Eco-biostratigraphic advances in late quaternary geochronology and palaeoclimate : the marginal Gulf of Mexico analogue

This study combines high-resolution planktonic foraminiferal eco-biostratigraphy and palaeoclimatic data from the high-sedimentation-rate core JPC-26 from the northwestern margin of the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). The eco-biozones recognized (GOMPFE1-12) being correlated with published Mg/Ca-based sea surface temperatures. This updated palaeoclimatic and stratigraphic reference record facilitates correlations with the Greenland ice core events and their climatic relationships, and also provides a solid stratigraphic framework for correlations with other palaeoclimatic and palaeoceanographic records in the circum-GOM/Caribbean region. This multidisciplinary approach underlines the utility of supporting conventional dating methodologies with different constraints, and further reveals a powerful tool for reliably correlating marine records between comparable deep-sea marginal settings and coeval sequences of this region

The influence of the Evros River on the recent sedimentation of the inner shelf of the NE Aegean Sea

Abstract The transboundary Evros River discharges into the Alexandroupolis Gulf, located in the inner shelf of the northeastern Aegean Sea, where it has formed an extended delta. Grain-size and mineralogical analyses of five sediment cores, collected in the subaqueous delta, provide the following information about recent sedimentation processes in the northeastern part of the Aegean shelf: (a) river mouth deposits, consisting of coarse-grained sediments, are mainly deposited in front of the active mouth, whilst some sandy material is expected to be transported alongshore by nearshore currents; (b) delta front deposits are characterised by fine-grained sediments that include evidence of human activities which have taken place, in a more intense way, since the 1950s; and (c) prodelta deposits are represented by almost uniform riverine mud that cover the pre-existed relict sands of the shelf, indicating also the limit (some 15 km to the SW) of the influence of riverine sedimentation on the seabed of the inner shelf of the Alexandroupolis Gulf

Deliverable 1.1 review document on the management of marine areas with particular regard on concepts, objectives, frameworks and tools to implement, monitor, and evaluate spatially managed areas

The main objectives if this document were to review the existing information on spatial management of marine areas, identifying the relevant policy objectives, to identify parameters linked to the success or failure of the various Spatially Managed marine Areas (SMAs) regimes, to report on methods and tools used in monitoring and evaluation of the state of SMAs, and to identify gaps and weaknesses in the existing frameworks in relation to the implementation, monitoring, evaluation and management of SMAs. The document is naturally divided in two sections: Section 1 reviews the concepts, objectives, drivers, policy and management framework, and extraneous factors related to the design, implementation and evaluation of SMAs; Section 2 reviews the tools and methods to monitor and evaluate seabed habitats and marine populations.peer-reviewe

A MSFD complementary approach for the assessment of pressures, knowledge and data gaps in Southern European Seas : the PERSEUS experience

PERSEUS project aims to identify the most relevant pressures exerted on the ecosystems of the Southern European Seas (SES), highlighting knowledge and data gaps that endanger the achievement of SES Good Environmental Status (GES) as mandated by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). A complementary approach has been adopted, by a meta-analysis of existing literature on pressure/impact/knowledge gaps summarized in tables related to the MSFD descriptors, discriminating open waters from coastal areas. A comparative assessment of the Initial Assessments (IAs) for five SES countries has been also independently performed. The comparison between meta-analysis results and IAs shows similarities for coastal areas only. Major knowledge gaps have been detected for the biodiversity, marine food web, marine litter and underwater noise descriptors. The meta-analysis also allowed the identification of additional research themes targeting research topics that are requested to the achievement of GES. 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license.peer-reviewe

Sedimentology and geochemistry of surface sediments from the Pagassitikos Gulf

Volos city and its port are situated in the northern part of Pagassitikos Gulf, a shallow, semi-enclosed marine area in central Greece. A wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and pipeline operate in the same area. Muddy sediments with low carbonate contents cover most of the seabed, except for the Volos embayment and the western part of the gulf where sandy carbonates prevail. Bulk organic carbon contents and the organic carbon contents of the clay fractions are high in the vicinity of Volos embayment. High element (Pb, Cu, and Zn) contents and Igeo (geoaccumulation index) values were found for the clay fractions in the northern part of Pagassitikos Gulf. This enrichment is attributed to the discharge of raw domestic and industrial effluents of Volos city and port before the WWTP was installed. The dispersal of pollutants is essentially controlled by diffusion from point sources (city, port and WWTP) and is limited to Volos Bay. Relatively high Mn levels are ascribed to diagenetic formation of manganese carbonates (authigenic phase), whereas Cr and Ni are elevated due to weathering of ultrabasic formations on land

Distribution of suspended particulate matter determined by in-situ observations and staellite images in the NW Aegean Sea (Greece)

International audienceSuspended particulate matter (SPM) patterns in the surface waters of the NW Aegean Sea were studied by (1) determining SPM concentration by water filtration, (2) measuring light transmission, and (3) evaluating satellite images. The SPM signals of the three major rivers discharging into the study area were recorded by all three methods, thereby providing information about the sources, transport pathways, and regional dispersion patterns of the SPM. The filtration of water samples and light transmission measurements were found to be good indicators of SPM concentrations in surface waters. Most of the SPM is composed of terrigenous minerals, thus explaining the correlation between the beam attenuation coefficient and the SPM concentration. A Landsat image obtained for the study period was found to adequately reveal regions with high SPM concentrations. Low concentrations, on the other hand, remain obscured