Search results for " central Mediterranean."
showing 10 items of 18 documents
Influence of dissolved organic matter on rare earth elements and yttrium distributions in coastal waters
2010
International audience; Data collected during this study indicate that dissolved Y and REE (rare earth element) behaviour can be monitored through shale-normalised ratios. Relationships occurring between these ratios suggest that leaching from lithogenic materials is the main source of REE in the studied area. This process involves riverine detrital matter in the inner area of the Gulf of Palermo. Features of shale-normalised patterns and the relationship recognised between dissolved Fe and Y/Ho suggest that REE are released from Fe-rich coatings of atmospheric dust. Observed similarities between dissolved Fe and chlorophyll- content suggest that leaching of Fe-rich atmospheric particulates…
A SMALL INVADER CONQUERS SICILY: AMPHISTEGINA LOBIFERA (FORAMINIFERA: AMPHISTEGINIDAE)
2018
The highly invasive Amphistegina lobifera (Larsen, 1976), a benthic foraminiferal species native to the Red Sea, has colonized the Eastern Mediterranean through the Suez Canal and altered the native community structure. More recently, it has been reported from Malta and the Pelagian Islands within the Sicily channel. Here, we report new records from the southern coasts of Sicily, where we found it abundant both in the soft-bottom sediment and as epiphyt on algae. The occurrence of A. lobifera in Pantelleria and Favignana islands represents the Mediterranean westernmost record of this non-indigenous species.
Calcareous Nannofossil Biostratigraphy of the Central Mediterranean Basin during the last 430 000 years
2009
Quantitative analyses on over 2300 samples were carried ut on late Quaternary calcareous nannofossil assemblages from a central Mediterranean Sea sedimentary sequence (ODP Site 963A). Our results indicate that Emiliania huxleyi dominated the assemblages between 0 and 45.7 kyr BP; Gephyrocapsa muellerae between 45.7 and 177.3 kyr BP; small Gephyrocapsa between 177.3 and 263.5 kyr BP; Gephyrocapsa caribbeanica from 263.5 kyr BP down to the basal sample of our investigation, at about 430 kyr BP A comparison with similar reports from Atlantic Ocean sites indicates that the boundaries of the acme intervals identified in this study fall within the same Marine Isotopic Stages as the Atlantic Ocean…
MIS 5.5 highstand and future sea level flooding at 2100 and 2300 in tectonically stable areas of central mediterranean sea: Sardinia and the pontina …
2021
Areas of the Mediterranean Sea are dynamic habitats in which human activities have been conducted for centuries and which feature micro-tidal environments with about 0.40 m of range. For this reason, human settlements are still concentrated along a narrow coastline strip, where any change in the sea level and coastal dynamics may impact anthropic activities. We analyzed light detection and ranging (LiDAR) and Copernicus Earth observation data. The aim of this research is to provide estimates and detailed maps (in three coastal plain of Sardinia (Italy) and in the Pontina Plain (southern Latium, Italy) of: (i) the past marine transgression occurred during MIS 5.5 highstand 119 kyrss BP
Species identification of the psammophilous tenebrionid beetles Phaleria acuminata Juster, 1852 and Phaleria bimaculata (Linnaeus, 1767) from central…
2013
Dominating global arid environments, from desert to coastal dunes, most Tenebrionidae are highly specific in their habitat preferences and display limited dispersal potential, thus exhibiting a remarkable degree of regional genetic and morphological differentiation. The tenebrionid genus Phaleria is speciose and widely distributed, with P. acuminata and P. bimaculata having a wide Mediterranean distribution, with numerous morphological differentiations at population level, often described as different taxa of doubtful taxonomical significance. In order to investigate the variability of the central Mediterranean populations of P. bimaculata and P. acuminata and to compare the results obtaine…
Morphological variability in and distributional data on phaleria bimaculata populations from islands of the central mediterranean area
2011
This study aimed to collect new taxonomic and distribution data on Phaleria bimaculata (L.) (Coleoptera Tenebrionidae) from Sicily (southern Italy), the circum-Sicilian islands and the Maltese archipelago. Particular attention was paid to the diagnostic morphological features observed in the populations sampled, focusing on the subspecies Phaleria bimaculata marcuzzii Aliquò. P. bimaculata individuals were collected from 20 different locations, of which 2 were located in the Sicilian mainland, 9 in circum-Sicilian islands and 9 in the Maltese Islands. In addition, four Phaleria acuminata Kuster populations were also recorded along southern Sicilian shores. The two Phaleria species were neve…
1200-yr high-resolution terrestrial climate archive from the middle of the Mediterranean: The sedimentary record from Lake “Specchio di Venere” on Pa…
2011
The special location of Lake "Specchio di Venere" on Pantelleria Island in the Sicily Channel (Mediterranean Sea) between Tunisia and Sicily offers a unique terrestrial archive recording atmospheric changes, which are otherwise difficult to decipher in the marine records from this area. The lake is an endorheic saline basin with a maximum depth of 12.5 m. As the water input depends on rainfall, precipitation variations influence changes of the lake's water chemistry. In summer 2008, Lake Venere was cored with a modified Livingstone corer revealing a composite sedimentary sequence of 10.29 m length. Two radiocarbon dates form a preliminary age model indicating a very high sedimentation rate …
The first confirmed record of the Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896 (Decapoda, Brachyura) from Maltese waters
2022
The invasive portunid species Callinectes sapidus is hereby recorded for the first time from Maltese waters, thus updating the known distribution of this decapod of Atlantic origin within the Mediterranean. Potential introduction pathways of the species to Maltese waters are discussed.
La crisi dei migranti nel Mediterraneo Centrale: le operazioni Search and Rescue non sono un fattore di attrazione
2021
We present a synthesis of some results of our research on the migrant crisis along the Central Mediterranean Route. In the uncertain North-African geopolitical scenario, characterized by Libya’s instability, our results show that, contrary to common beliefs, the search and rescue operations (SARs) at sea are not a pull factor and do not contribute to increase the probability of dying at sea: SARs save the lives of migrants. The migrant flow originates from the structural conditions of the sending countries and is facilitated by the criminal networks, whose activity needs to be contrasted.
Silene crassiuscula (Caryophyllaceae), a new species from Sicily
2015
Silene crassiuscula,, a new species of S. sect. Dipterosperma, is described and illustrated from North-Western Sicily. It is an annual halophyte with succulent growing on carbonatic or calcarenitic rocks of coastal stands. From the morphological point of view , S. crassiuscula appears to be similar to the species belonging to the S. colorata group especially to S. nummica, from Sardinia, from which it differs in several features chiefly regarding the habit, leaves, inflorescences, floral pieces and seed micro-morphology. An analytical key of the taxa belonging to this section is also provided.