A book published by AGU-Wiley entitled "Coastal Ecosystems at the Crossing: A Comparative Analysis of the Northern Adriatic and the Chesapeake Bay" by editors T. Malone, A. Malej and J. Faganeli is presented. The book provides a comparison of the ecosystems of the northern Adriatic and the Chesapeake Bay (east coast of the USA) and expands knowledge about anthropogenic impacts on the coastal ecosystem, where both the population and the exploitation of natural resources are concentrated. The re-examination of both ecosystems has enabled us to change the changes of the last 20 years, especially the local impact in the context of global climate change and the success of interventions to manage and reduce anthropogenic impacts on coastal ecosystems. There are also two chapters in the book that relate to the theme of the project, presented one and the following: TESTA, Jeremy M., FAGANELI, Jadran, GIANI, Michele, BRUSH, Mark J., DE VITTOR, Cinzia, BOYNTON, Walter R., COVELLI, Stefano, WOODLAND, Ryan J., KOVAČ, Nives, KEMP, W. Michael. Advances in our understanding of pelagic-benthic coupling. V: MALONE, Thomas C. (ur.), MALEJ, Alenka (ur.), FAGANELI, Jadran (ur.). Coastal ecosystems in transition: a comparative analysis of the northern Adriatic and Chesapeake Bay. 1st ed. Hoboken: American Geophysical Union: Wiley, 2021. Str. 147-175. Geophysical monograph series. ISBN 978-1-119-54362-6. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781119543626.ch8, DOI: 10.1002/9781119543626.ch8. [COBISS.SI-ID 48788995] The book was also presented to Slovenian researchers: FAGANELI, Jadran, MALEJ, Alenka. Obalni ekosistemi na prehodu: primerjalna analiza severnega Jadrana in Zaliva Chesapeake. Acta chimica slovenica. [Spletna izd.]. 2020, 67, str. s91-s97, ilustr. ISSN 1580-3155. https://journals.matheo.si/index.php/ACSi/article/view/6330, DOI: 10.17344/acsi.2020.6330.
COBISS.SI-ID: 48713731
In collaboration with the Institute Nazionale di Oceanografia e Geofisica Sperimentale – OGS Trieste, Italy a mesocosmos experiment was performed in order to decode how different sources (natural, anthropogenic) of CO2 influence biological systems (phytoplankton) using stable carbon isotopes. The experiments prove that phytoplankton isotopic composition quickly responds to changes in the ?13C of the medium, making this approach a promising and low-impact tool for detecting CO2 submarine leakages from carbon capture sites (CCS). The paper was selected as an editor choice.
COBISS.SI-ID: 43860739
Mercury (Hg) and its stable isotope composition were used to determine the sources of Hg in deep-sea sediments of the Mediterranean Sea. Surface and down-core sediment ?202Hg values varied widely between -2.30 and +0.78‰, showed consistently positive values for mass independent fractionation of odd Hg isotopes (with average values of ?199Hg = +0.10 ± 0.04‰ and ?201Hg = +0.04 ± 0.02‰) and near-zero ?200Hg values, indicating either multiple Hg sources or a combination of different Hg isotope fractionating processes before and after sediment deposition. Positive ?199Hg values are likely the result of enhanced Hg2+ photoreduction in the Mediterranean water column before incorporation of Hg into sediments, while mass-dependent fractionation decreases ?202Hg values due to kinetic isotope fractionation during deposition and mobilization. An isotope mixing model based on mass-dependent and mass-independent fractionation (?202Hg and ?199Hg) suggests at least three primary Hg sources of atmospheric deposition in the surface sediments: urban, industrial and global precipitation-derived. The contribution from precipitation ranged from 10% in Algerian to 37% in W Basin sediments. The use of stable Hg isotopes for determination of Hg processes and sources in the environment is not new only in Slovenia but also in the world and opens new possibilities and approaches in research of biogeochemical Hg processes in connection with current and future environmental changes.
COBISS.SI-ID: 32560679
Analytical methods that can identify the source and fate of mercury and organomercury compounds are likely to be useful tools to investigate mercury in the environment. Carbon isotope ratio analysis of methylmercury (MeHg) together with mercury isotope ratios may offer a robust tool to study environmental cycling of organomercury compounds within fish tissues and other matrices. MeHg carbon isotope ratios were determined by gas chromatography/ combustion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC/C-IRMS) either directly or following derivatization using sodium tetraethylborate. The effects of a normalization protocol and of derivatization on the measurement uncertainty of the methylmercury ?13CVPDB values were investigated. The minimum amount of MeHg required for analysis was determined to be 20 µg. While the ?13CVPDB values of MeHg can be obtained by GC/C-IRMS methods with or without derivatization, the low abundance of MeHg precludes such analyses in fish tissues unless there is substantial MeHg contamination.
COBISS.SI-ID: 32303911
The paper describes the importance of oxygen deficiency and methane formation in deep-sea sediments due to climate change. In order to collect evidences of the possible occurrence of anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) at the sediment-water interface and infer the entity of the associated methane flux, the analyses of bulk sulphide minerals ?34S, total organic carbon and redox-sensitive elements were combined. The research was performed in the drift area of Kveithola trough, a glacially-carved depression located in north-western Barents Sea, where active fluid escapes have been recently recognised. According to the negative values of ?34S within the extracted solid sulphur phases (up to -49.1‰ for pyritic sulphur), organoclastic sulphate reduction and/or disproportionation of sulphur intermediates result to be the only active processes in the near-surface sediments of the study area. However, moderate to strong enrichments of Mo detected in the relatively organic carbon-poor intervals of both the two cores suggests that the sulphidic conditions favouring Mo enrichments have been produced by AOM. Therefore, we can infer that the Kveithola trough experienced high methane fluxes that occasionally moved upward the sulphate-methane transition zone, inducing intense AOM in proximity of its sediment-water interface.
COBISS.SI-ID: 33298471