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Emerging evidence of rhodolith bed complexity and heterogeneity poses a challenge to monitoring strategies and questions about the role of abiotic factors in controlling the observed morphostructural diversity. Mollusk thanatocoenoses quickly respond to environmental conditions, expressing fidelity to biocoenosis and representing, thus, a useful ecological/paleoecological tool to unravel this heterogeneity. In this research, we studied three distinct rhodolith beds from the Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy), in a range between 40 and 100 m of water depth, together with their mollusk thanatocoenoses, sediment size, and oceanographic conditions. The beds are all heterogeneous and rarely correspond to a specific rhodolith morphotype and shape. On the contrary, the study of the associated thanatocoenoses led to distinguish at least five different assemblages within the known variability of the Coastal detritic (DC) association. DC and deep mud (VP) mollusk species dominate hanatocoenosis A, which is associated with mixed sediment and a low hydrodynamic regime. Thanatocoenosis B corresponds to an assemblage in which DC species mixed with species of adjacent vegetated bottoms in sandy sediment with a medium hydrodynamic. Thanatocoenosis C includes species related to muddy coastal detritic (DE) and offshore detritic (DL) associated with sand and a variable proportion of praline and branch morphotypes. Thanatocoenoses D and E include a wide range of detritic species (DE DC, DL) together with VP and coralligenous (C), associated with exclusive praline and gravelly sand (Thanat. D), or a mixed proportion of branch and praline and mixed sediment (Thanat. E). Our results demonstrate that the study of mollusk thanatocoenoses provides insights into the diversity within and among heterogeneous rhodolith beds. Moreover, rhodoliths, as part of the sediment, create microhabitats suitable for a wide range of mollusk species that contribute to the formation of complex thanatocoenoses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ancient hydrocarbon-seep sites known as "Calcari a Lucina" are common in Miocene strata of northern Italy and typically consist of carbonate deposits dominated by large lucinid, bathymodiolin, and vesicomyid bivalves. Here we report two new sites found in Upper Miocene strata at Monte Mauro near Brisighella in the Emilia-Romagna province. One is unusual by being embedded in unconsolidated siltstone without any carbonate, but yet, consisting of the typical, seep-restricted bivalves Bathymodiolus moroniae and Archivesica aharoni vesicomyid clams and bathymodiolin mussels. The second deposit is dominated by the lucinid Megaxinus bellardianus, which has never been reported from a Miocene seep deposit in this region, despite being common in coeval siliciclastic sediments nearby. This species emphasizes biogeographic relationships between Upper Miocene seep faunas in the Mediterranean region and the tropic Indo-West Pacific Ocean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a very high-resolution bathy-morphological map of the offshore sector around the Scoglio d’Affrica islet (northern Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy). The study area covers a sector of 45 km2, between 3 and 85 m depth. Its central part, i.e. the apex of the Ridge, is characterised by a flat or gently sloping seafloor, where three mud volcanoes, and 250 pockmarks are recognised. Differently, the western and eastern Ridge flanks are steeper and characterised by 60 quasi-rectilinear escarpments and small ridges, more than 20 morphological highs, and elongated channels occasionally floored by bedforms. The seafloor shallower than 40 m is covered by Posidonia oceanica, forming compact and continuous or fragmented meadows intermingled with sandy patches. The main map represents the bathy-morphological setting of the area, which is largely affected by fluid seepage, providing insights for habitat mapping and preliminary marine geohazard assessment due to the violent gas outburst from mud volcanoes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared to their fossil counterparts, living brachiopods are investigated far less often, due to their occurrence in remote environments such as dark caves or deep environments. Due to the scarcity of studies targeting in situ brachiopods' populations, large-scale information on their distribution and ecological preferences is still lacking, especially on hardgrounds. The extensive employment of remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), however, has opened up the chance to better explore this taxon's diversity and ecology in the mesophotic and bathyal zones. The analysis of over 600 h of video footage collected from 624 sites, from 40 m to 1825 m, located along the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian coasts of Italy and the Sicily Channel, allowed for a large-scale investigation. The four identified species, Novocrania anomala, Gryphus vitreus, Megerlia truncata and Terebratulina retusa, emerged as common macrofaunal components of the explored habitats, especially between 150 m and 250 m, with high occurrences in the northern areas, especially on offshore seamounts. All species can form dense aggregations of individuals, with M. truncata showing the densest populations on steep rocky terraces (up to 773 individuals m−2). Except for G. vitreus, the only species also recorded on soft bottoms, the others were found exclusively on hardgrounds, with N. anomala showing a peculiar ability to exploit anthropogenic substrates such as terracotta amphorae. No stable species-specific associations were noted, even if numerous species were frequently observed together. Although brachiopods do not show the conspicuous tridimensionality of large filter-feeders, their substrate occupancy and their role in pelagic–benthic processes support their importance in deep-sea Mediterranean ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early Pleistocene marine deposits in southwestern Umbria (Orvieto–Allerona area, Italy) recently revealed the presence of more than forty carbonate conduits distributed over 2 km along the Paglia riverbed. In order to investigate their origins, analyses of their mineralogy, δ18O and δ13C stable isotopes, and organic geochemistry were conducted. All the carbonate conduits are made of euhedral microcrystals of dolomite with subordinate quartz, plagioclases, and micas. The stable carbon and oxygen isotope values of the bulk concretionary carbonates range from −0.57 to +4.79‰ (δ13C) and from +1.58 to +4.07‰ (δ18O), respectively. The lack of organic geochemical biomarkers of anaerobic methane oxidation (AOM) and the very low values of extractable organic matter suggest a non-biological origin for the dolomite precipitation. The latter is probably related to the rise of volcanic carbon dioxide due to the incipient Vulsini magmatism recorded in Early Pleistocene marine deposits all around the study site. The spatial distribution of the structures indicates that the upward migration of the CO2 was controlled by the fault system, while the vertical development of the conduits suggests that carbon dioxide degassing occurred, with multiple events. Carbon dioxide was probably stored in pockets within the clayey sediments until the pressure exceeded the eruptive threshold. These structures represent the first documentation of a volcanic carbon dioxide marine seepage event in the Umbria region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a shallow dark cave along the coast of Capo Palinuro (Campania, Italy), the finding of an unusual aggregation of individuals belonging to Marionia blainvillea (Gastropoda, Nudibranchia) has allowed to identify a population of Cervera atlantica (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Alcyonacea) and to add this latter to the list of the hosts preyed by this tritoniid nudibranch. This association was confirmed by a second observation in a dark shallow cave in the Island of San Pietro (Sardinia, Italy). Moreover, a subsequent internet data mining shed light on the diet of M. blainvillea adding useful ecological notes on the scarcely known trophism characterizing Marionia species. Cervera atlantica is reported for the first time along the continental coast of Italy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Framed into a robust stratigraphic context, multivariate analyses on the Holocene palaeobiological record (pollen, benthic foraminifers, ostracods) of the Po coastal plain (NE Italy) allowed the investigation of microtidal ecosystems variability and driving parameters along a 35‐km‐long land–sea transect. Millennial‐scale ecosystem shifts are documented by coeval changes in the meiofauna, reflecting variations in organic matter–water depth (shallow‐marine environments) and degree of confinement‐salinity (back‐barrier settings). In‐phase shifts of vegetation communities track unsteady water‐table levels and river dynamics in freshwater palustrine areas. Five environmental–ecological stages followed one another crossing four tipping points that mark changes in relative sea level (RSL), climate and/or fluvial regime. At the culmination of Mediterranean RSL rise, after the 8200 event, remarkable growth of peatlands took place in the Po estuary, while low accumulation rates typified the shelf. At the transgressive–regressive turnaround (~7000 cal a bp), the estuary turned into a delta plain with tidally influenced interdistributary embayments. River flow regime oscillations after the Climate Optimum (post‐5000 cal a bp) favoured isolation of the bays and the development of brackish wetlands surrounded by wooded peatlands. The youngest threshold (~800 cal a bp), which led to the establishment of the modern delta, reflects a major avulsion of the Po River. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lower Pliocene deposits of Pairola (Liguria, Italy) display the otherwise rare occurrence of rockforming amounts of barnacles (mostly belonging to the extinct Euromediterranean species Concavus concavus). Three main facies are recognised in the investigated succession: a barnacle-dominated facies, which formed along a shallow (<15 m deep) nearshore environment, a foraminifera-dominated facies from relatively deeper waters (40-100 m), and an intermediate facies forming at the boundary of the other two. These facies and their relationships suggest deposition in a flooded valley -- a kind of setting that was common in the Mediterranean after the Messinian Salinity Crisis. Differing from other rias, the Pairola basin was exposed to strong waves, resulting in conditions favourable to barnacles. Sedimentological and stratigraphic observations indicate that the Pairola succession formed within a timespan covering both cold and warm phases. This is relevant because the sub-tropical foraminifer Amphistegina is ubiquitous throughout the succession. Amphistegina occurs in the Pliocene and lower Pleistocene (Gelasian) of Northern Italy, but not in the remainder of the Pleistocene, not even its warm portions. This genus is currently recolonizing the Mediterranean and is projected to reach the northern coast of the basin soon, foretelling that Anthropocene temperatures are going to overcome those of the late Pleistocene warm periods and reach those of the Pliocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Submarine canyons play pivotal roles in the physical, biological and ecological processes of coastal areas, especially in closed or semi-closed basins as the Mediterranean Sea, influencing the biodiversity and the abundance of the benthic fauna. On February 2013, during the Tyrrhenian Gravity Flows (TyGraF) campaign, samples have been collected along the Gioia Canyon Basin (Italy) with the aim to describe the taxonomical composition and the abundances of the macrobenthic assemblages, filling the gap of knowledge in this area. A total of 93 taxa were identified, and the Annelida was the phylum with the highest number of specimens and most diversified (46 taxa). The polychaetes Sternaspis scutata, Prionospio cirrifera and Monticellina sp., the bivalves Thyasira sp.1 and Saccella commutata and the amphipods belonging to the genera Ampelisca and Harpinia showed the highest densities in the studied area; however, results suggest low values of the abundances of the macrobenthos if compared with those generally reported for other canyons, both inside and outside the Mediterranean Sea. The marine biotic index (AMBI) highlights that the canyon system and the surrounded area were slightly disturbed and characterized by a high percentage of tolerant taxa. This study is the first baseline for future analyses of the macrobenthic communities of this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In marginal Mediterranean sub-basins the first phase of the Messinian salinity crisis (MSC) is recorded by primary sulfate evaporites (Primary Lower Gypsum unit); in deeper settings, the gypsum makes lateral transition into shales and marls usually barren of calcareous fossils that can hamper the identification of the MSC onset. The Govone section (Piedmont Basin, NW Italy) represents an opportunity to examine in detail the pre-MSC interval and the transition to the first stage of the MSC in a relatively deep marginal basin in the northernmost sector of the Mediterranean. We provide herein an age model for the Govone section, based on an integrated stratigraphic study, including cycloctratigraphy, magnetostratigraphy and micropaleontology (foraminifera and calcareous nannofossils) of the pre-MSC interval and the transition to the MSC. Chron C3An.1n has not been recognized in the study succession, most likely due to early diagenetic processes. Thus, the last occurrence of Turborotalita multiloba occurring two lithological cycles above the second influx of G. scitula, is the event that best approximate the MSC onset and is consistently recorded across the Piedmont Basin, with higher abundance respect to coeval Mediterranean successions. The calibration of the lithological cyclicity by means of these two bioevents allowed to recognize that, unlike other Mediterranean sections, the disappearance of calcareous microfossils occurs before the MSC onset, probably, in response of diagenetic processes favouring the dissolution of calcareous shells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrothermal venting is rather prevalent in many marine areas around the world, and marine shallow vents are relatively abundant in the Mediterranean Sea, especially around Italy. However, investigations focusing on the characterization of meiofaunal organisms inhabiting shallow vent sediments are still scant compared to that on macrofauna. In the present study, we investigated the meiobenthic assemblages and nematode diversity inhabiting the Secca delle Fumose (SdF), a shallow water vent area located in the Gulf of Naples (Italy). In this area, characterized by a rapid change in the environmental conditions on a relative small spatial scale (i.e., 100 m), we selected four sampling sites: one diffusive emission site (H); one geyser site (G) and two inactive sites (CN, CS). Total meiofauna abundance did not vary significantly between active and inactive sites and between surface and deeper sediment layers due to a high inter-replicate variability, suggesting a pronounced spatial-scale patchiness in distribution of meiofauna. Nematofauna at site H presented the typical features of deep-sea vents with low structural and functional diversity, high biomass and dominance of few genera (i.e., Oncholaimus; Daptonema) while from site G we reported diversity values comparable to that of the inactive sites. We hypothesized that site G presented a condition of “intermediate disturbance” that could maintain a high nematode diversity. Environmental features such as sediment temperature, pH, total organic carbon and interstitial waters ions were found to be key factors influencing patterns of meiofauna and nematofauna assemblages at SdF. Even though the general theory is that nematodes inhabiting shallow vent areas include a subset of species that live in background sediments, this was not the case for SdF vent area. Due to a marked change in nematode composition between all sites and to the presence of many exclusive species, every single investigated site was characterized by a distinct nematofauna reflecting the high spatial heterogeneity of SdF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although general trends in transgressive to highstand sedimentary evolution of river‐mouth coastlines are well‐known, the details of the turnaround from retrogradational (typically estuarine) to aggradational–progradational (typically coastal/deltaic) stacking patterns are not fully resolved. This paper examines the middle to late Holocene eustatic highstand succession of the Po Delta: its stratigraphic architecture records a complex pattern of delta outbuilding and coastal progradation that followed eustatic stabilization, since around 7·7 cal kyr bp. Sedimentological, palaeoecological (benthic foraminifera, ostracods and molluscs) and compositional criteria were used to characterize depositional conditions and sediment‐dispersal pathways within a radiocarbon‐dated chronological framework. A three‐stage progradation history was reconstructed. First, as soon as eustasy stabilized (7·7 to 7·0 cal kyr bp), rapid bay‐head delta progradation (ca 5 m year−1), fed mostly by the Po River, took place in a mixed, freshwater and brackish estuarine environment. Second, a dominantly aggradational parasequence set of beach‐barrier deposits in the lower highstand systems tract (7·0 to 2·0 cal kyr bp) records the development of a shallow, wave‐dominated coastal system fed alongshore, with elongated, modestly crescent beaches (ca 2·5 m year−1). Third, in the last 2000 years, the development of faster accreting and more rapidly prograding (up to ca 15 m year−1) Po delta lobes occurred into 30 m deep waters (upper highstand systems tract). This study documents the close correspondence of sediment character with stratal distribution patterns within the highstand systems tract. Remarkable changes in sediment characteristics, palaeoenvironments and direction of sediment transport occur across a surface named the 'A–P surface'. This surface demarcates a major shift from dominantly aggradational (lower highstand systems tract) to fully progradational (upper highstand systems tract) parasequence stacking. In the Po system, this surface also reflects evolution from a wave‐dominated to river‐dominated deltaic system. Identifying the A–P surface through detailed palaeoecological and compositional data can help guide interpretation of highstand systems tracts in the rock record, especially where facies assemblages and their characteristic geometries are difficult to discern from physical sedimentary structures alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Un-fragmented stratigraphic records of late Quaternary multiple incised valley systems are rarely preserved in the subsurface of alluvial-delta plains due to older valley reoccupation. The identification of a well-preserved incised valley fill succession beneath the southern interfluve of the Last Glacial Maximum Arno palaeovalley (northern Italy) represents an exceptional opportunity to examine in detail evolutionary trends of a Mediterranean system over multiple glacial-interglacial cycles. Through sedimentological and quantitative meiofauna (benthic foraminifera and ostracods) analyses of two reference cores (80 m and 100 m long) and stratigraphic correlations, a mid-Pleistocene palaeovalley, 5 km wide and 50 m deep, was reconstructed. Whereas valley filling is chronologically constrained to the penultimate interglacial (Marine Isotope Stage 7) by four electron spin resonance ages on bivalve shells ( Cerastoderma glaucum), its incision is tentatively correlated with the Marine Isotope Stage 8 sea-level fall. Above basal fluvial-channel gravels, the incised valley fill is formed by a mud-prone succession, up to 44 m thick, formed by a lower floodplain unit and an upper unit with brackish meiofauna that reflects the development of a wave-dominated estuary. Subtle meiofauna changes towards less confined conditions record two marine flooding episodes, chronologically linked to the internal Marine Isotope Stage 7 climate-eustatic variability. After the maximum transgressive phase, recorded by coastal sands, the interfluves were flooded around 200 ka (latest Marine Isotope Stage 7). The subsequent shift in river incision patterns, possibly driven by neotectonic activity, prevented valley reoccupation guiding the northward formation of the Last Glacial Maximum palaeovalley. The applied multivariate approach allowed the sedimentological characterization of the Marine Isotope Stage 7 and Marine Isotope Stage 1 palaeovalley fills, including shape, size and facies architecture, which revealed a consistent river-coastal system response over two non-consecutive glacial-interglacial cycles (Marine Isotope Stages 8 to 7 and Marine Isotope Stages 2 to 1). The recurring stacking pattern of facies documents a predominant control exerted on stratigraphy by Milankovitch and sub-Milankovitch glacio-eustatic oscillations across the late Quaternary period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bologna is one of the most ancient cradles of medical knowledge, as the city hosts one of the oldest medical faculties in the world. Among its best known institutions there is the Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute, founded in the late nineteenth century, whose history is strictly connected with the evolution and development of the Italian orthopaedic practice of the last 120 years. The present manuscript acknowledges the main contributions by Francesco Rizzoli, Alessandro Codivilla and Vittorio Putti, who prompted the foundation and the international recognition of the Rizzoli Institute and the related Bolognese Orthopaedic School. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrating analysis of the benthic palaeoecological record with multivariate ordination techniques represents a powerful synergy able to provide an improved characterization of coastal depositional facies in a sequence stratigraphical perspective. Through quantitative analysis of benthic foraminifer, ostracod and mollusc associations from the postglacial succession of Core M3 ( Arno coastal plain, Tuscany, Italy), and application of detrended correspondence analysis ( DCA) to the mollusc sub-data set, we offer a refined picture of stratigraphical variations in faunal content from a paralic depositional setting, and reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental gradients that account for such variations. Despite distinct ecological behaviours, and taphonomic and sedimentological constraints, a strong ecological control on meio- and macrofaunal biofacies and taxa turnover is documented across the study succession. Amongst all possible mechanisms that may play a role in 'shaping' fossil distribution, the ecological signal driven by salinity represents the most prominent factor controlling the composition of fossil associations in the cored succession. Molluscs can even provide outstanding quantitative estimates of palaeosalinity along the sampled core. When plotted stratigraphically, the three fossil sub-data sets show consistent patterns of vertical evolution that enable prompt identification of the key surfaces for sequence stratigraphical interpretation in otherwise lithologically indistinguishable deposits. The concomitant maximum richness of species with strong marine affinity, paralleled by the highest DCA salinity estimates, allows recognition of the maximum flooding zone, dated to ∼7.7 cal. ka BP, within a homogeneous succession of outer lagoon clays. These clays are sandwiched between early transgressive, swamp to inner lagoon deposits and overlying prograding coastal−alluvial plain facies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Seafloor topography and grain size distribution are pivotal features in marine and coastal environments, able to influence benthic community structure and ecological processes at many spatial scales. Accordingly, there is a strong interest in multiple research disciplines to obtain seafloor geological and/or habitat maps. The aim of this study was to provide a novel, automatic and simple model to obtain high-resolution seafloor maps, using backscatter and bathymetric multibeam system data. For this purpose, we calibrated a linear regression model relating grain size distribution values, extracted from samples collected in a 16 km2 area near Bagnoli–Coroglio (southern Italy), against backscatter and depth-derived covariates. The linear model achieved excellent goodness-of-fit and predictive accuracy, yielding detailed, spatially explicit predictions of grain size. We also showed that a ground-truth sample size as large as 40% of that considered in this study was sufficient to calibrate analogous regression models in different areas. Regardless of some limitations (i.e., inability to predict rocky outcrops and/or seagrass meadows), our modeling approach proved to be a flexible tool whose main advantage is the rendering of a continuous map for sediment size, in lieu of categorical mapping approaches which usually report sharp boundaries or rely on a few sediment classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salento, the southern portion of Apulia region (SE Italy), is a narrow and elongated peninsula in carbonate rocks, with prevailing low coastlines, locally interrupted by high rock cliffs. The long stretches of low coasts are marked by typical karst landforms consisting of collapse sinkholes. As observed in many other karst coastal settings worldwide, development of sinkholes may be particularly severe along the coasts, where both natural and anthropogenic processes contribute to accelerate the dissolution of carbonate rocks and subsidence processes, even influencing the coastline evolution. Following a previous study, where the main features of sinkholes at Torre Castiglione (Taranto province) were investigated and described, and a preliminary susceptibility map produced, at the light of updated data and elaborations in the present paper we perform a detailed morphometric analysis on the sample of identified sinkholes. The main morphometric parameters generally used for sinkhole characterization have been considered in this study: shape of the sinkhole, azimuth and length of maximum and minimum axes, depth, elongation ratio, and distance from the shorelines. Each of them is described, both as individual parameter and in conjunction with the others, in the attempt to identify the main factors controlling development of sinkholes in the area, and their evolution as well. With regard to this latter aspect, beside simple morphometry of the sample of sinkholes at Torre Castiglione, we also focused our attention on the likely relationships existing between distribution and shape of the sinkholes and the tectonic discontinuities. To investigate the matter, a three-stage analysis has been carried out in this study by means of: field measurements of the fractures bounding the sinkholes, field measurement of the long axes azimuth of the elongated sinkholes, comparison of the previously described sets with the strikes of the main regional geological structures. The obtained results show, in addition to the coincidence of the main regional discontinuity systems with the major axis of elongated sinkholes, a clear control exerted by development and evolution of the sinkholes on the formation of coastal inlets and bays. Eventually, the approach here presented may be applied in other karst coastal sinkhole-prone areas, to gain new knowledge on the genesis and evolution of coastal sinkholes, and to properly evaluate the hazard they pose to the anthropogenic environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the professional relationship between Italian physician and medical historian Mario Santoro and his former instructor Italian professor of medicine Adalberto Pazzini, of the Univeristà di Roma in Rome, Italy. Emphasis is given to the former's founding of the Italian research institute on the history of medicine Studio Firmano Storia Della Medicina in Fermo, Italy.

While beach erosion and sand loss are typically of great concern to the tourism industry, managing rapid morphological changes linked to large amounts of moving sediments is the challenge facing Grado, an important seaside resort in the northern Adriatic, Italy. The cause of the unusual management conflict is the presence of the Mula di Muggia Bank, a nearshore depositional system made up of relict and active migrating sandbanks extending up to 2 km seawards from the touristic beachfront. A reconstruction of the morpho-sedimentary evolution of the coastal system over a 200-year period was done using a large dataset which includes historical cartography, topographic maps, aerial photos and topo-bathymetric surveys. The results show the growth of a significant urban development aimed at creating a tourist destination by occupying the waterfront along fetch-limited coastal tracts with very shallow water and scarce hydrodynamics. Furthermore, a number of sandy dynamic landforms (longshore migrating bars, a bypass corridor, an ebb-tidal delta) and accumulation zones attest to a sediment excess which can be mostly attributed to the eastern river supplies. The progressive constant migration rate of 12.6 my−1 allowed the bank to induce the expansion of the low-energy silty backbarrier environment, characterised by abundant seagrass meadows a short distance directly in front of the tourist beaches of Grado. As a result of historical analysis and more current observations, areas with diverse morphosedimentary features and with varying tourist/recreational, ecological, and conservation values have been identified. These can be considered as basic units for future accurate planning and re-evaluation of coastal management choices to balance environmental protection and tourist use. A soft coastal defence approach is proposed which includes either the preservation of specific environments or the proper use of excess sand for beach nourishment via periodic dredging or sediment bypassing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigation of sea-level positions during the highly-dynamic Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3: 29–61 kyrs BP) proves difficult because: (i) in stable and subsiding areas, coeval coastal sediments are currently submerged at depths of few to several tens of meters below the present sea level; (ii) in uplifting areas, the preservation of geomorphic features and sedimentary records is limited due to the erosion occurred during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) with sea level at a depth of −130 m, followed by marine transgression that determined the development of ravinement surfaces. This study discusses previous research in the Mediterranean and elsewhere, and describes new fossiliferous marine deposits overlaying the metamorphic bedrock at Cannitello (Calabria, Italy). Radiocarbon ages of marine shells (about 43 kyrs cal BP) indicate that these deposits, presently between 28 and 30 m above sea level, formed during MIS 3.1. Elevation correction of the Cannitello outcrops (considered in an intermediate-to-far-field position with respect to the ice sheet) with the local vertical tectonic rate and Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA) rate allows the proposal of a revision of the eustatic depth for this highstand. Our results are consistent with recently proposed estimates based on a novel ice sheet modelling technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Salento peninsula is a portion of the Italian mainland separating two distinct Mediterranean basins, the Ionian and the Adriatic seas. Several authors have studied the marine Heterobranchia (Mollusca, Gastropoda) fauna composition living in the Ionian Sea, but to date further knowledge regarding this interesting group of mollusks is still needed. Recent studies have corroborated the peculiarity of the Mediterranean Sea showing high levels of endemism and cryptic diversity. On the other hand, marine sea slugs have been revealed to be important indicators of the marine ecosystem's health, due to their species-specific diet that consist of a vast variety of sessile and benthic invertebrates. A baseline study of the marine Heterobranchia diversity is therefore a necessary step to reveal the hidden diversity and to monitor the possible presence of alien species. The present study shows results from approximately 600 scientific dives carried out during a nine-year period in all of the main submarine habitats of the studied area, while accounting for the marine Heterobranchia from both the Ionian and Adriatic Seas. With this contribution, the list of marine Heterobranchia inhabiting the Salento Peninsula rises to 160. Furthermore, it also reports, for the first time, the presence of one alien species and three new records for Italian waters. Ecological notes and geographical distribution for each added species are provided together with animal iconography, consisting mainly of in situ photographs, for species identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Mediterranean Sea, crustose coralline algae form endemic algal reefs known as Coralligenous (C) build-ups. The high degree of complexity that C can reach through time creates notable environmental heterogeneity making C a major hotspot of biodiversity for the Mediterranean basin. C build-up can variably modify the submarine environment by affecting the evolution of submerged landforms, although its role is still far from being systematically defined. Our work proposes a new, ad-hoc semi-automated, GIS-based methodology to map the distribution of C build-ups in shallow coastal waters using high-resolution bathymetric data, collected on a sector of the southern Apulian continental shelf (Southern Adriatic Sea, Italy). Our results quantitatively define the 3D distribution of C in terms of area and volume, estimating more than 103,000 build-ups, covering an area of roughly 305,200 m2, for a total volume of 315,700 m3. Our work firstly combines acoustic survey techniques and geomorphometric analysis to develop innovative approaches for eco-geomorphological studies. The obtained results can contribute to a better definition of the ocean carbon budget, and to the monitoring of local anthropogenic impacts (e.g., bottom trawling damage) and global changes, like ocean warming and acidification. These can affect the structural complexity and total volume of carbonate deposits characterizing the Mediterranean benthic environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]