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A high-resolution study (centennial scale) has been performed on the calcareous plankton assemblage of the Holocene portion of the Ocean Drilling Program Site 976 (Alboran Sea) with the aim to identify the main changes in the surface water dynamic. The dataset also provided a seasonal foraminiferal sea surface water temperatures (SSTs), estimated using the modern analog technique SIMMAX 28, and it was compared with available geochemical and pollen data at the site. Three main climate shifts were identified as (1) the increase in abundance of Syracosphaera spp. and Turborotalita quinqueloba marks the early Holocene humid phase, during maximum summer insolation and enhanced river runoff. It is concomitant with the expansion of Quercus, supporting high humidity on land. It ends at 8.2 ka, registering a sudden temperature and humidity reduction; (2) the rise in the abundances of Florisphaera profunda and Globorotalia inflata, at ca. 8 ka, indicates the development of the modern geostrophic front, gyre circulation, and of a deep nutricline following the sea-level rise; and (3) the increase of small Gephyrocapsa and Globigerina bulloides at 5.3 ka suggests enhanced nutrient availability in surface waters, related to more persistent wind-induced upwelling conditions. Relatively higher winter SST in the last 3.5 ka favored the increase of Trilobatus sacculifer, likely connected to more stable surface water conditions. Over the main trends, a short-term cyclicity is registered in coccolithophore productivity during the last 8 ka. Short periods of increased productivity are in phase with Atlantic waters inflow, and more arid intervals on land. This cyclicity has been related with periods of positive North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) circulations. Spectral analysis on coccolithophore productivity confirms the occurrence of millennial-scale cyclicity, suggesting an external (i.e. solar) and an internal (i.e. atmospheric/oceanic) forcing.

13Understanding whether marine calcifying organisms may acclimatize to climate change is 14 important with regard to their survival over the coming century. Because cold waters have a 15 naturally higher CO 2 uptake,the Southern Ocean provides an opportunity to study the

<p>Crustose coralline algae (CCA) form Coralligenous build-ups, which are ranked among the most important ecosystems in the Mediterranean shelf. Their skeletal framework hosts a variety of epi- and infaunal communities, which compete for space, contributing to the reef growth, or weaken the structure throughout bio-erosive activities. Investigating the relationship between the algal framework and these hosted communities is of extreme importance for ecological and palaeoecological purposes and monitoring goals. </p><p>In this frame, the Italian project “CRESCIBLUREEF - Grown in the blue: new technologies for the knowledge and conservation of the Mediterranean reefs”, is aimed at investigating coralligenous reefs present in the  area off the Marzamemi village (South-East Sicily). </p><p>Two build-ups have been collected: the first one at 37 m depth, from an area rich in coralligenous cover, and the second one at 36 m depth, from a submarine channel with sparsely distributed build-ups. We present here two new investigative techniques, so far seldom applied for the characterization of the Coralligenous. The first approach involved the quantification of the surficial cover, with the use of an image analysis software, both before and after the removal of their ephemeral canopy of unmineralized organisms.These models were then analysed using Object-Based Image Analysis (OBIA) algorithms that allowed the quantification of the surficial cover. Moreover, the analysis allowed the identification and categorisation of the organisms and materials on the external part of the build-ups, confirming the primary role of CCA as the major component of the samples. Afterwards, a Computed-Tomography (CT) scan was used - for the first time with Coralligenous - to reconstruct the inner structure of the build-ups and, together with radiocarbon dating, to infer the build-ups age and growth rate. CT analysis divided the framework into four main categories based on their density (Low, Medium, High and Ultra High). The structure’s cavities, either primary or developed through taphonomic processes, have been measured as porosity. The overall highly-resolved analysis points to a complex and nonlinear growth of the build-ups. The understanding of the structural density, porosity, growth rate, and surficial cover of the build-ups is shedding some light on the Coralligenous inception and growth. </p>

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Abstract. The coralligenous build-ups located in Mediterranean shelf in front of Marzamemi (SE – Sicily, Italy) represent useful natural examples to study the relationship between skeletal organisms and non-skeletal components in marine bioconstructions. Coralligenous build-ups are formed in open marine systems and their comparison with coeval bioconstructions (biostalactites) of confined environments, like submarine caves, allows depicting the complex interactions between metazoans and microbial communities in the formations of recent bioconstructions in different Mediterranean settings. In this study, two coralligenous build-ups were characterized in terms of organisms and sediments involved in their formation. The framework mainly consists of coralline algae and subordinate bryozoans and serpulids. Sponges affect the general morphology of the bioconstructions both interacting with skeletonised organisms and through bioerosion activity. The micrite (microcrystalline calcite) is a minor component of the build-ups and consists of two types: autochthonous (in situ) and allochthonous (detrital). Fine autochthonous micrite mineralized directly inside the framework cavities and shows aphanitic or peloidal fabric, produced by organomineralization processes of soft sponge tissues and microbial metabolic activity, respectively. The detrital micrite occurring inside cavities derives from external sources or erosion processes of the bioconstructions themselves. This component has been classified as organic or inorganic based on the organic matter contents deduced by UV-Epifluorescence. The minor amount of microbialites in the coralligenous compared to cave biostalactites could derive from the abundance of sponges that compete with carbonatogenic bacteria for the same cryptic spaces. The sharing of a similar relationship between sponges and microbial communities by coralligenous concretion and biotic crusts of particular submarine caves suggests that this competition is not habitat-specific. On the contrary, it may develop in a range of environmental settings, from open to cryptic systems, and could be used to clarify the role of metazoans vs microbialites in palaeoecological reconstructions.

<p>Coralligenous (C) bioconstructions include calcareous build-ups of biogenic origin that typify selected regions of the Mediterranean Sea. These peculiar habitats thrive from shallow waters (15-20 m of water depth (w.d.) up to the limit of the mesophotic zone, and they formed since the Holocene transgression. They are from few to tens of meters large, displaying variable lateral continuity and thickness. Peculiar C outcrops are present offshore Marzamemi (southeastern Sicily, Ionian Sea). Their extension and distribution across the shelf were investigated within the project CRESCIBLUREEF - Grown in the blue: new technologies for knowledge and conservation of Mediterranean reefs. We produced a new 17 km2 high-resolution bathymetric map using a R2-Sonic 2022 system, ground-truthed by ROV video inspections. From a geomorphological point of view, the shelf is typified by four distinct marine terraces. Climate change and tectonic uplift are the dominant forcing mechanisms responsible for the formation of long and narrow terraced landforms in a variety of geomorphic settings; and marine terraces are largely used to reconstruct the Quaternary glacial and interglacial climates. The coupling of documented uplift rate in this region (ca. 0.2 mm/yr since the Tyrrhenian time) and the evidence reported in literature for late Quaternary relative sea-level curves shows a good correlation between the distribution of C outcrops and local, short stasis of sea level transgression periods, culminated with the rapid Flandrian transgression. C outcrops are mainly spread over the first and last terraces at two specific depth ranges: from 36 to 42 m of w.d., and from 86 to 102 m of w.d., respectively. Settlement and growth were mainly favored by a low sedimentation regime. Indeed, lowstand stages were likely characterized by erosional forces. This is particularly noticeable in the middle of our study area, where we have a paleo-incision typified by peculiar erosional features we were able to map. The role of the inherited continental shelf landscape in creating favorable substrate for the settlement and growth of C during the Holocene is here investigated.</p>