In the northern Adriatic Sea and in most semienclosed coastal regions worldwide, hypoxia induced by eutrophication in the late 20 th century caused major die-offs of coastal marine organisms. However, ecosystem responses to hypoxia over longer centennial scales are unclear because the duration of direct observations is limited to a few decades and/or the temporal resolution of sedimentary archives is compromised by slow sedimentation and bioturbation. To assess whether perturbations of ecosystems by hypoxia recurred over centuries in the northern Adriatic Sea, we evaluate the timing and forcing of past hypoxia events based on the production history of the opportunistic, hypoxia-tolerant bivalve Corbula gibba, using 210 Pb data, radiocarbon dating, amino acid racemization, and distribution of foraminifers in sediment cores that capture the past 500 yr in the Gulf of Trieste. Unmixing the stratigraphic record on the basis of 311 shells of C. gibba, we show that the reconstructed fluctuations in abundance do not correlate with abundances in the raw stratigraphic record. We find that production of C. gibba has undergone major decadal-scale fluctuations since the 18 th century, with outbreaks corresponding to density of more than 1000 individuals per square meter. These outbreaks represent long-term phenomena in the northern Adriatic ecosystem rather than novel states characteristic of the 20 th century eutrophication. They positively correlate with centennial-scale fluctuations in sea-surface temperature, indicating that the hypoxia events were coupled with water-column stratification rather than with nutrient enrichment.

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Abstract. Shallow and sheltered marine embayments in urbanized areas are prone to the accumulation of pollutants, but little is known about the historical baselines of such marine ecosystems. Here we study foraminiferal assemblages, geochemical proxies and sedimentological data from 1.6 m long sediment cores to uncover  ∼  500 years of anthropogenic pressure from mining, port and industrial activities in the Gulf of Trieste, Italy. From 1600 to 1900 AD, normalized element concentrations and foraminiferal assemblages point to negligible effects of agricultural activities. The only significant anthropogenic activity during this period was mercury mining in the hinterlands of the gulf, releasing high amounts of mercury into the bay and significantly exceeding the standards on the effects of trace elements on benthic organisms. Nonetheless, the fluctuations in the concentrations of mercury do not correlate with changes in the composition and diversity of foraminiferal assemblages due to its non-bioavailability. Intensified agricultural and maricultural activities in the first half of the 20th century caused slight nutrient enrichment and a minor increase in foraminiferal diversity. Intensified port and industrial activities in the second half of 20th century increased the normalized trace element concentrations and persistent organic pollutants (PAH, PCB) in the topmost part of the core. This increase caused only minor changes in the foraminiferal community because foraminifera in Panzano Bay have a long history of adaptation to elevated trace element concentrations. Our study underlines the importance of using an integrated, multidisciplinary approach in reconstructing the history of environmental and anthropogenic changes in marine systems. Given the prolonged human impacts in coastal areas like the Gulf of Trieste, such long-term baseline data are crucial for interpreting the present state of marine ecosystems.

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