The swim-survey archive of the Mediterranean rocky coasts: Potentials and future perspectives

Furlani, Stefano; Antonioli, Fabrizio

doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2022.108529

Cited by 6 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 39 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The 2013 survey followed the Geoswim protocol described by [14,15]. Geoswim consists of swim surveys of selected long sectors of rocky coast, mainly sloping coasts and plunging cliffs [22], with detailed observations of lateral changes in coastal landforms, ecological features of the coast, and mapping of prominent geo-objects.…”

Section: Surveys Of Sea Cavesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Regarding the DAQ (data acquisition) system, each device was autonomous with respect to the other. The synchronization of data collected during each surveying day was carried out with respect to the Coordinate Universal Time (UTC) and the comparison with GPS coordinates [14,15].…”

Section: Surveys Of Sea Cavesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The surveys followed a predetermined route at approximately 1 m to 5 m from the coastline. Small changes in the original routes were caused by nuances in the local topography, and due to the orientation of some of the sea caves [14,15].…”

Section: Surveys Of Sea Cavesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Morphometric data were acquired in the field using manual instruments for measurements, such as an invar rod or an acoustic distance meter, and also terrestrial photogrammetry (Figure 3) [14,15].…”

Section: Surveys Of Sea Cavesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The rock mass must be sufficiently resistant to prevent the formation of pocket beaches at its base and to allow for a sizeable cavity to form without the occurrence of rockfalls [13]. All the pre-requisites for the genesis and development of coastal caves are satisfied on the island of Gozo (Figure 1), where tens of sea caves occur [14,15]. [16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Sea Caves and Other Landforms of the Coastal Scenery on Gozo Island (Malta): Inventory and New Data on Their Formation

Furlani,

Antonioli,

Colica

et al. 2023

Geosciences

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Sea caves are a type of cave formed primarily by the wave action of the sea. The coastal scenery of the Gozitan coast is very interesting in that sea caves and other coastal landforms, such as sea arches, develop at the sea level. We mapped seventy-nine semi-submerged sea caves opening at the sea level, five completely submerged sea caves, seven sea arches, one sea stack, and one shelter around the coast of Gozo, mainly in the Western and Eastern parts of the island, due to favorable lithological and topographical conditions. Additionally, we surveyed the topography of the emerged part of nine sea caves using the iPhone build-in LiDAR sensor, and eight sea caves in the submerged part using SCUBA equipment. This inventory represents the most detailed example of a database of coastal caves and related forms in the Mediterranean, mainly sourced from a swimming survey along the entire island. Thanks to the combination of outputs of the above-water emerged and submerged surveys, we defined three types of semi-submerged sea caves: (i) box caves, (ii) joint caves, and (iii) complex caves. Moreover, we added a cave-like landform above the sea level on calcarenites called shelter, or a little extended notch deeply carved into the cliff. The shape mainly depends on the structural and lithological setting of sea cliffs. In the Western sector of the island, we also discovered the only sea cave in Gozo, measuring 122 m in length and 10 m in width, with its floor developing above the mean sea level. This cave base is of interest due to rounded landforms related to marine erosion. In the innermost part of the cave, there is also a beach with rounded pebble at an elevation of about 7 m asl. Considering the tectonic stability of the island, it could be possibly related to the MIS 5.5 highstand.

show abstract

Section: Surveys Of Sea Cavesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Surveys Of Sea Cavesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Surveys Of Sea Cavesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Surveys Of Sea Cavesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Sea Caves and Other Landforms of the Coastal Scenery on Gozo Island (Malta): Inventory and New Data on Their Formation

Furlani,

Antonioli,

Colica

et al. 2023

Geosciences

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Decoding Late Quaternary faulting through marine terraces and MIS 5.5 tilted tidal notches: Insights from central Mediterranean Sea (NW Sicily, Italy)

Agate,

Antonioli,

Caldareri

et al. 2025

Geomorphology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Photogrammetry as a promising tool to unveil marine caves’ benthic assemblages

Pulido Mantas,

Roveta,

Calcinai

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Traditionally, monitoring approaches to survey marine caves have been constrained by equipment limitations and strict safety protocols. Nowadays, the rise of new approaches opens new possibilities to describe these peculiar ecosystems. The current study aimed to explore the potential of Structure from Motion (SfM) photogrammetry to assess the abundance and spatial distribution of the sessile benthic assemblages inside a semi-submerged marine cave. Additionally, since impacts of recent date mussel Lithophaga lithophaga illegal fishing were recorded, a special emphasis was paid to its distribution and densities. The results of SfM were compared with a more “traditional approach”, by simulating photo-quadrats deployments over the produced orthomosaics. A total of 22 sessile taxa were identified, with Porifera representing the dominant taxa within the cave, and L. lithophaga presenting a density of 88.3 holes/m2. SfM and photo-quadrats obtained comparable results regarding species richness, percentage cover of identified taxa and most of the seascape metrics, while, in terms of taxa density estimations, photo-quadrats highly overestimated their values. SfM resulted in a suitable non-invasive technique to record marine cave assemblages. Seascape indexes proved to be a comprehensive way to describe the spatial pattern of distribution of benthic organisms, establishing a useful baseline to assess future community shifts.

show abstract

The swim-survey archive of the Mediterranean rocky coasts: Potentials and future perspectives

Cited by 6 publications

References 39 publications

Sea Caves and Other Landforms of the Coastal Scenery on Gozo Island (Malta): Inventory and New Data on Their Formation

Sea Caves and Other Landforms of the Coastal Scenery on Gozo Island (Malta): Inventory and New Data on Their Formation

Decoding Late Quaternary faulting through marine terraces and MIS 5.5 tilted tidal notches: Insights from central Mediterranean Sea (NW Sicily, Italy)

Photogrammetry as a promising tool to unveil marine caves’ benthic assemblages

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About