River Morphodynamic Evolution Under Dam-Induced Backwater : An Example from the Po River (Italy)

Peer reviewedPostprin

Campagna oceanografica Magic_IAMC 1209: rapporto di fine campagna

Campagna Oceanografica MAGIC IAMC 12/09, N/O MARIAGRAZIA Rapporto di fine campagna 12/11/09 – 12/12/0

Rapporto di Fine Campagna Magic_IAMC1209

Campagna Oceanografica MAGIC IAMC 12/09, N/O MARIAGRAZIA Rapporto di fine campagna 12/11/09 – 12/12/0

Seafloor Exploration Using the Multibeam Echo Sounder Technology: Some Examples.

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Venting and seepage systems associated with mud volcanoes and mud diapirs in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea

High resolution swath bathymetry and backscatter data, seismic CHIRP profiles, multibeam water column acoustic measurements and sediment samples were collected on a cold seep province in the southeastern Tyrrhenian Sea, at a water depth of 500-1000. m. The mud volcanoes, characterized by a high backscatter signature, are the site of gas venting at the seafloor that formed a 630-m-high plume in the water column. The mud volcanoes feature a precipitation of iron-oxy-hydroxide crusts and pyritized and Sulfur burrows in the sub-surface and authigenic siderites, also cementing burrows, further down, showing a sharp transition from the oxic zone toward the sulfate-methanogenic zone.The mud flows are characterized by an intermediate backscatter seafloor and by the presence of gas in the sediment only 2. m below the seafloor. The mud flows consist of 1-m-thick drapes of water-rich mud extending downslope from the mud volcanoes. They act as sealing layers that prevent large fluxes of gas venting at the seafloor (low venting) and favor oxic conditions close to the sediment-water interface and the abundant precipitation of post-oxic siderites a few meters below the seafloor.The mud diapirs are characterized by a low backscatter seafloor and large fields of pockmarks. In coincidence with the normal faults, organogenic carbonate crusts form at or very close to the seafloor and are associated with chemosymbiontic bivalves (lucinids). The youngest shells are AMS radiocarbon dated 640-440. BP, suggesting that the seepage activity may have been clogged by the carbonates, only very recently.Similarities between the normal faults in the study area and the tectonic setting of the inland Calabrian Arc show that normal faults can control the location of fluid pathways and, probably, also the rising of the mud diapir

“HABITAT MAPPING” GEODATABASE, AN INTEGRATED INTERDISCIPLINARY AND MULTI-SCALE APPROACH FOR DATA MANAGEMENT

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Historically, a number of different key concepts and methods dealing with marine habitat classifications and mapping have been developed to date. The EU CoCoNET project provides a new attempt in establishing an integrated approach on the definition of habitats. This scheme combines multi-scale geological and biological data, in fact it consists of three levels (Geomorphological level, Substrate level and Biological level) which in turn are divided into several hierarchical sublevels. This system allows to identify, describe and map in a consistent way habitat distribution from shallow coastal to deep sea (Foglini et al, 2014). </p> <p>Starting from this idea, we have designed and developed a ESRI File Relational Geodatabase (GDB) dedicated to habitat mapping, focusing particularly on storage and management of groundtruthing data and products. In the GDB, the contents are organized in three major groups as follows: the SamplingFeatures dataset stores the elements related to the sampling, the ROVs dataset groups all the information about the ROV surveys and, the maps are located in the HabitatMaps dataset. According to the CoCoNET classification scheme, we have the Geomorphological layer, the Substrate Layer and the Biological layer, and from the sum of these levels we obtain the Habitat layer. The hierarchical structure allows building maps with several possibilities of combination between all the levels, so we can produce multi-scale outputs and legends. </p> <p>An innovative approach is adopted for processing ROV dives. The video tracks are analyzed with the Adelie software and are represented with: (i) the ROV navigation, (ii) the habitat description (also this Habitat layer is organized according to the CoCoNET classification levels), (iii) the heading of the ROV cameras, (iv) the georeferenced position of the images along the path and (v) the biological samples. While the images are stored in the GDB, the videos are linked through a hyperlink and can be visualized on the ROV navigation lines with the Adelie software. </p> <p>An organized system, such as the “Habitat Mapping” GDB, is crucial for a correct data management, since it allows to store, visualize, query and elaborate data to produce customized maps in an easy and efficient way. Moreover the use of the CoCoNET classification scheme gives to the system a multidisciplinary and multi-scale trait, essential while dealing with habitat mapping.</p> <p>The presentation was performed during the International Congress GeoSUB 2015, Trieste, 13-14 October, 2015.</p

Habitat mapping in the Adriatic (Mediterranean Sea): approaches and methodologies for assessing seafloor habitat from coastal areas to deep sea

The knowledge about habitat distribution and extent is critical for the conservation and the management of the marine system and is a fundamental pre-requisite to allow for an adequate representation of all physical and biological typologies. Moreover, habitat maps represent the basic tool for the reconstruction of submerged panoramas relevant to any future geo-archaeological and prehistoric investigations. In the framework of the E.U. COCONET project (Towards COast to COast NETworks of marine protected areas from the shore to the high and deep sea) we make and attempt in establishing a unified approach on the definition of habitats. Our scheme combines multi-scale geological, oceanographic and biological data, to identify, describe and map in a consistent way habitat distribution from shallow coastal to deep sea

Application of Hyperspectral Imaging to Underwater Habitat Mapping, Southern Adriatic Sea

Hyperspectral imagers enable the collection of high-resolution spectral images exploitable for the supervised classification of habitats and objects of interest (OOI). Although this is a well-established technology for the study of subaerial environments, Ecotone AS has developed an underwater hyperspectral imager (UHI) system to explore the properties of the seafloor. The aim of the project is to evaluate the potential of this instrument for mapping and monitoring benthic habitats in shallow and deep-water environments. For the first time, we tested this system at two sites in the Southern Adriatic Sea (Mediterranean Sea): the cold-water coral (CWC) habitat in the Bari Canyon and the Coralligenous habitat off Brindisi. We created a spectral library for each site, considering the different substrates and the main OOI reaching, where possible, the lower taxonomic rank. We applied the spectral angle mapper (SAM) supervised classification to map the areal extent of the Coralligenous and to recognize the major CWC habitat-formers. Despite some technical problems, the first results demonstrate the suitability of the UHI camera for habitat mapping and seabed monitoring, through the achievement of quantifiable and repeatable classifications

Geochemical and Geophysical Monitoring of Hydrocarbon Seepage in the Adriatic Sea

Hydrocarbon seepage is overlooked in the marine environment, mostly due to the lack of high-resolution exploration data. This contribution is about the set-up of a relocatable and cost-effective monitoring system, which was tested on two seepages in the Central Adriatic Sea. The two case studies are an oil spill at a water depth of 10 m and scattered biogenic methane seeps at a water depth of 84 m. Gas plumes in the water column were detected with a multibeam system, tightened to sub-seafloor seismic reflection data. Dissolved benthic fluxes of nutrients, metals and Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC) were measured by in situ deployment of a benthic chamber, which was used also for the first time to collect water samples for hydrocarbons characterization. In addition, the concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, as well as major and trace elements were analyzed to provide an estimate of hydrocarbon contamination in the surrounding sediment and to make further inferences on the petroleum system

Conservation and management of coralligenous habitat: experience from The BIOMAP Project

<p>Coralligenous is one of the most important habitat for the Mediterranean sea recognised as protected habitat in the EC Regulation No. 1967/2006 concerning management measures for the sustainable exploitation of shery resources in the Mediterranean Sea. Dierent actions have been thus favoured to collect new data on its range of extent and distribution in the Mediterranean and European seas.</p> <p>BIOMAP Project (BIOcostruzioni MArine in Puglia), promoted by Puglia Region, Italy, is a part of the program “PO FESR 2007/2013 – AXIS IV – line 4.4: intervention for the ecological network”. It promotes actions in order to map and monitor coralligenous<br>habitats along the Apulian coast (southern Adriatic margin and northern Ionian margin – Mediterranean sea http://www.biomapping.it/index) .<br>Acoustic (multibeam and side-scan sonar),video data and samples were collected through a number of oceanographic cruises, to identify and locate coralligenous habitats in 21 Sites of Community Interest (SCI), 3 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).</p