Evolution of the anthropogenic impact in the Augusta Harbor (Eastern Sicily, Italy) in the last decades: benthic foraminifera as indicators of environmental status

Abstract

The study of benthic foraminifera in sediment cores provides the opportunity to recognize environmental changes, including those due to the anthropogenic impact. The integration of these data with chemical-physical parameters provides a comprehensive quality assessment. This research was applied to a sediment core collected in the Augusta bay, where a very large commercial and military harbor and one of the largest petrochemical poles in Europe are present. Inside the petrochemical area also operated, from 1958 to 2003, a chlor-alkali plant with mercury cell technology which caused anthropic contamination of surrounding land and marine areas. The sediment core was collected in front of this plant and characterized for grain size and pollutants directly associated to chlor-alkali activity, such as mercury (Hg), barium (Ba), polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Composition of foraminiferal assemblages and faunal parameters such as specific diversity, faunal density, abundance of abnormal specimens, and foraminiferal size were investigated as potential indicators of environmental status. Statistical analysis indicated a main common origin for Hg, Ba, and PCBs and the influence of pollutants on species distribution and faunal diversity and density. Exceptionally high Hg concentrations (63-680 mg/kg d.w.) were recorded in the whole core, where the geochronological study attributed the most contaminated levels to the period of maximum activity of the chlor-alkali plant, while a decrease of contamination was recorded after the stop of the activity. Distinct foraminiferal assemblages identified different ecozones along the core, which suggested decreasing anthropogenic impact from the bottom to the top.

New coring study in Augusta Bay expands understanding of offshore tsunami deposits (Eastern Sicily, Italy)

“…The original environment was also modified over time by sediment dredging within the port and its relative settlement in both legal and illegal disposal offshore areas (Bellucci et al ., ). Thus, much of the literature is also focused on the effects of industrial activity and its relative contaminant influence on the coastal ecosystem as a whole (Decembrini et al ., ; Raffa & Hopkins, ), and especially on the living benthic foraminiferal communities based on data from shallow cores and box‐core stations within the harbour (Romano et al ., , , ; Bergamin & Romano, ), and from the outer shelf in the southern part of Augusta Bay (Di Leonardo et al ., ).…”

Comparative Roles of HBB5 Biosurfactant and Poultry Wastes in Polyaromatic Hydrocarbon Biodegradiation of Crude Oil-contaminated Sediment

“…The contamination could be as a result of industrial activities, discharge of waste containing hydrocarbon and its contents. High level of contamination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon in marine coastal area caused by industrial, petrochemical plants effluent, agricultural runoffs and navigation waste discharges were also reported by researchers [29,30,31]. The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon in the treated options reduced progressively in all the days.…”

Trace Element Bioaccumulation in Stone Curlew (Burhinus oedicnemus, Linnaeus, 1758): A Case Study from Sicily (Italy)

“…Here, industrial activities started in the late 1950s and caused progressive contamination of the environment over the years. Previous studies have reported high contamination in the marine environment [17,[78][79][80][81][82], showing severe metal (Cd, Cr, Cu and Hg), PCBs and PAHs contamination. Nevertheless, terrestrial organisms, such as the ground beetle (Parallelomorphus laevigatus) or the sandhopper (Talitrus saltator) living in the Magnisi peninsula, or on the nearby beach of Marina di Priolo, did not show critical concentrations of trace elements when compared with other Sicilian areas [83,84], with the exception of Pb and Hg bioaccumulation in Ligia italica [85].…”