Benthic Foraminifera as Environmental Indicators in Mediterranean Marine Caves: A Review

Romano, Elena; Bergamin, Luisa; Parise, Mario

doi:10.3390/geosciences12010042

Cited by 15 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 104 publications

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“…With the goal of contributing to improve such knowledge, the present article provides significant information and data about the main brackish springs in Albania, which were previously scattered across local publications and reports. These are of particular importance, especially concerning coastal environments in karst settings [91][92][93][94][95], and are becoming some of the main priorities in times of climate change regarding the safeguarding and protection of very delicate natural ecosystems.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Karst Brackish Springs of Albania

2022

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The territory of Albania presents wide outcrops of soluble rocks, with typical karst landforms and the presence of remarkable carbonate aquifers. Many karst areas are located near the coasts, which results in a variety of environmental problems, mostly related to marine intrusion. This paper focuses on the brackish springs of Albania, which exhibit temperatures approximately equal to the yearly air temperature at their location. Total dissolved solids of the springs are higher than 1000 mg/l, their waters are not drinkable, and they are rarely used for other purposes. The groundwater of the alluvial aquifers of Albania, particularly those of Pre-Adriatic Lowland, are often brackish too, but these will not be addressed here. Brackish springs of Albania are mainly of karst origin and can be classified into two groups: springs in evaporitic rock, mainly gypsum, and springs in carbonate rock. The hydro-chemical facies of the first group are usually Ca-SO4, locally with increased concentrations of Na-Cl, whereas springs belonging to the second group usually exhibit Na-Cl facies. The largest brackish springs of Albania are described in detail, including their hydro-chemical correlations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Karst Brackish Springs of Albania

2022

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“…The Middle Branch extends for a total of 5.5 km, and although it is probably connected to some minor wells in the Codula Ilune, it is still unknown from the hydrogeological point of view (Sanna and De Waele, 2010). Finally, the South Branch has the largest conduit and a very low base flow (a few liters per second), even though it carries large volumes of freshwater originating in the Codula Ilune during heavy rainfall (Romano et al, 2022). The three branches then merge near the coast at the cave entrance.…”

Section: The Bue Marino Cavementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sinkholes and dry canyons ( codula ), active only during heavy rainfalls, are the more common karst landforms on the mainland (Romano et al, 2022). A combination of rock dissolution and structural weakness forms extensive submarine caves such as Bue Marino cave, Cala Luna spring, Bel Torrente spring, and Fico and Utopia caves (Romano et al, 2020).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Marine caves are formed by karst activity due to freshwater dissolution processes along coastal environments (Romano et al, 2022) and by combining sea level changes and tectonic movements (Antonioli et al, 2004;D'Angeli et al, 2015;Florea and Vacher, 2006). Their position at the edge between the terrestrial and marine domains makes them a powerful marker of the short (seasonal, annual) and long (millennial) term environmental changes through cave sediments and living organisms (Brankovits et al, 2021;Gerovasileiou et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Paleoecological reconstruction during the Holocene in the Middle Branch of Bue Marino Cave (Sardinia, Italy)

Romano,

Sechi,

Andreucci

et al. 2023

The Holocene

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This study was conducted in the Middle Branch of Bue Marino Cave (Sardinia, Italy) to reconstruct paleoecological conditions during the Holocene through microfaunal proxies in seven surface sediment samples and a short sediment core (BMD-2018, 18 cm), all collected in 2018 and another core sampled in 2021 (BMD-2021, 28 cm). The first attempt at dating cave sediment through luminescence was conducted on BMD-2021; the derived age was 6.04 ± 0.47 ka at 18 cm depth. Although continuous sedimentation and constant rates are not probable in the cave, this indicates that the sedimentary record dates to the early times after the Holocene flooding of the cave by the sea. Benthic foraminifera and grain size were analyzed in all surface samples and core BMD-2018, while only benthic foraminifera were studied in BMD-2021. The recent foraminiferal assemblages, studied from an ecological point of view, were applied as modern analog to reconstruct the paleoecological conditions in sediment cores. Significant changes in the sedimentary environment were excluded; the two cores showed a similar foraminiferal turnover at a similar depth, from an older assemblage with prevailing indifferent Ammonia inflata to a younger one with prevailing opportunist Eggerelloides advena. This turnover was attributed to changes in the amount and/or quality of available nutrients. Based on these results, this event is likely related to possibly attributable to the effects of climate changes that occurred in the Holocene. However, more extensive studies are necessary to better understand the effects of the climatic/environmental events in the Late-Holocene in the caves. Although it represents a first attempt at paleoenvironmental reconstruction based on sediments from a Mediterranean marine cave, this study demonstrated that benthic foraminifera are refined paleoenvironmental proxies and that the integrated approach with the luminescence dating produces reliable results for studying the effects of global changes in these environments.

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“…The aquifer recharge occurs at high elevation zones of the carbonate massifs where abundant rainfall in ltrates within the rock mass. The high energy relief, combined with the wide areas covered by soluble rocks, result in groundwater owing with high hydraulic gradient from the recharge areas towards the Adriatic and Ionian Sea; many signi cant karst springs are therefore present both inland and along the coast, with hydrogeological, ecological and biological implications (Moscatello et al 2011;Rubino et al 2013;Romano et al 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Typology and hydrogeochemistry of karst springs in the southern coast of Albania

Eftimi¹,

Liso²,

Parise³

2022

Preprint

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The southern Albania coast, about 147 km-long, represents one of the most developing areas of the country for tourism and local economy. There are, however, serious problems as concerns water supply. Due to the karst nature of the territory, groundwater is the only remaining promising resource. The aim of this research is to describe the main characteristics and influencing factors on karst groundwater quantity and quality and the drainage type in the study area. In general, the area is very rich on groundwater resources; the estimated total renewable karst water resources are about 21.5 m3/s. Based upon the different geological-structural conditions and the development of karst processes, their drainage occurs in different ways. Five main types of drainage can be distinguished along the Southern Albanian coast: a) overflowing springs, b) descending springs, c) coastal springs, d) submarine spring, and e) diffuse drainage. As regards water quality, only the overflowing springs have a good quality, due to the presence of impervious rocks isolating freshwater from the sea water. Good-quality springs represent 28% of the total discharge of karst water resources drained to the Adriatic and Ionian Seas. In addition, the situation become more difficult because about 83% of fresh quality karst water resources drain along a 1.5 km-long coastal strip located in the northernmost sector of the studied area. Beside this, the strong increase in population, particularly during the summer due to tourism activities, as well as construction of new urban areas, are the main sources of likely pollution for some of the good-quality springs. The high anthropic pressure on groundwater resources increases the seawater intrusion phenomena, reducing the available freshwater resource and, at specific areas, contributing to spring salinization.

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Benthic Foraminifera as Environmental Indicators in Mediterranean Marine Caves: A Review

Cited by 15 publications

References 104 publications

Karst Brackish Springs of Albania

Karst Brackish Springs of Albania

Paleoecological reconstruction during the Holocene in the Middle Branch of Bue Marino Cave (Sardinia, Italy)

Typology and hydrogeochemistry of karst springs in the southern coast of Albania

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