studies

Volcanic health hazard: the acidification of seawater and trace metals accumulation study in Blue Mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis). Vulcano Island (Italy)