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An analysis of the main features of relict dunes and scarcely anthropized zones located along the littoral of the Marche Region is reported. The coast is strongly affected by man-made transformations mostly implemented from the ‘60s of the previous century to face beach erosion triggered by a reduction of river solid load derived from man-made interventions in the hydrographic basins. Presently, no real beach-dune still exists, but, locally, some eroded remnants can be found. The typical vegetation of dunes is very fragmented, depleted and strongly altered. Standing their extremely relevant ecologic function, it is instrumental to carry out actions aiming at preserving these relic dunal areas.

The Mediterranean red coral, Corallium rubrum (L.), has been a valuable economic resource for more than 2000 years. The Sicily Channel and surrounding areas are one of the most famous red coral fishing grounds of the whole region, hosting the deepest ever found living colonies and large sub-fossil red coral deposits; the so-called Sciacca banks are a unique location in the whole Mediterranean Sea. In this paper, a morphometric description of this sub-fossil population is presented for the first time from studies of colonies in the collection of several coral factories from Torre del Greco (Naples), with radiocarbon age estimations and growth rate evaluations. From the results of this study, after several thousand years Sciacca red coral colonies maintained the organic matrix structure with evident annual discontinuities, allowing estimations of the annual growth rate (about 0.3 mm/year) and the average population age (about 33.5 years). These resulting data are similar to the values determined for deep-dwelling living red coral populations. The radiocarbon dating evidenced a range of ages, from 8300 to 40 years before 1950 CE, mostly falling between 2700 and 3900 YBP, suggesting that colonies accumulated over a wide span of time. In view of the tectonically active nature of the area, several catastrophic events affected these ancient populations, maintaining them in a persistent state of early-stage, structurally similar to the those in current over-exploited areas.

Sediments represent a critical compartment of marine coastal ecosystems due to the toxic and long-lasting effects of the contaminants buried therein. Here, we investigated the properties of surficial sediments in front of the Southern Marche Region coast (Central Adriatic Sea, Italy). The grain size of the surficial sediments was determined by X-ray sedigraphy. TN and OC contents were determined by elemental analysis. The concentrations of Al, Fe, Mg, K, S, Ca, Ti, P, Na, Mn, Mg, Li, As, Ba, Ga, Pb, Sr, and Zn were determined by ICP-OES to evaluate their spatial patterns and temporal trends. A Q-mode Factor Analyses was applied and resulted in the identification of three compositional facies (Padanic, Coastal, and Residual) characterized by common biogeochemical, mineralogical, sedimentological properties, transport pathway, and source. Some pollution indicators, such as the enrichment factor, the geoaccumulation index, and the pollution load index were calculated to assess the deviation from the natural background levels. The results showed a pollution by As and Ba due to the human activities in the 20th century. Furthermore, a general decreasing of Al, Ti, P, Co, Cr, Cu, Ga, Ni, Pb, Sc, V, and Y concentrations from the background levels suggested a change in the sedimentation processes during the last decades.

The main environmental variables controlling benthic foraminiferal distributions were identified and used to assess their influence on ecological indices developed as predictors of Ecological Quality Status (EcoQS) in marine ecosystems. Gradient forest and random forest models were applied to assess the predictive value of a selection of abiotic (environmental) and biotic (foraminifera) variables in a costal marine area in the central Adriatic Sea (Italy). This approach yields evidence that the predictor variables sand, silt, Pollution Load Index, and TN have the greatest influence on the distribution of benthic foraminifera in this area. In addition, we identify thresholds for the most important environmental variables that influence ecological indices. These findings contribute to efforts to determine how to best improve sediment quality and environmental stability for marine conservation. Further application of these approaches represents a useful tool for policymakers to survey the diversity of marine organisms and to improve the ability to protect and restore marine ecosystems by identifying predictors of diversity and identifying key thresholds in these predictors.

To evaluate the anthropogenic impact in surface sediments of the Northern and Central Adriatic Sea, dissolved fluxes at the sediment water interface of heavy metals and nutrients on the sea bottom in front of the Po River mouths and along the western side of the Northern and Central Adriatic Sea have been determined. The fluxes have been measured by benthic chamber deployments and calculated by pore water modelling. Pore waters composition have been used also to understand the early diagenesis processes generating the benthic fluxes.Benthic chamber deployments and sediment core collection for pore water extraction have been carried out in three cruises in spring and autumn 2013 and autumn 2014.The study stations have been chosen on the base of previous research results indicating a decreasing heavy metal and organic matter surface content leaving from the Po River mouths (Pérez-Albaladejo et al., 2016). The data obtained have been compared with previous studies carried in the Adriatic Sea (Spagnoli et al. 2010).Results of the 2013 and 2014 cruises and of previous investigations indicate a consistent and rapid dissolved benthic flux decreasing going away from the Po River mouths both southward, eastward and northward.The decreasing regards the final electron acceptors and the organic matter degradation products and some heavy metals.On the whole, different early diagenesis environments have been recognized in the Northern and Central Adriatic Sea: they embrace two end members: from the Po River Prodelta to the Mid Adriatic Depression (MAD) (Spagnoli et al., 2014). In front of the Po River sediments are characterized by high sedimentation rate and by high inputs of fresh marine organic matter, continental organic matter and Fe-oxyhydroxides. These inputs produce high concentrations of organic matter degradation products, strong anoxic environment in the pore waters and high dissolved benthic fluxes. In the MAD the diagenetic environments are characterized by low sedimentation rate and low inputs of reactive organic matter that produce low concentrations of pore-water organic matter degradation products with oxic conditions near the surface and weak benthic fluxes.As regard the two major metals involved in the early diagenesis processes (Fe and Mn), they too show dissolved benthic fluxes decreases from the Po River mouths. Also in this case, this trend is attributed to the high Po River dissolved and particulate, anthropogenic and natural, metal inputs that deposit in the surface sediments of the Po Prodelta (Spagnoli and Bergamini, 1997).The dissolved benthic fluxes of trace heavy metals (Co, Ni, Zn, Cu, Cd, Pb) indicate that some elements, such as Co and Pb, are clearly adsorbed by the sediment that act, for these two elements as sink. Other elements, such as Cu, don’t show a clear north–south trend s, while other elements, such as Cd, indicate a southward decreasing trend suggesting a behavior affected by the Po River inputs and Fe-Mn-oxyhydroxide cycle.

I primi passi e le prime tecnologie. Le profondità marine e la tettonica. Le navi oceanografiche e sistemi di esplorazione. In Italia vi è una buona tradizione per ciò che riguarda lo studio dei fondali, della colonna d'acqua e della biologia marine, i primi istituti e laboratori. Uno studio di Cnr-Irbim Ancona

The Sicily Channel is a NW-SE trending area characterized by three main tectonic depressions (i.e., the Pantelleria, Linosa and Malta basins). Five gravity cores collected in these basins were studied. By means of geochemical analyses the main elements characterizing the sampled sediments were recognized. The nor-malized values of Ti and K allowed identifying some changes in sediment com-position and potential source areas controlling the more recent sedimentation. These source areas were identified as the Pantelleria soil and rocks, Linosa rocks, Sicily stream sediments, Libyan soil and Saharan dust, that differently occur as control factors of the sedimentation in different sectors.

Mercury contents were determined in surface sediments from the Central and Southern Adriatic Sea to gain insight into the processes, factors, and variables affecting its distribution. Mercury concentration was measured by thermal decomposition amalgamation atomic absorption spectrometry in samples collected by box-corer from Ancona to Santa Maria di Leuca during the CNR-PERTRE cruise (16/9-4/10/2016). Sediments were also evaluated for chemical-physical parameters (pH, Eh), biogeochemical composition (total carbon, inorganic carbon, total organic carbon, organic matter) and grain size. The average mercury concentration in the Adriatic Sea sediment was 0.053 mg/Kg (d.w.), range 0.011&ndash, 0.12 mg/Kg (d.w.). Mercury content was mainly affected by grain size and organic matter (OM) distribution, whereas anthropic factors exerted a limited influence. Concentrations followed the distribution of sediment types (clay &gt, silt &gt, sand) due to Adriatic Sea hydrodynamics and were well below the regulatory limits in all samples.

The Lago di Lesina (Lesina Lake, southeastern Italy) is a coastal pond located on an alluvial plain to the north of Gargano Promontory. The aim of this work was to study the depositional and hydrological processes, the benthic environment and the heavy metal sediments pollution of Lesina Lake. The study was carried out by Redox potential, water content, grain-size, mineralogical and biogeochemical analyses in surface sediments collected from 100 sampling stations in the coastal pond bottom. The results showed a predominance of three types of bottom pelitic sediments of different origins and compositions: siliciclastic, carbonatic, and organic. Siliciclastic sediments, which were found especially in the western basin and in the northwestern sector of the central basin, are due to inputs from Acquarotta Canal, some intermittent western streams, and deflation by northerly winds of the sandy barrier that separates the lake from the sea. Carbonate sediments are carried by streams and canals draining the carbonate rocks of the Gargano Mountains and entering the lake from its eastern and southeastern border, these sediments are predominant in the eastern basin and in the southeastern sector of the central basin. Organic matter is abundant throughout the whole lake; it is due to the high productivity of the Lago di Lesina waters that are rich of nutrients for inputs of waters draining the surrounding intensively cultivated agricultural areas. The finer bottom sediments of the lake tend to be removed from the shallower bottoms between the central and eastern sub-basins and near the borders to be deposited in the central portion of the central and western sub-basins. Heavy metal sediment pollution due to anthropic inputs is limited and consists of As, Pb, Cu, and Ni in the western basin, Cu, Zn, and Ni in the eastern basin, and Pb along the northern border.

The aim of this research was to investigate the mercury content in the superficial sediments of the western Adriatic Sea in relation to the present depositional processes and to the Holocene evolution. To do this, other the mercury analysis of in the surface sediment, the data of the biogeochemical composition (TC, IC, TOC, TN, OM, major and minor elements) and of the sediment grain-size were considered

Shallow and deep marine environments are presently subject to strong ecological alterations due to anthropic activities, inputs of chemical pollutants and solid dumps on the sea bottom, or to global processes such as ocean acidification and global climate changes. These alterations can result in variations of the chemistry and of the trophic status of the sea water column, changes in the biogeochemical cycle of chemical elements as well as pollution phenomena, both in the sea bottom sediment and sea water column. To study the biogeochemical cycles of substances affected by the anthropic alteration in shallow and deep marine environments we realized two devices for measuring the fluxes of dissolved chemicals between the sediment and the water column: the Lander Amerigo and the Automatic Benthic Chamber (CBA). Amerigo is a lander able to operate both in shallow and deep marine environments (up to 6000 m depth) while the CBA can be employed on the continental shelf (up to 200 m depth). Moreover, the Lander Amerigo can be used also to deploy on the seafloor different types of instruments for the study of the benthic ecosystems. At present the CBA has been successfully employed in various research projects in shallow environments and environmental anthropic activity evaluations while Amerigo has been successfully deployed and tested in medium and deep marine environments. First datum fluxes, measured both by Amerigo and CBA, show good results, these are consistent with each other and with previous data.

The aim of this work was to identify sedimentary facies, i.e. facies having similar biogeochemical, mineralogical and sedimentological properties, in present and recent fine sediments of the Northern and Central Adriatic Sea with their spatial and temporal variations. Further aims were to identify the transportation, dispersion and sedimentation processes and provenance areas of sediments belonging to the facies. A Q-mode factor analysis of mineralogical, granulometric, geochemical (major and trace elements) and biochemical (organic carbon and total nitrogen) properties of surficial and sub-surficial sediments sampled in the PRISMA 1 Project has been used to identify the sedimentary facies. On the whole, four facies were identified: 1) Padanic Facies, made up of fine siliciclastic sediments which reach the Adriatic Sea mainly from the Po River and are distributed by the Adriatic hydrodynamic in a parallel belt off the Italian coast. Southward, this facies gradually mixes with sediments from the Apennine rivers and with biogenic autochthonous particulate; 2) Dolomitic Facies, made up of dolomitic sediments coming from the eastern Alps. This facies is predominant north of the Po River outfalls and it mixes with Padanic Facies sediments in front of the Po River delta; 3) Mn-carbonate Facies, made up of very fine sediments, rich in coccolithophores and secondary Mn-oxy-hydroxides resulting from the reworking of surficial fine sediments in shallow areas and subsequent deposition in deeper areas; 4) Residual Facies, made up of coarse siliciclastic sediments and heavy minerals resulting from the action of waves and coastal currents; this facies is present mainly in inshore areas.The zoning of the facies, resulting from this study, will make possible the identification, through further investigation, on a greater scale, of more accurate facies borders and the recognition of sub-facies, resulting from secondary or weaker biogeochemical processes. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.

This paper presents a winter carbon budget for the northern Adriatic Sea, obtained through direct measurements during two multidisciplinary cruises and literature data. A box model approach was adopted to integrate estimates of stocks and fluxes of carbon species over the total area. The oligotrophy at the basin scale and the start of primary productivity well before the onset of spring stratification were observed. In winter, the system underwent a complete reset, as the mixing of water masses erased any signal of previous hypoxia or anoxia episodes. The northern Adriatic Sea was phosphorus depleted with respect to C and N availability. This fact confirms the importance of mixing with deep-sea water for P supply to biological processes on the whole. Despite the abundant prokaryotic biomass, the microbial food web was less efficient in organic C production than phytoplankton. In the upper layer, the carbon produced by primary production exceeded the fraction respired by planktonic community smaller than 200 µm. On the contrary, respiration processes prevailed in the water column below the pycnocline. The carbon budget also proved that the northern Adriatic Sea can be an effective sink for atmospheric CO2 throughout the entire winter season.

Viene analizzata l'evoluzione storica del litorale adriatico compreso tra il M. Conero e la foce del F. Tronto, confrontandola con le modificazioni naturali e antropiche. Lo studio parte dalla ricerca, georeferenziazione e digitalizzazione in ambiente GIS di tutte le mappe storiche disponibili e delle osservazioni derivanti da testimonianze archeologiche e documentali, al fine di ricostruire la posizione della linea di riva in momenti successivi, soprattutto in corrispondenza delle foci fluviali. Ciò ci ha permesso di evidenziare che per gli ultimi due millenni gli interventi antropici hanno influenzato la dinamica costiera più delle fluttuazioni climatiche. Per tutti i siti studiati, è stato chiaramente mostrata una stretta relazione tra le variazioni della linea di costa e i processi di forestazione e disboscamento. Tra l'altro, è emerso che la progradazione delle foci fluviali è proseguita fino al 1930, ben dopo la fine della "Piccola Età Glaciale" (intorno al 1850). La suddetta relazione è particolarmente evidente per gli ultimi due secoli, per i quali sono disponibili tanto mappe accurate, quanto censimenti delle superfici boscate. Durante il XIX secolo, nonostante il clima mite favorisse la protezione dei versanti, i diffusi disboscamenti hanno indotto un continuo avanzamento della linea di riva (con tasso medio di 4.95 m/anno per la prima metà del secolo e di 1.08 m/anno per la seconda metà). Nel XX secolo, si è avuto un comportamento più irregolare, con tendenza all'arretramento dopo gli anni '30, quasi esclusivamente in conseguenza degli interventi antropici attuati lungo i bacini idrografici (costruzione di dighe e briglie, escavazioni in alveo, rimodellamento delle aste fluviali, abbandono delle coltivazioni ecc.), che hanno indotto una forte riduzione del trasporto solido fluviale. Per le ultime decadi e attualmente, i fattori che maggiormente condizionano la dinamica costiera risultano essere i vari interventi effettuati lungo le spiagge e davanti ad esse per ridurne l'erosione.

A conclusione del Convegno Nazionale del GNRAC "Erosione costiera: difesa, adattamento o arretramento?" è stata organizzata una breve escursione di mezza giornata lungo la costa "picena" (ovvero lungo il litorale marchigiano a sud del promontorio del Conero), di cui di seguito si illustrano sinteticamente alcuni punti salienti. In particolare, vengono presentate alcune delle principali caratteristiche litoranee presenti in località Porto Sant'Elpidio, Porto Recanati e Sirolo.

Editori del Volume: Atti del Convegno "Erosione costiera: difesa, adattamento o arretramento?". San Benedetto del Tronto (AP) - 5 Giugno 2015. Gruppo Nazionale per la Ricerca sull'Ambiente Costiero (GNRAC).

The environmental quality of marine sediments collected in the area of influence of the Po and Danube Rivers was assessed by using a battery of bioassays based on the use of PLHC-1 cells, zebrafish-Pxr-transfected COS-7 cells, and sea bass ovarian subcellular fractions. This allowed the determination of multiple endpoints, namely, cytotoxicity, oxidative stress, induction of CYP1A, activation of zebrafish Pxr and inhibition of ovarian aromatase. Organic extracts of sediments influenced by the Danube River and collected near harbors and urban discharges showed significant cytotoxicity, CYP1A induction and inhibition of aromatase activity. An analogous response of CYP1A induction and zfPxr activation was observed, which suggests the existence of common ligands of AhR and PXR in the sediment extracts. The study highlights the usefulness of the selected bioassays to identify those sediments that could pose a risk to aquatic organisms and that require further action in order to improve their environmental quality.

The aim of this study was to investigate the spreading pattern and trophic impact of the anomalous Po River flood in the fall of 1994 in the marine area offshore of the Po River delta. The study was carried out by surveying the areal distribution of physical and biogeochemical parameters (pH, redox potential [Eh], water content, grain-size, mineralogy, organic and inorganic C, total N, total organic and inorganic P) in surficial and sub-surficial sediments, and physical-chemical properties (salinity, temperature and dissolved O2) of the water column. Water column investigations highlighted a fresh, turbid and relatively cold Po River water wedge on the basin surface that extended more than 40 km offshore, well above the usual limits of the Po River plume influence, which was a result of slow geostrophic currents and no wave motion in the basin. The distribution of minerals in sediments (such as serpentine and dolomite), derived from river catchments, provided cues on the maximum extension of Po and northern river influences. Biogeochemical tracers such as organic C and organic P, together with C:N ratios, provided indirect evidence on the development of algal blooms owing to the Po River flood run-off. Indeed, they indicated areas where there was the deposition of autochthonous reactive organic matter, derived from fresh plankton biomass. Their location suggests that the maximum development of plankton blooms occurred along the external edge of the plume, where warm basin waters mixed with colder nutrient-rich waters from the river. The data also suggest that significant amounts of newly formed and degrading organic matter reached bottom waters at the centre of the basin, thus increasing the degree of hypoxia.

The objective of this study was to compare two techniques for estimating benthic fluxes of nutrients (nitrate, phosphate, and silicic acid) and Ge/Si flux ratios. In situ flux chambers were deployed, and cores were collected and incubated at 9 sites along the California margin in July 2001. Both techniques were successful at 8 sites, at depths from 100 to 3300 m. Flux chambers were deployed for 1 to 2 d, and cores were incubated for slightly longer on board the ship in a cold room. In some cases, core incubation flux temperature varied by up to 5°C from in situ temperature, and core incubation results were adjusted for this factor based on the effects of temperature on diffusivities and the adsorption of silicic acid. Sites studied had a range in nutrient fluxes of more than an order of magnitude, based on in situ chambers. The temperature-adjusted core incubation fluxes showed a similar, but slightly smaller range. Both methods had similar precision based on replicates, with uncertainties for high flux stations that were 5% to 20% of the mean. Only phosphate showed significant (95% confidence level) spatial variability in replicate cores; the larger in situ flux chambers had less spatial variability. The two techniques did show some systematic differences that are attributed to several artifacts created by core recovery. Silicic acid fluxes from cores were significantly lower than in situ fluxes at 2 sites; overall averages were about 80% of those for in situ chambers. The differences are attributed to reduced macrofaunal irrigation in incubated cores. Nitrate uptake in core incubations at 5 of 8 stations was significantly lower than in situ uptake; shipboard rates for all sites averaged about 66% of in situ chamber rates. This difference is attributed primarily to decreased denitrification rates in recovered cores in response to altered temperature and pressure. Phosphate fluxes from cores were significantly lower at only one site; overall, results for the two techniques were indistinguishable. Only one site had a significantly different Ge/Si flux ratio.

The Lago di Varano is situated on the north side of the Gargano National Park (southeast Italy) and covers a surface area of about 65 km(2). It communicates with the Adriatic Sea through two artificial canals (Foce Capoiale and Foce Varano) located at the two ends of a long and narrow coastal dune. This work presents preliminary results of four seasonal surveys (1999-2000) carried out to measure chemical and physical parameters of the water column (temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and pH) and to analyse a number of biogeochemical characteristics of surface sediments (organic matter, total phosphorus, total nitrogen and total Hg, As, Pb, Cd, Cr, Cu and Ni content). Water analysis indicated poor exchange between the coastal pond and the open sea, limited to autumn and winter. Surface sediments were rich in organic matter, whose distribution was influenced by chemical-physical and hydrodynamic variations in the water column. At the sediment level, the highest values of Cd were found in the central zone of the basin, while the highest Cr values were measured in the central and southeastern areas. With the exception of Cd and Pb, the metal content did not indicate anthropogenic pollution, in particular when compared with the Venice Lagoon and the Central Adriatic Sea.

RADIC is an apparatus for the analysis of Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC) in seawater and pore water both in laboratory and on board. RADIC is based on a UIC coulometer that provides highly accurate absolute determination of carbon in any CO2 containing gas stream, coupled with a modified UIC acidification module in which little volume pore water samples (2ml) or sea water samples (5- 10ml) are injected by a glass syringe with a Chaney adaptor in an heated Swinnerton stripper, for acidification and stripping. By this system the analyses are speeds up, by saving time between different samples, the blanks are reduces and stabilized, improving precision and the accuracy, the costs and on board problems of cylinders are eliminated.

One of the most promising technological solutions in the CO2 Capture and Storage (CCS) is the CO2 injection in the sub-seabed deep saline aquifers. In the sub-seabed CCS a reliable monitoring of possible CO2 seeps is required in order to assure safety, containment lifetime and biological impacts. A useful CCS monitoring approach (the experimental biogeochemical approach) is to determine, before the geological storage, natural baseline levels and benthic fluxes of dissolved inorganic carbon species (pCO2 and DIC) and of other connected parameters (alkalinity, pH and 13CDIC) in seawater in order to characterize the marine carbonate system from a chemically point of view and regarding its natural or anthropogenic origin. Furthermore, the study of the early diagenesis processes generating the observed benthic fluxes is a useful complementary aspect of the CCS biogeochemical monitoring approach. The knowledge of the natural baseline levels and benthic fluxes, before the CO2 injection, will allow the comparison with data obtained after the storage operations so that possible occurrences of unexpected leakages of the CO2 injected in the geological formations under the sea bottom can be verified. This approach could also be useful employed as an "early warning" system SESSIONE D6 96 Epitome 2011 - Geoitalia 2011 in case of possible failure of the CO2 storage. The best method to determine dissolved benthic fluxes is the "in situ" measurement by benthic chamber deployments. The biogeochemical approach is particularly sound in the northern and central Adriatic Sea where numerous previous DIC and other carbonate system connected chemical benthic flux data, various early diagenesis studies and also up to date and appropriate monitoring technologies (automated benthic chamber and on deck laboratory), able to measure "in situ" benthic fluxes, are available and where CO2 sub-seabed storages can be carried out. Previous researches allowed the definitions of nine different diagenetic environments in the northern and central Adriatic Sea; each environment is characterized by: 1) homogeneous particulate matter and dissolved nutrient continental inputs; 2) distances from main sediment sources; 3) bottom sediment composition; 4) organic matter; 5) depths; 6) oxygenation of water column. In each diagenetic environment a natural background value of DIC, alkalinity and pH sediment-water fluxes has been assigned. These background values can be used as natural baseline in the CCS to monitoring possible seeps after the injection of CO2 in depth. At present, various researches are in progress in the Adriatic Sea for the acquisition of new data of DIC and other dissolved chemical sediment-water fluxes and on early diagenesis studies, in order to increase the background knowledge in areas or seasons not covered by previous researches. In particular, in fall 2010 and winter 2011 two cruises have been performed to measure benthic fluxes of dissolved inorganic carbon species and to determine the early diagenesis processes that origin the fluxes in the two extreme seasons in the central-western Adriatic Sea. In these last cruises benthic fluxes have been measured "in situ" by deployments of the ISMAR-CNR and RSE "self-made" benthic chamber and using an on deck laboratory. Furthermore, a technological development research is now being carried out by ISMAR-CNR and RSE for the set up of a full ocean depth (6000 m depth) Lander equipped with three benthic chambers and one micro-profiler.

This review aims to present the current status of studies on geochemical (major minor and trace elements), biochemical (total organic carbon, total nitrogen, isotopic carbon composition, Bacteria, Archaea, phytopigments, proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, humic and fulvic acids), mineralogical (light and heavy minerals, clay minerals) and pollutant (trace metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, pesticides, organic stannic compounds) parameters, grain-size composition and sediment-water interactions (early diagenesis and benthic fluxes) for the bottom sediments of the central and southern Adriatic Sea. The review highlighted gaps in or completeness of the parameters needed for research, of areas in which the parameters were investigated, as well as the interdisciplinary nature of the studies. In general, biogeochemical, mineralogical, grain-size and pollutant studies in the central and southern Adriatic Sea are restricted to limited areas, consider only single parameters without an interdisciplinary approach and, except for some more recent projects, are predominatly out of date. On the whole, there is a lack of an organised study concerning the various parameters for the entire central and southern Adriatic Sea and their evolution over time.

Currently, several operational marine centres issue routine seasonal forecasts produced with coupled oceanatmosphere models. For good result they require also real-time knowledge of the state of marine area as regard as oceanographic and atmospheric parameters. Effectiveness of marine climate knowledge and predictability resides in fast, reliable, scattered and numerous information on the initial marine and atmospheric conditions. The aim of this work is to present a review of the existing real time stations in the Adriatic sea and a critic state of the arte with the aim to propose a new single and standardized coastal oceanographic observatory network based on previous existing oceanographic buoys set up by different projects and institutions and with various features. The network ISMAR could be based on various oceanographic buoys located along the Adriatic Sea coastal waters transmitting real time data, accessible, after a data quality control and sensor/instrument field calibration validation, on internet by a web site. In this way it will possible to have a single system of real time oceanographic and meteorological standardized data available for regional stakeholders, policy makers, economic operators, environmental safety and tourists. Data will also useful to improve forecast systems active for the Adriatic Sea; finally it will greatly improve the knowledge of the main hydrological and meteorological forcing factors in a Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) study area where decadal time series on ecological studies are collected in a collaborative joint effort to depict trends in the trophic status and biogeochemical proprieties of the basin. 1. INTRODUCTION

The main goal of this study is to understand the hydrological and biochemical set up and processes of a marine coastal area located in the western side of the south Adriatic sea (the gulf of Manfredonia) by the use of both satellite images and in situ investigations A water sampling in the gulf of Manfredonia was performed at 18 fixed stations in June 2003; physico-chemical and biological parameters (temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and fluorescence) were measured along the water column and water samples were collected to analyse dissolved nutrients (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate and silicate), total nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), chlorophyll a and total suspended solids. Surface spatial distributions of field collected data were examined to characterize biochemical and hydrographic conditions of the Gulf of Manfredonia and these results were related with the remote sensing analysis data. Remote sensed data (obtained by Landsat 7 TM and Modis Terra) were processed to obtain maps of chlorophyll a, temperature and optical characteristics of the gulf; these maps were compared to in situ data. From physico-chemical measurements no stratification was observed in the water column except for the south-eastern area. High concentrations of silicate and ammonia were observed in the northern zone of the gulf, while nitrate, phosphate, chlorophyll a and total suspended solids distributions showed higher values in the central coastal zone. These results were confirmed by remote sensing analysis; Modis elaboration showed a distribution with higher concentrations of chlorophyll a near the coast and Landsat images highlighted the extension of the surrounding agricultural areas crossed by the two main rivers which discharge into the gulf. The integration between field data with the remote sensing analysis showed to be a valid support in coastal zone management.

In this study we describe mechanisms influencing the spatial distribution of the surface sediments in the Gulf of Manfredonia. Seventy-three samples were collected on a regional grid and analyzed for grain-size, major and trace elements and organic matter content. Sediments contain marine-derived carbonate as well as terrigenous fractions indicating highly heterogeneous sediment composition dictated by different provenance and complex transport processes. Principal Component Analysis provides information about processes involved in the formation and dispersal of the sediments. The regional sediment distribution is function of the Gulf's morphology and sedimentary inputs from fluvial sources, mainly from the Ofanto River, and from the North and Central Adriatic basin. Biogenic carbonate reefs, identified in two restricted coastal areas add complexity to sediment shelf dispersal. The North-Adriatic current flowing southward transports and deposits sediments from the Northern basin in the offshore area of the Gulf while an inner anticyclonic current distributes and mixes northern and fluvial sediment with a clockwise pattern. In order to better assess the fluvial contribution also bedload samples from the main river debouching into the Gulf were sampled, enabling the identification of geochemical indexes to distinguish the role of both fluvial inputs and hydrodynamic processes affecting solid particles dispersion within the Gulf. This study provides a contribution to a qualitative estimate of the sediment supply entailed in the Southwestern Adriatic basin.

Editor: Scottish Association for Marine Science, Scotland, U.K.