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This work contributes to the ongoing work aiming at confirming benthic foraminifera as a biological quality element. In this study, benthic foraminifera from intertidal and transitional waters from the English Channel/European Atlantic coast and the Mediterranean Sea were assigned to five ecological groups using the weighted-averaging optimum with respect to TOC of each species. It was however not possible to assign typical salt marsh species due to the presence of labile and refractory organic matter that hampers TOC characterization. Tests of this study species' lists with Foram-AMBI on two independent datasets showed a significant correlation between Foram-AMBI and TOC, confirming the strong relation between foraminifera and TOC. For one of the validation datasets, associated macrofaunal data were available and a significant correlation was found between the foraminiferal Foram-AMBI and the macrofaunal AMBI. The here proposed lists should be further tested with sensitivity-based indices in different European regional settings. © 2021 Elsevier Ltd

The study of Burano paleo-lagoon-Wetland of International Value, has allowed us to better define and extend the reconstruction of the Holocene paleoenvironmental evolution of the paleo-lagoons previously studied, located on the Tyrrhenian coast in central Italy. The investigated area is located in Southern Tuscany near the Burano Lake. The area was investigated by means of field surveys, historical maps, 16 coring, sedimentological, palynological and microfaunal analyses (foraminifera and ostracods), combined with robust geochronological control provided by 52 datings (14C and OSL). The study allowed us to reconstruct the environmental and morphological evolution of the Burano paleo-lagoon during the last 8000 years and to hypothesize a Rise Sea Level (RSL) curve. In this context, 5 main evolutionary phases have been recognized. (1) before 7.5 ka BP in the southern-eastern part, an open lagoon developed; (2) ~6 ka BP a barrier-lagoon system develops throughout the entire area and the lagoon progressively changed from open to closed one; (3) ~5 ka BP the width of the lagoon increases and a lacustrine facies appears along the entire axis of the coastal basin; (4) ~4 ka BP the lacustrine facies shows a discontinuous distribution respect to the previous phase; (5) during the last 4 ka the lacustrine facies disappear and the lagoon turns into a wetland area. © 2020 by the authors.

Benthic foraminifera are a meiofaunal group of microorganisms that are particularly abundant in marine sediments. Their occurrence and distribution reflect environmental conditions in the bottom water and sediment surface layers (Murray, 2006 and references therein). Hence, this group has been recently proposed as a biomonitoring proxy to determine the Ecological Quality Status (Alve et al., 2009) both in Mediterranean and extra-Mediterranean areas (Bouchet et al., 2018 and references therein). In addition, their small shells are well preserved along the sediment record allowing us to reconstruct the historical evolution of particular areas, and thereby, to obtain insight into the baseline conditions preceding the present period of anthropogenic impact (Francescangeli et al., 2016; Romano et al., 2016). This unique foraminifera feature represents a clear advantage compared to (other) meiofaunal and/or macrofaunal organisms that are currently used in marine biomonitoring studies. Over the last decades, the use of these organisms in marine biomonitoring has largely increased. The interest in benthic foraminifera has partly been driven by government policies and programs aimed at developing suitable, non-invasive bioindicators of marine environmental quality. Here, we report some field-based research carried out along the Italian coasts.

A high-resolution palaeoenvironmental investigation was conducted on the benthic foraminiferal record of two continuous sediment cores (DEH 5, DEH 1) in order to reconstruct the latest-Pleistocene to Holocene history of the South Evoikos Gulf (central Aegean Sea). This shallow (max. depth ~75 m), semi-enclosed continental shelf setting has been heavily affected by the latest-glacial to modern-interglacial relative sea-level and climate oscillations that strongly affected the benthic foraminiferal community. The identified meiofaunal biofacies associated with the chronological framework allowed the recognition of four main time phases in the palaeoenvironmental and palaeobathymetric evolution of the gulf: (i) During the latest glacial-interglacial transition (>15.17 ka BP), highly-stressed confined shallow lagoonal conditions correspond to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) sea-level lowstand. During that time, a natural barrier located at the mouth of the gulf effectively prevented communication with the open Aegean Sea and amplified the contribution of the local aquifers. (ii) The early post-LGM sea-level rise was initially marked by a weak marine connection, dominated by a pronounced seaward river progradation of local aquifers. However, immediately after (~14.7 ka BP), an enhanced rate of sea-level rise, synchronous with the Meltwater Pulse 1A (MWP-1A), is observed. At the end of the Pleistocene, the sedimentation rates decreased dramatically, as a result of the Younger Dryas (YD) cooling event. (iii) The Holocene sea-level rise was characterized by an extremely abrupt marine transgression (~11.29 ka BP), during which the sea-level in the Aegean Sea reached 55 m below present sea level (b.p.s.l) and forcedly overcame the barrier that previously separated the gulf from the open sea. At ~8.67–7.77 ka BP, an upper circalittoral eutrophic environment emerged, which coincided with the coeval deposition of the sapropel S1 in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Immediately after, re-ventilation conditions were reinstated. (iv) The Holocene sea-level high-stand is characterized by upper circalittoral high-energy and vegetated conditions on the sea floor. Regional index terms: Eastern Mediterranean; Central Aegean Sea; Greece; South Evoikos Gulf. © 2019 Elsevier B.V.

We herein present an original high-resolution dataset on the Late Pleistocene to Holocene (>15.17 ka BP) benthic foraminiferal record of two continuous sediment cores (DEH 5 and DEH 1), drilled from the shallow (max. depth ∼75 m) semi-enclosed basin of South Evoikos Gulf (central Aegean, Greece). Owing to its particular configuration, this marginal setting has been heavily affected by the latest-glacial to modern-interglacial sea-level and climate oscillations that left clear imprints on the benthic foraminiferal community. Our data comprise quantitative information of the downcore faunal distribution (raw species counts and relative abundances), diversity measurements, simplified datasets used for clustering analysis and calibrated age spans. This material can be efficiently utilized in any comparative or synthetic future study on the reconstruction of the latest-Quaternary palaeoceanographic (palaeobathymetric, sea-level) and palaeoenvironmental evolution of the Mediterranean shelf. The present data article is associated with the research article “Impact of latest-glacial to Holocene sea-level oscillations on central Aegean shelf ecosystems: A benthic foraminiferal palaeoenvironmental assessment of South Evoikos Gulf, Greece” by Louvari et al. (2019). © 2019 The Authors

Heavy metals such as mercury (Hg) occur in ecosystems from both natural sources and human activities, with large variations in concentrations and pose a significant health hazard through bioaccumulation and biomagnification. The aim of this experimental study is to assess the impact of different concentrations of Hg through time on the diversity of cultured benthic foraminifera. Tanks with concentrations of Hg up to 100 ppm were considered. Mesocosms containing 1-cm-thick sediment from each tank were subsampled at pre-established time intervals for geochemical (Hg content), morphological and molecular analyses. Morphological analyses were based on both Rose Bengal and the CellTracker Green (CTG) techniques. Molecular analyses comprised high-throughput sequencing (HTS) of foraminiferal DNA. A total of 6 datasets were generated: two from Rose Bengal morphological analysis (fraction> 63 μm and fraction >125 μm), one from CTG morphological analysis (fraction>125 μm), three from HTS run (one for each considered filter: Filter1, Filter10, Filter100). Species richness, Shannon and Fisher α alpha indices were all negatively correlated with the Hg concentrations both in water and sediment regardless the considered datasets. Since the strongest correlations were observed among diversity indices and normalized fourth-root transformed HTS data (Filter1), the multivariate analyses (nMDS and Cluster Analysis) were based on this dataset only. The nMDS highlights the negative effect of Hg pollution on the benthic foraminiferal assemblages at the highest concentrations, namely 10 ppm after three weeks and 100 ppm after two weeks of treatment. This experiment demonstrates the huge potential of metabarcoding for unraveling the impact of pollution on benthic foraminiferal assemblages.

The recent discovery of a giant complex venting depression, placed in shallow-waters (

Different seafloor areas affected by CO2 fluid emissions have been discovered offshore the Western Pontine Islands (central-Tyrrhenian Sea) along the outer insular shelf surrounding Zannone Island in a water depth varying from 120 to 140 m. These sites have been studied, in the framework of two research projects (MaGIC Project and Ritmare Project) integrating ROV video observations, high resolution multibeam bathymetry, high resolution seismic profiles, water, gas and sediment sampling. Different morphological and biological features such as pockmarks, giant pockmarks, lithified sediments, mounds, cones, gas plumes, bubble streams and bacterial mats have been detected. Geophysical, geochemical and geological data analysis has permitted to speculate the possible genesis, evolution through the time and gas source of such peculiar features, while biological study are being carried out with the aim to verify the influence of fluid emissions on benthic communities. The occurrence of giant and complex fluid emission depressions in shallow water (less than 140 m) represents a relevant finding due the scarcity of such features in the Tyrrhenian area and updates the current knowledge regarding the spatial distribution of the CO2 vents along the Tyrrhenian Sea margins. Furthermore, because the accessible depth this site could be considered optimal for the installation of a multi-disciplinary permanent seafloor observatory to study\monitor the effects of CO2 enriched fluids on benthic communities.

The present study shows the preliminary micropaleontological results carried out on grab and multi corer samples collected during a research cruise "BOLLE 2014" carried out on June 2014 aboard to the R/V Urania in the Pontine Archipelago (Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy). This study highlights the strong role of the venting activity on sediment characteristics and on structural and compositional features of benthic communities, in response to the presence of stressed sea bottom conditions due to natural origin. The Western Pontine Archipelago, located about 30 km away from the Italian Peninsula, is composed of three volcanic islands (Ponza, Palmarola and Zannone). The active fluid emissions have been discovered 3 km off the eastern sector of Zannone Island, in a water depth ranging between 105-130 m (outer continental shelf), and affect the Late Quaternary lowstand and highstand deposits. This area appears as a large depression of about 0.5 km2 (900 m long and 500 m wide) with an elongated shape. Sediment, high resolution multibeam bathymetry, biological and video data were acquired in order to characterise both the morphological and biological features related to venting activity. Analysis of ROV videos and sediment sampling allowed us to define the specific living benthic communities within the large depression and among the surrounding seafloor. Great differences among the morphology, sedimentology and microfauna characters between vent and non-vent seafloor areas. As regard the micropaleontological analyses, all samples were stained with Rose Bengal to distinguish living and dead assemblages. Diversity index (?-Fisher index), Faunal density and Foraminiferal Abnormality Index (FAI) were calculated to define the structure of the assemblage and the degree of environmental stress. The benthic foraminiferal assemblages highlights the complete lack of both hyaline and porcelanaceous tests; this fact suggests the presence of strong dissolution processes whereas the patchiness distribution of agglutinant species suggests a direct relation between distribution and very local environmental conditions.

Three cores (MBS1, MBS2 and MBS3), 15-12 m thick, were drilled offshore near the Trigno river mouth (Central Adriatic coast, Molise Region), 150-300 m from the present coastline. Palaeoecological analyses by means of benthic foraminifers, molluscs and ostracods, supported by stratigraphic and chronological data, have been performed to reconstruct the Late Quaternary palaeoenvironmental evolution of the northern sector of the Molise Adriatic coast.At the bottom of the cores MBS1 and MBS3 (fig. 1), fluviatile barren gravels (lithofacies G) are present. In the core MBS2 the succession starts with grey clays (lithofacies Cg) containing marine infralittoral foraminifers, hygrophilous terrestrial molluscs and freshwater ostracods. Sediments of lithofacies Cg were also recognized above lithofacies G in the core MBS3; here the fossil record consists of marine infralittoral foraminifers, freshwater and hygrophilous terrestrial molluscs, freshwater and marine infralittoral ostracods. Two AMS C dates constrain the deposition of lithofacies Cg (MBS3) between 19945 ± 345 and 19165 ± 195 yr BP (fig. 1). In the cores MBS2 and MBS3, lithofacies Cg is overlaid by light brown silty clays (lithofacies Csb) containing marine infralittoral foraminifers and molluscs, and marine and freshwater ostracods. In the core MBS1, both lithofacies Cg and Csb lack, and lithofacies G is overlaid by grey silty clays (lithofacies Csg) containing hygrophilous terrestrial molluscs and mainly freshwater ostracods. The three cores are closed up by brown, fine to medium sands (lithofacies S) recording the dominance of marine infralittoral fauna. One AMS C date carried out on benthic foraminifers (Ammonia sp.) collected from the lower portion of lithofacies S (core MBS3) gave an age of 8120.5 ± 108.5 yr BP.

The historical site of the Monte Mario lower Pleistocene succession (Rome, Italy) is an important marker of the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary. Recently, the Monte Mario site was excavated and restudied. A spectacular angular unconformity characterizes the contact between the Monte Vaticano and the Monte Mario formations, which marks the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary. Biostratigraphical analyses carried out on ostracod, foraminifer, and calcareous nannofossil assemblages indicate an Early Pliocene age (topmost Zanclean, 3.81–3.70 Ma) for the underlying Monte Vaticano Formation, whereas the Monte Mario Formation has been dated as early Pleistocene (Santernian, 1.66–1.59 Ma). Palaeomagnetic analyses point to C2Ar and C1r2r polarity chrons for the Monte Vaticano and the Monte Mario formations, respectively. The Monte Mario Formation consists of two obliquity-forced depositional sequences (MM1 and MM2) characterized by transgressive systems tracts of littoral marine environments at depths, respectively, of 40–80 m and 15–20 m. The data obtained from foraminifer and ostracod assemblages allow us to reconstruct early Pleistocene relative sea-level changes near Rome. At the Plio/Pleistocene transition, a relative sea-level drop of at least 260 m occurred, as a result of both tectonic uplift of the central Tyrrhenian margin and glacio-eustatic changes linked to early Pleistocene glaciation (Marine Isotope Stage 58).

Dit proefschrift onderzoekt de toepassing van de vereisten van aansprakelijkheid bij deonrechtmatige overheidsdaad met de toepassing daarvan in het geval van private partijen

Recent studies demonstrated the capability of foraminifers to adapt to a wide range of environmental conditions and to give a response to environmental stress due to natural or human origin as environmental indicators (Alve, 1991; Hess et al., 2005; Carboni et al., 2009; Schönfeld et al., 2012). This work aims to document the benthic foraminiferal response to natural stressed environments in two areas, Azores Archipelago and Pantelleria Island, interested by similar active volcanism. The Azores area has been affected by a recent volcanic activity occurred in 2001, while the last submarine eruption of Pantelleria Island dates at 1891. The different periods of eruption of the two areas allow to investigate on the way and time of the re-colonisation process by foraminiferal assemblages. Petrographic, sedimentological and microfaunistic analyses were conducted on selected samples in order to obtain an environmental characterisation of the two active volcanic areas. The inorganic fraction of samples collected in both areas is constituted of blackish, sand-sized glass shards, whereas the organic component is mainly constituted by foraminifers. Faunal composition, diversity and density highlight two different structure of the assemblages relatively to the two areas. In fact the foraminiferal assemblages of the Azores area are dominate by opportunistic species (Angulogerina angulosa) and represent the first stage of re-colonisation after the eruption occurred in 2001, while the associations of Pantelleria Island (Globocassidulina subglobosa, Lenticulina rotulata, Lobatula lobatula and miliolids) have to be considered as an advanced stage of resettlement with stable rich and well diversified assemblages. Moreover, in the Azores area many morphological abnormalities were recognised confirming a more stressed environment than Pantelleria bottom. In both areas a lot of specimens showed test alterations probably due to hydrothermal fluids that lead to the dissolution of calcium carbonate.

Recenti lavori per la costruzione, nella città di Roma, del Passante a Nord-Ovest (Galleria Giovanni XXIII) hanno permesso di raccogliere nuovi dati circa la stratigrafia e l’assetto tettonico del settore dei Monti della Farnesina, in riva destra del F. Tevere. Le gallerie naturali del Passante a Nord-Ovest hanno attraversato la successione plio-pleistocenica di Monte Mario, che è stata suddivisa in due formazioni: la formazione di Monte Vaticano e la formazione di Monte Mario. Quest’ultima, poggiante in discordanza stratigrafica al disopra della formazione di Monte Vaticano (Marne Vaticane Auct.), è stata distinta in cinque membri: 1) Limi di Farneto; 2) Sabbie grigie ad Arctica islandica; 3) Sabbie gialle con panchina; 4) Sabbie gialle con intercalazioni limose; 5) Argille, sabbie e limi con Cerastoderma. La forte troncatura erosiva osservata al top della formazione di Monte Vaticano suggerisce la presenza di un’ampia lacuna stratigrafica erosivo-deposizionale, tra questa e i soprastanti depositi della formazione di Monte Mario. Le analisi biostratigrafiche e paleoecologiche condotte in questo studio hanno messo in evidenza differenze sostanziali tra la formazione di Monte Vaticano (Marne Vaticane Auct.) e i soprastanti Limi di Farneto. Le Marne Vaticane Auct. campionate lungo il Passante a Nord-Ovest hanno fornito associazioni di plancton calcareo riferibili allo Zancleano inferiore (3.85-3.58 Ma). L’analisi paleoecologica condotta sulle ostracofaune indica, per le Marne Vaticane Auct., un ambiente batiale superiore, con paleoprofondità comprese tra –200 e –350 m. Per quanto emerso dall’analisi dei nannofossili calcarei, i Limi di Farneto sono collocabili al disopra della FO di medium Gephyrocapsa (Santerniano inferiore). Inoltre, per la sostanziale assenza di C. macintyrei e per la presenza di B. etnea, è possibile limitare l’età dei Limi di Farneto all’interno dell’intervallo 1,60-1,49 Ma (Santerniano superiore). L’analisi paleoecologica dell’orizzonte basale dei Limi di Farneto ha fornito indicazioni di un ambiente infralitorale esterno, con paleoprofondità di circa –40 m e un abbassamento relativo del livello del mare di almeno 160 m. Tale abbassamento relativo ha un’origine prevalentemente tettonica, dal momento che le Marne Vaticane Auct. risultano interessate da sistemi di faglie estensionali suturate dalla soprastante formazione di Monte Mario. All’interno della formazione di Monte Mario, l’analisi paleoecologica condotta sulle ostracofaune ha consentito di riconoscere due diverse sequenze deposizionali, separate da una superficie di discontinuità, legata ad un momento di abbassamento relativo del livello del mare, che definisce il limite Sabbie gialle con panchina\Sabbie gialle con intercalazioni limose. La base delle Argille, sabbie e limi con Cerastoderma corrisponde ad un secondo evento trasgressivo, riconosciuto all’interno della formazione di Monte Mario, che ha portato alla deposizione di argille marine di ambiente infralitorale, come la base dei Limi di Farneto, caratterizzate, ancora, dalla presenza di medium Gephyrocapsa. L’analisi strutturale e le indicazioni del fabric magnetico, indicano che l’alto di Monte Mario si è strutturato in due fasi tettoniche estensionali distinte: 1) una prima fase, sviluppata su piani NE-SW, collocabile prima della deposizione della formazione di Monte Mario (pre Santerniano superiore); 2) una seconda fase sviluppata su piani NW-SE, in un intervallo temporale compreso tra 750-600 ka. Infine, i caratteri paleomagnetici delle formazioni di Monte Mario e di Monte Vaticano mostrano componenti di polarità inversa ben definite, attribuite sulla base dei dati biostratigrafici, rispettivamente, all’epoca MATUYAMA ed alla parte superiore dell’epoca GILBERT.

COSENTINO, D., CIPOLLARI, P., DI BELLA, L., ESPOSITO, A., FARANDA, C., GIORDANO, G., GLIOZZI, E., MATTEI, M., MAZZINI, I., PORRECA, M. & FUNICIELLO, R., 2009. The historical site of the Monte Mario Lower Pleistocene succession reviseted: tectonics, sea-level changes and palaeoenvironments in the Early Pleistocene of Rome (Italy). Quaternary Research, 72: 143-155.