Search results for "Marine Sediment"
showing 10 items of 27 documents
Carbon, iron and sulphur cycling in the sediments of a Mediterranean lagoon (Ghar El Melh, Tunisia)
2019
Coastal lagoon sediments are important for the biogeochemical carbon cycle at the land-ocean transition, as they form hotspots for organic carbon burial, as well as potential sites for authigenic carbonate formation. Here, we employ an early diagenetic model to quantify the coupled redox cycling of carbon, iron and sulphur in the sediments of the shallow Ghar El Melh (GEM) lagoon (Tunisia). The model simulated depth profiles show a good correspondence with available pore water data (dissolved inorganic carbon, NH 4 + , total alkalinity, Ca 2+ , Fe 2+ and SO 4 2− ) and solid phase data (organic matter, pyrite, calcium carbonate and iron (oxyhydr)oxides). This indicates that the model is abl…
Microbial communities of polluted sub-surface marine sediments
2018
Abstract Microbial communities of coastal marine sediment play a key role in degradation of petroleum contaminants. Here the bacterial and archaeal communities of sub-surface sediments (5–10 cm) of the chronically polluted Priolo Bay (eastern coast of Sicily, Italy), contaminated mainly by n-alkanes and biodegraded/weathered oils, were characterized by cultural and molecular approaches. 16S-PCR-DGGE analysis at six stations, revealed that bacterial communities are highly divergent and display lower phylogenetic diversity than the surface sediment; sub-surface communities respond to oil supplementation in microcosms with a significant reduction in biodiversity and a shift in composition; the…
Analisi di processo e dinamica della comunità batterica nel trattamento di sedimenti marini con reattori bioslurry
2020
Nella nota sono riportati i risultati di una sperimentazione condotta mediante la messa in esercizio di un reattore bioslurry per il trattamento di sedimenti marini contaminati da idrocarburi. Sono state valutate le performance di processo in termini di rimozione di TPH (86% con velocità di rimozione massima di 36 mgTPH kg-1 d-1) congiuntamente ad altre tipologie di indagini volte ad ottenere maggiori informazioni sulla natura dei processi che si sono sviluppati nel reattore. Nello specifico, è stato utilizzato un approccio di tipo microbiologico mediante l’adozione di una tecnica di sequenziamento di nuova generazione (NGS - Next Generation Sequencing). Dall’analisi dei dati biologici è st…
Dating of marine sediments by using unsupported 210Pb method
2009
In the framework of a more general study on marine species in sediments, it was necessary to obtain a time calibration of the different sections of the sampled sediment columns, both to estimate the pollution of the sediments and, particularly, to study the migration of foraminifers within the column. The method of the unsupported 210Pb, i.e. whose activity is not derived from the radioactive decay of its 226Ra parent, has been used. Since the activity of the supported 210Pb can be determined from the activity of 226Ra, the unsupported 210Pb activity can be calculated as the difference between 210Pb total and 226Ra activities. The unsupported 210Pb decays with its own half-life time, equal …
The PAH composition of surface sediments from Stagnone coastal lagoon, Marsala (Italy)
2006
Abstract This paper examines the presence, distribution, nature and sources of 22 Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are important environmentally and toxicologically, in sediments from the Stagnone coastal lagoon at Marsala (Italy). Analysis was performed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) with selected ion monitoring (SIM). The total concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons ranged from 72 to 18381 μg/kg of dry matrix. The relative standard deviation (RSD) of the replicates on the concentrations of individual compounds ranged from 5% to 20%. The accuracy of method was estimated by analyzing “blank” samples added of known quantities of analytes and the recover percent…
Messa a punto di un protocollo sperimentale per la ricerca di Enterovirus in sedimenti marini
2009
In riferimento al Decreto Ministeriale del 24/01/1996, il controllo dei fondali marini utilizzati per il ripascimento dei litorali, costituisce un passo importante per la valutazione della salubrità dell’ambiente marino e dei prodotti ittici da allevamento, con particolare riferimento alla coltivazione di molluschi eduli lamellibranchi. Diversi studi, infatti, hanno dimostrato come i sedimenti, per le loro caratteristiche chimico-fisiche, rappresentano dei “serbatoi” di agenti microbici di varia natura che, da qui possono essere risospesi nelle acque, compromettendo la salubrità dell’ambiente. Poiché i molluschi eduli lamellibranchi sono organismi filtratori e trattengono agenti patogeni ca…
The Monte San Nicola section (Sicily) revisited: A potential unit-stratotype of the Gelasian Stage
2022
The Monte San Nicola area (Southern Sicily) offers a spectacular exposure of open-marine sediments that were employed in 1998 for defining the Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) of the Gelasian Stage (Upper Pliocene). After the lowering of the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary to ca. 2.6 Ma in 2010, the Gelasian GSSP has been redefined as the base of both the Pleistocene Series and the Quaternary Period, which increased its importance and visibility within the scientific community. However, documentation on the Monte San Nicola reference section is still sparse. In the light of its renewed status, we decided to undertake a complete revision of the Gelasian Stage in its type area, in ord…
Preliminary insights about the treatment of contaminated marine sediments by means of bioslurry reactor: Process evaluation and microbiological chara…
2022
Abstract Contaminated marine sediments represent a critical threat towards human health and ecosystems, since they constitute a potential reservoir of toxic compounds release. In the present study, a bioslurry reactor was studied for the treatment of real marine sediments contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbons. The experimental campaign was divided in two periods: in the first period, microcosm trials were carried out to achieve useful indicators for biological hydrocarbon removal from sediments. The microcosm trials highlighted that the inoculum of halotolerant allochthonous bacteria provided the highest performance followed by autochthonous biomass. Based on the achieved results, in the s…
Hydrocarbons removal from real marine sediments: Analysis of degradation pathways and microbial community development during bioslurry treatment
2022
In this study, real marine sediments polluted by petroleum compounds were treated by means of a bioslurry pilot scale reactor. The treatment performance was evaluated by measuring the removal of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH), coupled to further analyses required to understand the mechanisms involved in the biodegradation process. The maximum TPH-removal efficiency reached 86 % at the end of experiments. Moreover, high throughput 16S RNA gene sequencing was used to describe the microbiome composition in sediment prior to, and after, bioslurry treatment, in order to identify the taxa mostly entailed in the TPH removal process. The raw sediment was mostly colonized by members of Sulfurimon…
Isolation, identification and metabolic characterization of hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria from a polluted harbour in Sicily (Italy)
2014
The petrochemical site of Priolo-Augusta-Melilli (Sicily, Italy), is a Site of National Interest (SIN) due to high levels of environmental contamination of the coastline and a specific "national program of environmental remediation and restoration" was developed in order to allow remediation and restoration of contaminated sites. In order to identify the key hydrocarbon degraders and explore the natural bioremediation potential of the contaminated area, a total of six sediment and sea water cores were collected inside the Priolo Harbour (SR, Italy). After biological (bacterial counts, PCR-DGGE) and chemical-physical characterization (quali-, quantitative measures of hydrocarbons and heavy m…