scholarly journals Spatial distribution and abundance of the megabenthic fauna community in Gabes gulf (Tunisia, eastern Mediterranean Sea)

2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. EL LAKHRACH ◽  
A. HATTOUR ◽  
O. JARBOUI ◽  
K. ELHASNI ◽  
A.A. RAMOS-ESPLA
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Vegetation Cover ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Ecological Condition ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Bottom Type ◽  
North East ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Marine Diversity

The aim of this paper is to bring to light the knowledge of marine diversity of invertebrates in Gabes gulf. The spatial distribution of the megabenthic fauna community in Gabes gulf (Tunisia, Eastern Mediterranean Sea), together with the bottom type and vegetation cover, were studied. The abundance of the megabenthic fauna was represented by eight groups: Echinodermata (38%), Crustacea (21%), Tunicata (19%), Mollusca (13%), Porifera (4%), Cnidaria (3%), Bryozoa, and Annelida (2%). It was spatially more concentrated in the coast area of the gulf than in the offshore waters. This area, especially, in Southern Kerkennah, North-est of Gabes and North-east of Djerba appeared to be in a good ecological condition  hosting a variety of species like the paguridsPaguristes eremita and Pagurus cuanensis, the brachyura Medorippe lanata, Inachus doresttensis, the Gastropoda Hexaplex trunculus, Bolinus brandaris, Aporrhais pespelecani, andErosaria turdus, the Bivalvia Fulvia fragilis, the Echinoidea Psammechinus microtuberculatus, Holothuria polii,Ophiothrix fragilis and Antedon mediterranea, and the AscidiaceaAplidium cf. conicum, Didemnum spp, and Microcosmus exasperatus.The species’ compositions of the megabentic fauna community showed clearly that the spatial analysis represented the differences between the community of these two regions (inshore waters and offshore waters). These differences were closely related to peculiar characters of the fauna and biotopes (depth, bottom type and vegetation cover community). The results of the present study should be considered as a necessary starting point for a further analysis of priceless benthic fauna contribution to the marine environment and its organisms.

Testing the Mesozoic plate configuration of the Eastern Mediterranean domain

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Nirrengarten ◽  
Geoffroy Mohn ◽  
François Sapin ◽  
Jon Teasdale ◽  
Charlotte Nielsen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Carbonate Platform ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
East Mediterranean ◽  
Satellite Gravity ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Rifted Margins ◽  
Lithospheric Extension ◽  
Starting Point

<p>At the transition between the Atlantic and the Tethys oceanic systems, the plate kinematic configuration of the East Mediterranean domain during the early Mesozoic is still poorly understood. Several factors like the Messinian salt, the different compressional events, the thick carbonate platforms and Cenozoic deltaic deposits combine to blur the imaging of Eastern Mediterranean rifted margins. This has led to distinct and often markedly contrasting interpretations of the timing of opening (ranging from Carboniferous to Cretaceous), structural evolution (divergent to transform segments) and kinematics (N-S to WNW-ESE extension).</p><p>To address this long-standing problem, we gathered disparate geological observations from the margins surrounding the Eastern Mediterranean Sea to integrate them in a global plate model. Distinct, end-member plate kinematic scenarios were tested, challenged and iterated by observations from the Eastern Mediterranean rifted margins.</p><p>The N-African and NW-Arabian margins of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea are relatively weakly reactivated by the different compressional events and were chosen as the starting point of our integrative tectonic study. Legacy plate models for the area mostly show N-S to NNE-SSW opening of the Eastern Mediterranean of pre-Jurassic age. We have integrated dense industrial seismic data, deep boreholes and dredge data, as well as enhanced satellite gravity images that strongly suggests WNW-ESE oriented lithospheric extension and sea floor spreading during the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic.</p><p>Our approach starts by the mapping of the main extensional and compressional structures, the different crustal domains and the pre-rift facies distribution. We investigate the potential conjugate margins now located and imbricated in the Dinarides, Hellenides and Taurides on the northern side of the East Mediterranean Sea by looking at the drowning ages of the Mesozoic carbonate platform and the related rift structures. We refine the full fit and initial spreading of the Atlantic Ocean using crustal thickness and features observed on both sides of the system to calibrate the motion of Eurasia and Africa, which determine the space available to develop the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Initial tests on the evolution of the main tectonic plates highlight an insufficient eastward motion of Africa relative to Eurasia (Iberia) to accommodate the extension of Eastern Mediterranean during the Jurassic with a purely WNW-ESE direction of extension. Further hypotheses remain to be tested. However, for now, a scenario involving poly-phased and poly-directional motion of the conjugate continent “Greater Adria” during Jurassic is favoured to model the Eastern Mediterranean plate evolution in relation with the closure of the Neo-Tethys further north.</p>

Cold seep communities in the deep eastern Mediterranean Sea: composition, symbiosis and spatial distribution on mud volcanoes

2004 ◽  
Vol 51 (12) ◽  
pp. 1915-1936 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karine Olu-Le Roy ◽  
Myriam Sibuet ◽  
Aline Fiala-Médioni ◽  
Serge Gofas ◽  
Carmen Salas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Cold Seep ◽  
Mud Volcanoes ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean Sea

Assessing the spatial distribution of five non-commercial fish species in the Aegean Sea (Greece, eastern Mediterranean Sea) based on discards data

2021 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
pp. 101736
Author(s):  
Smaragda Despoti ◽  
Konstantinos I. Stergiou ◽  
Athanassios Machias ◽  
Vassiliki Vassilopoulou ◽  
Konstantinos Tsagarakis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Fish Species ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Aegean Sea ◽  
Commercial Fish ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean Sea

scholarly journals Spatial distribution of Bacteria and Archaea and amoA gene copy numbers throughout the water column of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea

2008 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniele De Corte ◽  
Taichi Yokokawa ◽  
Marta M Varela ◽  
Hélène Agogué ◽  
Gerhard J Herndl
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Water Column ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Amoa Gene ◽  
Gene Copy ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Copy Numbers ◽  
Gene Copy Numbers

scholarly journals Comparison of Hydrocarbon-Degrading Consortia from Surface and Deep Waters of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea: Characterization and Degradation Potential

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 2246
Author(s):  
Georgia Charalampous ◽  
Efsevia Fragkou ◽  
Konstantinos A. Kormas ◽  
Alexandre B. De Menezes ◽  
Paraskevi N. Polymenakou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Sole Source ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Deep Waters ◽  
Degradation Rates ◽  
Polycyclic Aromatic ◽  
Set Up

The diversity and degradation capacity of hydrocarbon-degrading consortia from surface and deep waters of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea were studied in time-series experiments. Microcosms were set up in ONR7a medium at in situ temperatures of 25 °C and 14 °C for the Surface and Deep consortia, respectively, and crude oil as the sole source of carbon. The Deep consortium was additionally investigated at 25 °C to allow the direct comparison of the degradation rates to the Surface consortium. In total, ~50% of the alkanes and ~15% of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were degraded in all treatments by Day 24. Approximately ~95% of the total biodegradation by the Deep consortium took place within 6 days regardless of temperature, whereas comparable levels of degradation were reached on Day 12 by the Surface consortium. Both consortia were dominated by well-known hydrocarbon-degrading taxa. Temperature played a significant role in shaping the Deep consortia communities with Pseudomonas and Pseudoalteromonas dominating at 25 °C and Alcanivorax at 14 °C. Overall, the Deep consortium showed a higher efficiency for hydrocarbon degradation within the first week following contamination, which is critical in the case of oil spills, and thus merits further investigation for its exploitation in bioremediation technologies tailored to the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.

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