title: The key role played by the Augusta basin (southern Italy) in the mercury contamination of the Mediterranean Sea.
abstract: The Augusta basin, located in SE Sicily (southern Italy), is a semi-enclosed marine area, labelled as a highly contaminated site. The release of mercury into the harbour seawater and its dispersion to the blue water, make the Augusta basin a potential source of anthropogenic pollution for the Mediterranean Sea. A mass balance was implemented to calculate the HgT budget in the Augusta basin. Results suggest that an average of ∼0.073 kmol of HgT is released, by diffusion, on a yearly basis, from sediments to the seawater, with a consequent output of 0.162 kmol y(-1) to coastal and offshore waters; this makes the Augusta area an important contributor of mercury to the Mediterranean Sea. Owing to the geographical location of the Augusta basin, its outflowing shelf-waters are immediately intercepted by the surface Atlantic Ionian Stream (AIS) and mixed with the main gyres of the eastern Mediterranean Sea, thus representing a risk for the large-scale marine system.
authors.affiliation: Istituto per l'Ambiente Marino Costiero (CNR), Torretta Granitola (Frazione di Campobello di Mazara, TP), Italy. mario.sprovieri@iamc.cnr.it
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sprovieri
authors.forename: Elvira
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Oliveri
authors.forename: Rossella
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Di Leonardo
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Romano
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ausili
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gabellini
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barra
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tranchida
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bellanca
authors.forename: Rodolfo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Neri
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Budillon
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saggiomo
authors.forename: Salvatore
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mazzola
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Saggiomo
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D007558:Italy; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis*; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D008628:Mercury