Search results for "Central mediterranean"
showing 10 items of 32 documents
Mesozoic Paleogeography of the central Mediterranean Region
2007
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…
Millenial-scale paleoenviromental changes in the central Mediterranean during the Last Interglacial: comparison with European and North Atlantic reco…
2010
Abstract The environment of the central Mediterranean Sea is investigated on the basis of high-resolution planktonic foraminifera and calcareous nannofossil data (mean sampling resolutions of about 80 and 160 yr, respectively). MIS 5 is characterized by warm, oligotrophic and stratified waters, while coccolithophore communities developed a vertical zonation that, in today's oceans, is typical of the low-latitude gyres. The temperate-subtropical configuration of planktonic foraminifera and calcareous nannofossil assemblages is repeatedly transformed into a temperate-subpolar one during the suborbital cooling episodes C25-C18. A comparison with European pollen sequences and North Atlantic cor…
Physiological stress indicators in the plasma of Scyliorhinus canicula captured by botto trawling at two depths.
2022
The quantification of capture-related physiological stress is an important factor when assessing the potential for post-release survival in sharks that are incidentally captured. In the absence of these biological data and when the post-release fate is unknown, effective management plans cannot be formulated and may lead to highly susceptible shark populations being overfished. Here, we measured the levels of lactate, glucose, alanine amino transferase (ALT), aspartate amino transferase (AST), Ca2+, Na+ K+,Cl - Mg 2+ and Pi in the plasma of mature and immature lesser spotted dogfish (Scyliorhinus canicula, herein dogfish) which were incidentally captured at two depths (shallow: 50-200 m, an…
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.
Bridging the knowledge gap on the distribution and typology of vermetid bioconstructions along the Maltese coastline : an updated assessment
2022
In the Maltese Islands, insufficient attention has been paid to vermetid reefs, endemic Mediterranean bioconstructions widely distributed along the southern part of the basin. As a result, this is a largely-overlooked coastal ecosystem despite the multitude of ecosystem services it provides. The perennial urban development in the Maltese Islands calls for the adoption of urgent action to protect coastal habitats, in particular bioconstructions that increase biodiversity and contribute to mitigating the effects of climate change. The objective of our study was to extensively document the presence and typology of the vermetid reef ecosystems along the coast of Malta and Gozo, assessing the oc…
Gathering different marine geology data (seismics, acoustics, sedimentological) to investigate active fluid seepage (AFS) in the southern region of t…
2017
Active Fluid Seepage (AFS) at the seafloor is a global phenomenon associated with seafloor morphologies in different geodynamic contexts. Advances geophysical techniques have allowed geoscientists to characterise pockmarks, mounds and flares associated with AFS. We present a range of marine geological data acquired in the central Mediterranean Sea (northern Sicily continental margin, northwestern Sicily Channel and offshore the Maltese Islands), which allow us to identify AFSs. The AFSs are spatially distributed as clusters, aligned or isolated at different depths, ranging from few decametres offshore the Maltese Islands, up to 400 m offshore north Sicily and in the northwestern Sicily chan…
Neogene to Quaternary evolution of the Calabrian Subduction System, (Central Mediterranean)
2009
We construct an ESE striking to WNW geological cross-section across the Calabrian Subduction System (Central Mediterranean) using seismic near vertical profiles and field data. The interpreted profiles were time-to-depth converted, merged and translated in a geological section stretching from the Marsili Oceanic Basin (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea) to the Ionian accretionary complex . Moving toward the east, the resulting section through the Paola, Amantea, and Crati basins, the Coastal Chain and Sila Massif and Crotone basin. The maximum elongation of these basins change progressively moving toward the east: from NNW in the Paola to NS in the Crati to the NNE in the Crotone basins. Data we pres…
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.