Past, current and projected atmospheric emissions of trace elements in the mediterranean region

This report presents past and current annual emissions of Pb, Ni, Cu, Cd, and V to the atmosphere from major anthropogenic sources in the Mediterranean Sea region and discusses projected emissions for the 1998-2015 period. Gasoline combustion still represents the major emission source of Pb in the urban environment, however its contribution to the regional atmospheric budget is following a downward trend. On a country-by-country basis, spatial distributions of current Pb emissions show that Syria is the leading emitting country with 18.7% of the regional total, followed by Italy (12.3%), France (11.2%), Turkey (11.1%), Egypt (7.5%), Yugoslavia (6.3%), Spain (6.2%), Libya (5.5%), Algeria (5.1%), Israel (4.0%), Bulgaria (3.1%), Morocco (2.3%), Lebanon (2.2%), Greece (2.1%), Jordan (1.1%), Tunisia (0.5%), Cyprus (0.5%), Albania (0.3%). The emission of trace elements from the combustion of fossil fuels as well as from primary and secondary non-ferrous metal smelters represents an important source of Pb, Ni, Cu, Cd and V in the region as a whole. Greece, Tunisia and Lebanon are the major per-capita contributors of Pb released to the regional atmosphere, whereas over 50% of Ni is released from anthropogenic sources in Lebanon, Tunisia, Bulgaria and Cyprus. Cadmium emissions are significant in Lebanon, Tunisia and Bulgaria, whereas Libya is the major emitter of Cu in the region. Annual emissions in the Mediterranean Sea region are compared with those derived for other regions and the variations in emission patterns by source category are discussed. The projected emissions of trace elements up to the 2015 are estimated considering an upper and lower case scenario in the temporal variations of the control efficiency of major emission source categories.

Download Full-text

Differences in macroelements, trace elements and toxic metals between wild and captive-reared greater amberjack (Seriola dumerili) from the Mediterranean Sea

Marine Pollution Bulletin ◽

10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112637 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 170 ◽

pp. 112637

Author(s):

Enrique Lozano-Bilbao ◽

Ninoska Adern ◽

Arturo Hardisson ◽

Dailos González-Weller ◽

Carmen Rubio ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Trace Elements ◽

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Toxic Metals ◽

Seriola Dumerili ◽

Greater Amberjack ◽

The Mediterranean

Download Full-text

Introduction to the project DUNE, a DUst experiment in a low Nutrient, low chlorophyll Ecosystem

Biogeosciences Discussions ◽

10.5194/bgd-10-12491-2013 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 10 (7) ◽

pp. 12491-12527 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

C. Guieu ◽

F. Dulac ◽

C. Ridame ◽

P. Pondaven

Keyword(s):

Trace Elements ◽

Atmospheric Deposition ◽

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Surface Waters ◽

Carbon Pump ◽

Mesocosm Experiments ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

Atmospheric Inputs ◽

Oligotrophic Ecosystem ◽

The Impact

Abstract. The main goal of the project DUNE was to estimate the impact of atmospheric deposition on an oligotrophic ecosystem based on mesocosm experiments simulating strong atmospheric inputs of Aeolian dust. Atmospheric deposition is now recognized as a significant source of macro- and micro-nutrients for the surface ocean, but the quantification of its role on the biological carbon pump is still poorly determined. We proposed in DUNE to investigate the role of atmospheric inputs on the functioning of an oligotrophic system particularly well adapted to this kind of study: the Mediterranean Sea. The Mediterranean Sea – etymologically, sea surrounded by land – is submitted to atmospheric inputs that are very variable both in frequency and intensity. During the thermal stratification period, only atmospheric deposition is prone to fertilize Mediterranean surface waters which has become very oligotrophic due to the nutrient depletion (after the spring bloom). This paper describes the objectives of DUNE and the implementation plan of a series of mesocosms experiments during which either wet or dry and a succession of two wet deposition fluxes of 10 g m−2 of Saharan dust have been simulated. After the presentation of the main biogeochemical initial conditions of the site at the time of each experiment, a general overview of the papers published in this special issue is presented, including laboratory results on the solubility of trace elements in erodible soils in addition to results from the mesocosm experiments. Our mesocosm experiments aimed at being representative of real atmospheric deposition events onto the surface of oligotrophic marine waters and were an original attempt to consider the vertical dimension in the study of the fate of atmospheric deposition within surface waters. Results obtained can be more easily extrapolated to quantify budgets and parameterize processes such as particle migration through a "captured water column". The strong simulated dust deposition events were found to impact the dissolved concentrations of inorganic dissolved phosphorus, nitrogen, iron and other trace elements. In the case of Fe, adsorption on sinking particles yields a decrease in dissolved concentration unless binding ligands were produced following a former deposition input and associated fertilization. For the first time, a quantification of the C export induced by the aerosol addition was possible. Description and parameterization of biotic (heterotrophs and autotrophs, including diazotrophs) and abiotic processes (ballast effect due to lithogenic particles) after dust addition in sea surface water, result in a net particulate organic carbon export in part controlled by the "lithogenic carbon pump".

Download Full-text

Atmospheric inputs of trace elements and the geochemistry of the Mediterranean sea

Chemical Geology ◽

10.1016/0009-2541(88)90765-6 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 70 (1-2) ◽

pp. 194

Author(s):

P. Buat-Menard ◽

E. Remoudaki ◽

J. Davies ◽

C. Quetel ◽

U. Ezat ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Trace Elements ◽

Mediterranean Sea ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

Atmospheric Inputs

Download Full-text

Introduction: Process studies at the air–sea interface after atmospheric deposition in the Mediterranean Sea – objectives and strategy of the PEACETIME oceanographic campaign (May–June 2017)

Biogeosciences ◽

10.5194/bg-17-5563-2020 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (22) ◽

pp. 5563-5585

Author(s):

Cécile Guieu ◽

Fabrizio D'Ortenzio ◽

François Dulac ◽

Vincent Taillandier ◽

Andrea Doglioli ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Atmospheric Deposition ◽

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Anthropogenic Sources ◽

Dust Deposition ◽

Action Strategy ◽

Process Studies ◽

In Situ Observations ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

First Time

Abstract. In spring, the Mediterranean Sea, a well-stratified low-nutrient–low-chlorophyll region, receives atmospheric deposition by both desert dust from the Sahara and airborne particles from anthropogenic sources. Such deposition translates into a supply of new nutrients and trace metals for the surface waters that likely impact biogeochemical cycles. However, the relative impacts of the processes involved are still far from being assessed in situ. After summarizing the knowledge on dust deposition and its impact on the Mediterranean Sea biogeochemistry, we present in this context the objectives and strategy of the PEACETIME project and cruise. Atmospheric and marine in situ observations and process studies have been conducted in contrasted areas encountering different atmospheric deposition context, including a dust deposition event that our dedicated “fast-action” strategy allowed us to catch. Process studies also include artificial dust seeding experiments conducted on board in large tanks in three ecoregions of the open waters of the Mediterranean Sea for the first time. This paper summarizes the work performed at sea and the type of data acquired in the atmosphere, at the air–sea interface and in the water column. An overview of the results presented in papers of this special issue (and in some others published elsewhere) is presented.

Download Full-text

Co-occurrence of a reef-building coral and canopy-forming macroalgae in the Mediterranean Sea

Mediterranean Marine Science ◽

10.12681/mms.26967 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

ALÈSSIA PONS-FITA ◽

DIEGO K. KERSTING ◽

ENRIC BALLESTEROS

Keyword(s):

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Small Scale ◽

Case Scenario ◽

Worst Case ◽

Future Studies ◽

Cladocora Caespitosa ◽

New Information ◽

Starting Point ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

The Relationship

Canopy-forming macroalgae are amongst the main competitors of corals by affecting coral recruitment, growth of recruits and adults, fecundity and in the worst-case scenario causing coral bleaching and necrosis. However, potentially reef-building coral Cladocora caespitosa (Linnaeus, 1767) and canopy-forming macroalgae of the order Fucales (Cystoseira sensu lato) are known to concur in a few places of the Mediterranean Sea. Here we look at the small-scale relationships between Cladocora abundance and Cystoseira s. l. densities at three different places where they coexist. Relationships have turned out to be both species and site-specific even though most relationships are neutral, pointing to a predominant concurrence of corals and macroalgae at the small scale. These findings shed new information on the relationship between corals and fleshy macroalgae in a temperate environment and serve as a starting point for future studies addressing the interactions between C. caespitosa and Cystoseira s. l.

Download Full-text

Process studies at the air-sea interface after atmospheric deposition in the Mediterranean Sea: objectives and strategy of the PEACETIME oceanographic campaign (May–June 2017)

10.5194/bg-2020-44 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Cécile Guieu ◽

Fabrizio D'Ortenzio ◽

François Dulac ◽

Vincent Taillandier ◽

Andrea Doglioli ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Atmospheric Deposition ◽

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Saharan Dust ◽

Anthropogenic Sources ◽

Dust Deposition ◽

Process Studies ◽

In Situ Observations ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

First Time

Abstract. In spring, the Mediterranean Sea, a well-stratified low nutrient low chlorophyll region, receives atmospheric deposition both desert dust from the Sahara and airborne particles from anthropogenic sources. Such deposition translates into a supply of new nutrients and trace metals for the surface waters that likely impact biogeochemical cycles. However, the quantification of the impacts and the processes involved are still far from being assessed in situ. In this paper, we provide a state of the art regarding dust deposition and its impact on the Mediterranean Sea biogeochemistry and we describe in this context the objectives and strategy of the PEACETIME project and cruise, entirely dedicated to filling this knowledge gap. Our strategy to go a step forward than in previous approaches in understanding these impacts by catching a real deposition event at sea is detailed. The PEACETIME oceanographic campaign took place in May–June 2017 and we describe how we were able to successfully adapt the planned transect in order to sample a Saharan dust deposition event, thanks to a dedicated strategy, so-called Fast Action. That was successful, providing, for the first time in our knowledge, a coupled atmospheric and oceanographic sampling before, during and after an atmospheric deposition event. Atmospheric and marine in situ observations and process studies have been conducted in contrasted area and we summarize the work performed at sea, the type of data acquired and their valorization in the papers published in the special issue.

Download Full-text