Search results for "Reef"

SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF DENDROPOMA CRISTATUM (MOLLUSCA, GASTROPODA) ADULT BIOMASS ON A VERMETID REEF

2023

A spatial characterization of Dendropoma cristatum biomass was carried out on a Vermetid reef in north-western Sicily. Biomass distribution of adult specimens is not homogenous in the different areas of the reef, with an increasing trend from the inner edge to the outer edge, while the central pool supports intermediate values of vermetid biomass. Considering the entire reef area, the cuvette has the highest Dendropoma biomasses of the bioconstruction, even if the highest surface-biomass ratio is found in the outer edege.

Assessment of the Sabellaria alveolata reefs’ structural features along the Southern coast of Sicily (Strait of Sicily, Mediterranean Sea)

2022

The honeycomb worm Sabellaria alveolata is a gregarious tube-dwelling polychaete that builds remarkable biogenic reefs in marine coastal waters. Sabellaria alveolata reefs are considered valuable marine habitats requiring protection measures for their conservation, as they play a key role in the functioning of coastal ecosystems. Sabellarid reefs are extensively developed along the Atlantic coasts of Europe and reported for the Mediterranean Sea and the Italian coasts, where large reefs have been recorded in several localities. Fragmentary information is available on their health status, Sabellaria reefs thus being listed as “Data Deficient” in the Red List of Marine Habitats. To fill this …

An unbounded family of log Calabi–Yau pairs

2016

We give an explicit example of log Calabi-Yau pairs that are log canonical and have a linearly decreasing Euler characteristic. This is constructed in terms of a degree two covering of a sequence of blow ups of three dimensional projective bundles over the Segre-Hirzebruch surfaces ${\mathbb F}_n$ for every positive integer $n$ big enough.

Dendropoma lower intertidal reef formations and their palaeoclimatological significance, NW Sicily

1999

Abstract Most carbonate rocky shores of NW Sicily are marked by a coalescence of shells of the gastropod Dendropoma in a construction that is variably developed as a response to wave impact. Here, we review all the available information on these constructions and find that the fossil reefs are reliable sea-level indicators. The thickness of the reef samples never exceeds 30–40 cm below sea-level, whereas all 14 C dates fall within a range of few centuries. Some small fragments ejected by violent sea storms date back to 2500 years cal BP. No samples older than 6200 years cal BP have been detected so far. The present distribution of Mediterranean vermetid platforms should result from a northw…

Artificial Reefs in Sicily: An Overview

2000

Sicilian cave drawings from the Grotta del Genovese, Isle of Levanzo (west Sicily) ca. 12 000 B.C. show silhouettes of dolphins, tuna, groupers and bass which, together with remains offish (tuna, groupers, bass and others), limpets and oysters from Grotta dell Uzzo, north-western Sicily, indicate the importance of fish and shellfish in the diet of coastal populations of that time (Villari, 1992a, 1992b). Remains of turtles (Caretta caretta), tuna and sharks are evidence of fishing activity during this period (Villari, 1995).

Improved constraints on open-system processes in fossil reef corals by combined Th/U, Pa/U and Ra/Th dating: A case study from Aqaba, Jordan

2019

Abstract Here we present 230Th/U, 231Pa/U as well as 226Ra/230Th isotope ratios from five fossil reef corals of Last Interglacial origin from the Gulf of Aqaba, Northern Red Sea. The results show clear evidence for open-system behaviour with strongly elevated δ234U values and U concentrations indicating post-depositional U addition. The combined application of all isotope systems enables us to better constrain the nature and timing of the open-system processes than only based on the 230Th/U data. Quantitative modelling of the diagenetic processes allowed us to reproduce the trends in the isotope ratios. Two of the five corals were probably affected by two separate phases of U addition with …

Speleothems in a north Cuban cave register sea-level changes and Pleistocene uplift rates

2018

Porites corals from Crete (Greece) open a window into Late Miocene (10Ma) seasonal and interannual climate variability

2006

Variations in the biotic composition of marine shallow water carbonates document global climatic changes. However, a discontinuous stratigraphic record and uncertainties regarding the ages limit the significance of shallow water carbonates as palaeoclimatic archives on geological time-scales. Notwithstanding these deficits, the environmental information stored in the skeleton of reef biota is a unique source of information that resolves seasonal to interannual climate variability in geological time. Application of the method to corals from carbonate rocks is usually restricted to the past 130,000yr, because the aragonite skeleton undergoes rapid diagenetic alteration. Consequently, reconstr…

LA-ICP-MS analyses on coral growth increments reveal heavy winter rain in the Eastern Mediterranean at 9 Ma

2009

Abstract Sediment particles incorporated into coral skeletons reflect variation in composition and amount of suspended material in ambient water during coral growth. They can be used to identify periods of enhanced storm frequency and associated freshwater discharge. Tortonian (Late Miocene) Porites corals from Crete (Aegean Sea, Eastern Mediterranean) show pronounced annual density bands in X-ray photographs. δ18O compositional variability reflects the annual banding equivalent with a ~ 7 °C annual sea surface temperature (SST) cycle over a seven-year period. Fine sediment particles are concentrated in layers with skeletal porosity parallel to growth increments. Variations in the chemical …

230Th/U dating of Last Interglacial brain corals from Bonaire (southern Caribbean) using bulk and theca wall material

2016

Abstract We compared the suitability of two skeletal materials of the Atlantic brain coral Diploria strigosa for 230Th/U-dating: the commonly used bulk material comprising all skeletal elements and the denser theca wall material. Eight fossil corals of presumably Last Interglacial age from Bonaire, southern Caribbean Sea, were investigated, and several sub-samples were dated from each coral. For four corals, both the ages and the activity ratios of the bulk material and theca wall agree within uncertainty. Three corals show significantly older ages for their bulk material than for their theca wall material as well as substantially elevated 232Th content and (230Th/238U) ratios. The bulk mat…