Marine Sites and the Drivers of Wellbeing: Ecosystem vs. Anthropic Services

Coastal sites offer a range of services that contribute to human wellbeing. While some of the services are entirely human-made (e.g., parasol and sunbed rental), others are produced thanks to the contribution of marine ecosystems (e.g., water clarity). The purpose of this paper is to investigate the preferences of a sample of beachgoers for these two categories of services that policymakers have to balance when designing management strategies for coastal sites. We consider a marine site in the north of Italy that partially falls within the boundaries of a protected area but that is characterized by a medium-to-high level of anthropization. The results of a discrete choice experiment show that in the current state of things, the ecosystem services proposed for the sample have, on average, a higher marginal utility, suggesting that actions increasing those services have a larger effect on well-being.

Seismic Attributes and Acoustic Inversion for Shallow Marine Slope Stratigraphy Analysis

Geophysical seismic surveys have been used in marine site characterization for subsea engineering and the design of offshore structures. Signal processing plays a key role in obtaining seismic attributes from observed seismic data to identify subsurface geological features within complex shallow sediments. Instantaneous amplitude, phase, and frequency are the most widely used seismic attributes to indicate geological features, but those time-domain data are too limited to define an accurate subsurface model in depth. Therefore, seismic inversion is also required to generate additional geospatial subsurface model information to aid in shallow stratigraphy interpretation. In this paper, we applied both geophysical signal processing and stochastic seismic inversion to a high-resolution multichannel seismic dataset from the Eastern North American Margin (ENAM). Seismic attributes from the Hilbert transform and inversion modeling results (acoustic impedance and modeling uncertainty) were integrated to define better geological horizons and discontinuities. The results show the integrated geophysical subsurface models can support seismic interpretation and improve shallow marine site characterization.

Utilization of Recycled Aggregate Concrete for Marine Site Based on 7-Year Field Monitoring

This research aimed to create value of construction and demolition waste to be able used as a recycled coarse aggregate (RCA) in durable concrete, based on 7-year field investigation in marine site. Fly ash was used to substitute Portland cement type I in RCA concrete varied from 0 to 50% by weight of binder with three W/B ratios and comparing to natural aggregate (NA) concrete. Cubical concrete specimens were cast having round steel bars embedded with various concrete coverings to evaluate the durability performances. After 28-day curing, the specimens were placed at a tidal zone in the gulf of Thailand and investigated both mechanical and durability performances at 7-year exposed period. Based on site monitoring, 15–25% fly ash RCA concrete with W/B ratio of 0.40 would be advantaged to resist destruction due to the marine attack when compared with NA concrete with the same water-to-binder ratio.

Chemical Degradation and Color Changes of Paint Protective Coatings Used in Solar Glass Mirrors

This paper reports a study of the influence of outdoor natural aging on paint coatings applied to the back of three commercial solar glass mirrors (A1, C2, and D2) under two different exposure environments (marine and desert) in Morocco for a period of about three years. The aging assessment was carried out through colorimetric measurements and FTIR-ATR (Attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared) analyses of the top coat paints. The obtained results demonstrate that the tested coating system had a high resistance at the desert site. Under the desert environment, no obvious changes to the coating occurred after 350 days. However, at the marine site, some color changes were detected, and the coating got yellow and more matte, especially for mirror A1. FTIR-ATR analyses have indicated many modifications in the intensity of many bonds of infrared spectra especially for paint of this mirror type (A1). This chemical degradation is not only due to UV degradation but also related to many factors, such as humidity, salinity, and rainfall. This finding was concluded after the faster degradation observed on samples exposed at the marine site. The present study confirms the need to use different exposure environments for testing the limits of new protective systems for solar glass mirrors rather than using only the real service conditions. Finally, accelerated tests are necessary for understanding the effect of each degrading parameter and their results should be compared to outdoor tests data for a complete analysis of coatings durability.

Investigation of Non-Methane Hydrocarbons at a Central Adriatic Marine Site Mali Lošinj, Croatia

For the first time, volatile hydrocarbons were measured in Croatia, at Mali Lošinj in the period from autumn 2004 to autumn 2005. Mali Lošinj site is conveniently located as a gateway to Croatia for any potential pollution from either Po valley in Italy, or other locations in southern Europe or even Africa. The sampling was performed on multisorbent tubes and then analyzed by thermal desorption gas chromatography with a flame ionization detector. The aim was to determine and estimate the non-methane hydrocarbons in Mali Lošinj, a location with Mediterranean vegetation and species which emit large quantities of volatile organic compounds. Ozone volume fraction and meteorological parameters were also continuously measured, from April to October 2005. Ethane, ethene, ethyne, propane, propene, n-pentane, n-hexane, benzene and toluene were identified in all air samples. Benzene and toluene have been found in ambient air and significant positive correlations between ethyne and ethane, propane and propene indicate emissions from transport.

Cerato-Platanins from Marine Fungi as Effective Protein Biosurfactants and Bioemulsifiers

Two fungal strains, Aspergillus terreus MUT 271 and Trichoderma harzianum MUT 290, isolated from a Mediterranean marine site chronically pervaded by oil spills, can use crude oil as sole carbon source. Herein, these strains were investigated as producers of biosurfactants, apt to solubilize organic molecules as a preliminary step to metabolize them. Both fungi secreted low molecular weight proteins identified as cerato-platanins, small, conserved, hydrophobic proteins, included among the fungal surface-active proteins. Both proteins were able to stabilize emulsions, and their capacity was comparable to that of other biosurfactant proteins and to commercially available surfactants. Moreover, the cerato-platanin from T. harzianum was able to lower the surface tension value to a larger extent than the similar protein from A. terreus and other amphiphilic proteins from fungi. Both cerato-platanins were able to make hydrophilic a hydrophobic surface, such as hydrophobins, and to form a stable layer, not removable even after surface washing. To the best of our knowledge, the ability of cerato-platanins to work both as biosurfactant and bioemulsifier is herein demonstrated for the first time.

STRUCTURE OF THE SHAKHE RIVER OUTFLOW IN THE BLACK SEA ACCORDING TO REMOTE, PYROMETRIC AND CONTACT MEASUREMENTS

The results of studies of hydrophysical and bio-optical structure of the outflow of the Shakhe River, conducted during the IO RAS expedition “Black Sea-2018” at the marine site near Golovinka on the RV “Ashamba” on 1–2 June 2018, are presented. Information synchronously obtained, both with the help of remote sensing satellites (radar and optical sensors), infrared portable pyrometer, and onboard the RV (CTD probe as part of a shipboard flow system), was used. At the same time, seawater samples were taken from the sea surface layer, followed by laboratory analysis of their bio-optic and geochemical characteristics. Hydrophysical characteristics and submesoscale structure of the Shakhe River outflow at the test site studied both remotely and contactly, gave identical results. This makes it possible to further efficiently use these instruments on board of RVs to study the river outflows in the Black Sea. At the same time, portable infrared pyrometers make it possible to obtain significantly better spatial resolution in terms of temperature compared with satellite instruments, while satellite images can detect river outflows in the sea, their boundaries and structure.

Structure and function of nematode assemblages in contaminated sediments: what can we learn from the Mar Piccolo of Taranto (Ionian Sea)?

Free-living nematodes were investigated in the Mar Piccolo of Taranto (Ionian Sea), a semi-enclosed basin of strategic importance for its complex productive infrastructure but in need of remediation due to the alarming amounts of heavy metals and synthetic organic contaminants in the sediments. Abundance, genera composition, biodiversity and trophic traits of nematodes were related to the gradual transition from marine to more brackish conditions and to the varying levels of contaminants in different sub-areas of the basin. Nematodes were more abundant and diverse at the most marine site while low numbers and diversity characterized the most contaminated station. Going towards the innermost part of the basin, gradually increasing values of abundance and biodiversity were observed although the assemblage was susceptible to the organic enrichment caused by mussel farms. The use of nematodes as ecological indicators mirrored the response of the assemblage to the main patterns acting in the basin (High/Good scores at the most marine site and Poor/Bad scores at the most contaminated station), giving a clear indication of environmental quality to stakeholders/authority that can contribute to address remediation actions in contaminated sediments.