CUTRONEO L.

Extreme weather phenomena have become more frequent and intense in recent decades in the context of climate change, and these include heat waves that affect both the atmosphere and seawater masses. In 2022, a summer marine heatwave (MHW) affected the entire Mediterranean Sea, and temperatures up to 5 °C above seasonal mean were reached in the...

Environmental contamination by plastics and microplastics is a recognised problem worldwide, and it is the focus of many research teams. In the quantification of microplastics in the environment (plastic items with dimensions between 1 μm and 5 mm), the search for shared and universally recognised protocols and methodologies is still ongoing....

River estuaries, continental shelf, and sediment contamination are closely linked from the point of view of sediment transport and diffusion that is governed by different factors such as sea waves and currents, river flows and floods, and sediment characteristics. Taking these factors into consideration, we have examined marine environmental...

A study on the Rare Earth Element (REE) distribution in the bottom sediments of the Gulf of Tigullio (north-west Italy) was conducted. The results constitute a baseline for this zone of the Ligurian Sea and enabled the obtaining of valuable information on the origin and transport of sediments in the gulf. The distribution of REEs is...

Microplastic (MP) debris is recognized to be one of the most serious threats to marine environments. They are found in all seas and oceanic basins worldwide, even in the most remote areas. This is further proof that the transport of MPs is very efficient. In the present study, we focus our attention on MPs' transport owing to the Stokes drift...

Purpose: Mycological characterisation of marine and dredged sediments consists of the isolation of vital and culturable fungal strains as well as their identification and analysis, in order to increase knowledge of sediment mycobiota and isolated species that can be employed in biotechnological processes. Our study undertook the mycological...

Thanks to their enzymatic activities fungi are used in many studies and applications for remediation purposes in order to degrade organic contaminants such as hydrocarbons. In particular, ligninolytic marine-derived fungi can be applied to biodegradation, since they already play an active role in the biogeochemical cycles of marine substrates....

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Plastic floating on the ocean surface represents about 1 % of all plastic in the ocean, despite the buoyancy of most plastics. Biofouling can help to sink debris, which could explain this discrepancy. A set of laboratory experiments was conducted to investigate biofilm-induced effects on the buoyancy of different plastic debris. Ten materials...

Contamination of marine sediments by organic and/or inorganic compounds represents one of the most critical problems in marine environments. This issue affects not only biodiversity but also ecosystems, with negative impacts on sea water quality. The scientific community and the European Commission have recently discussed marine environment and...

Purpose: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are waste products, which today represent a serious problem in the world due to their high toxicity and difficult removal from the environment. For these reasons, they represent an important and challenging topic of study and research. PAHs may be degraded through biotic pathways including both...

Purpose: Port-dredging activities produce large volumes of contaminated sediments. Dredged sediments are considered a waste by national laws, but recently the desire to consider them a resource has become widespread and remedies for their contamination are being searched to allow their reuse. In this work, we studied, developed, and tested a...

Several inputs of metal contamination can affect port seawater, such as industries and sludges. Despite the urge of developing new techniques to face this problem, most of the studies focus on traditional methods of remediation. Bioremediation by fungi represents an innovative and sustainable tool to efficiently remove metals from seawaters....

Microlitter (<5 mm) distribution was investigated in the bottom sediments of the Entella Torrent and its tributaries as well as in the sea area in front of its mouth (Gulf of Tigullio; NW Italy). Microlitter was extracted from sediment using a concentrated hypersaline solution (1.2 g cm−3), filtered with 0.45-μm porosity and black grid...