Search

Climate change occurring in the last decades in the Mediterranean basin is allowing to experiment with the cultivation of new exotic crops from different parts of the world. The present study focuses on the evaluation of coffee plant adaptation to the Mediterranean climate and determining the chemical composition of coffee beans (Coffea arabica cv. Caturra) grown in Sicily, Italy. Weather variables' data (air temperature, relative humidity and light exposure) for the location of the study were studied. Antiradical capacity, total phenolic content, polyphenolic, fatty acids, amino acids profiles, alkaloids and other bioactive compounds of nutraceutical and cosmetic significance of coffee husks (comprising mostly outer skin and pulp) and seeds cultivated in Mediterranean climate. The study revealed that in coffee cherry cultivated in the Mediterranean climate, similar amounts of chemical constituents such as fatty acids, amino acids, polyphenols, flavonoids, chlorogenic acids and vitamins were found concerning coffee grown in the equatorial regions of the earth called "coffee belt". • Coffee plant adaptation to the Mediterranean climate; experimental crops of Coffea arabica cv. Caturra grown in Sicily, Italy were studied. • Antiradical capacity, total phenolic content, polyphenolic, fatty acids, amino acids profiles, alkaloids and other bioactive compounds of Mediterranean coffee husks and seeds were investigated. • Studied coffee, from the point of view of bioactive and nutritional components, was comparable to those of tropical origin despite very different climatic conditions. • The use of Sicilian coffee could be stimulated by the new demands of consumers who are increasingly looking for a product with a low environmental impact, and high nutraceutical qualities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We present the results of a study carried out on the littoral extending south of the Catania town (eastern Sicily) with the aim of identifying the causes responsible for the strong erosional processes, started after the 1950s and accentuated in the last decade. This shoreline, known as “La Plaja” beach, represents one of the unique areas of eastern Sicily, from geological, ecological and socio-economic point of views, and its progressive thinning has a strong impact especially for environmental as well as touristic aspects. The variations of shoreline evolution through time, as they are connected to the Simeto River mouth evolution, have been evaluated through the comparison of the available cartographic sources, which comprehend topographic maps, aerial photos and satellite images. Moreover, the retreating process occurring in the last four decades has been quantitatively estimated along fourteen transects perpendicular to the shoreline direction. Our data point to more severe erosion close to the Simeto River mouth and in the southern tract of the shoreline (maximum retreat of about 204m, with average rates of 2.75m/yr), and slower retreat in the northern one (maximum retreat of about 55m, with average rates of 0.74m/yr). The analysis of the variations in the hydrological parameters occurring upstream within the Simeto River drainage basin, highlights a drastic reduction of the solid and liquid discharge, coinciding with the entry into operation of several hydraulic works, including dams, fluvial barrages and artificial embankments, after the 1950s. Such a reduction cannot be blamed on a variation in the pluviometric regime of the area, as the statistical analysis of the rainfall data indicates an almost steady trend during the last century which could not have produced any relevant effect. Neither could a variation in the wave regime have triggered more intense erosional processes along the shoreline, as no significant change is observable in the wave parameters either. Thus, the sediment supply reduction and the consequent coastline retreating, is mainly attributable to the installation of hydraulic works, coupled with the progressive destruction of the coastal dune belt due to human building activities. In the absence of suitable interventions, which should also consider the possibility of removing some of the existing hydraulic works, a further reduction, ranging from 20 to 100m, of the coastline stretch is expected in the next ten years. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This article presents a petrographic comparison of the Rosso Ammonitico facies of Western Sicily and the original Rosso Ammonitico Veronese of Northern Italy based on a total of 27 sections. The Rosso Ammonitico has been the subject of numerous controversies that range from bathyal to shallow-water platform sedimentation. Therefore it seemed interesting to verify if the term Rosso Ammonitico has the same geologic connotation from region to region. The Middle-Upper Jurassic Rosso Ammonitico of Western Sicily is a condensed succession formed during a period of extensional synsedimentary tectonics related to the spreading of the Ionian Ocean. Slope-to-basin or pelagic carbonate deposits characterize the sedimentation which consists of reddish mudstones and wackestones. The abundant fauna is composed of radiolarians, protoglobigerinids, Saccocoma, Bositra associated with ammonites. A few ferruginous hardgrounds, Fe–Mn oxide crusts and Mn-coated condensation horizons are also present. The red matrices contain abundant Fe–Mn encrusted, microbored and bioeroded bioclasts. Sporadic Fe–Mn oncolites composed of amorphous Mn-minerals and goethite are also conspicuous. The matrix, as well as the shells and the fillings of the complex associated veinlets, are frequently altered into calcite microsparite. Submicronic iron bacterial and fungal filaments associated with mineralized extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) are observed in the matrix. They record dysaerobic microenvironments at or near the sediment–water interfaces. Early mineralized discontinuities enhanced by subsequent pressure dissolution are reported in the succession. Mn–(Ni) bacterial filaments are exceptionally observed in the cortex of the Fe–Mn oncolites. As a consequence of an early lithification, the Mn filaments are poorly preserved. The pigmentation of the rock is due to the dispersion of submicronic oxyhydroxides (now goethite and amorphous iron) formed by bacterial mediation during early diagenesis in microaerophilitic environments. As in the case of the original ‘Rosso Ammonitico Veronese’, Fe and Mn bacteria/fungi were able to produce bioconstructions which have no bathymetric significance. The limiting factor must have been the oxygen content which was low in these very quiet and relatively deep environments. Thus the Rosso Ammonitico of northern and southern Italy have a number of points in common, but some obvious dissimilarities are observed that explain some of the various sedimentological interpretations. Among them, the chemical composition is of particular importance, more Fe is present in Veneto (Northern Italy) while Mn is associated with the Sicilian Rosso Ammonitico. The Sicilian localities were more proximal to oceanic magmatic sources which were related to the activity of the oceanic crust. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study aims at evaluating the control exerted by fracture stratigraphy and diagenetic processes on oil first migration through an outcropping, mixed carbonate-siliciclastic succession. The present work included results of sedimentological, paleontological, mineralogical, petrographic, structural, and microstructural analyses carried out on organic-rich shales exposed at the Favignana Island of Sicily, Italy. The analyses focus on Upper Triassic yellowish siltstones and greyish laminated dolomitic limestones, which form a 10's of m-thick succession exposed along the westernmost portion of the Sicilian fold-and-thrust belt. The studied succession deposited in a coastal lagoon associated to a wide carbonate platform, in which anoxic bottom conditions allowed the preservation of the organic matter forming catagenetic patches and veins/fractures infill. In fact, two orthogonal fracture sets perpendicular to bedding are pervaded by organic matter. They are hence interpreted as structural elements that affected the paleofluid circulation and oil migration within the Triassic source rock. These two orthogonal sets form the background fracture network predating the formation of three other sets infilled mainly with calcite cements. The latest fracture set also includes barite cements implying a hydrothermal origin (<200 °C), as supported by the R1 and R3 mixed-layer Illite-Smectite (I–S) stacking. Data are consistent with a burial depth of the sedimentary succession of about 3 ± 0.5 km. In light of these considerations, the study area might represent an outcropping stratigraphic and structural analogue of the source rocks buried in the offshore of western Sicily and northern Tunisia. • Triassic source rocks of western Sicily, Italy. • Outcrop analogue study of Triassic subsurface carbonate plays. • Anoxic coastal lagoons as depositional settings for Upper Triassic organic matter. • Background fractures acted as conduits for oil first migration. • Three main diagenetic phases recorded in the mixed carbonate-siliciclastic source rock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high resolution seismic stratigraphic study of the western edge of the Malta Plateau (central Mediterranean Sea) was conducted to reconstruct the depositional mechanisms of the shelf-slope system since the end of the Messinian salinity crisis (MSC; 5.3 Ma). The accurate interpretation of a large grid of variable-resolution seismic reflection profiles (multichannel and Sub Bottom) allows us to identify and map a Plio-Quaternary sedimentary sequence overlying the Messinian evaporites. The stratal pattern of this sequence is the result of a clinoform prograding system that constitutes the internal structure of a sedimentary shelf developed in a ramp about 2° slope with bathymetries that do not exceed 200 m. This type of shelf is a physiographic feature where the shelf edge separates littoral from bathyal realms, differing from the definition of continental shelf that implies the presence of a continent-ocean margin. The evolution of the western edge of Malta Plateau differs from adjacent sectors. Unlike to the nearby Gela Basin, where the Plio-Quaternary sedimentary sequences were affected by the thrusting of the Sicilian-Maghrebian chain until Middle Pleistocene, in the Malta Plateau the post-Messinian sedimentation was mainly controlled by subsidence and sea level fluctuations. In particular, the Malta Plateau represents a back bulge depozone where moderate fluvial sediment supply together with continuous subsidence favoured the progradation of the upper Pliocene-Pleistocene shelf-slope system at bathymetries not exceeding 200 m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]