The assessment of past sea-level positions requires a multidisciplinary approach that involves both scientific and historical humanistic fields. The use of a multidisciplinary approach allows us to obtain reliable information on the relative sea-level position, the determination of which requires the evaluation of the eustatic and steric components as well as an assessment of the vertical ground displacements, such as the isostatic adjustments and tectonic movements. In this context, coastal geoarchaeological markers play a fundamental role since their architectural height (generally defined as functional height) was relative to the sea level at the time of their construction. Thus, a comparison between the current elevation of geoarchaeological structures (or depth in the case they are currently submerged) with their estimated functional height allows us to obtain the relative sea-level variation. In this study, we applied a methodological procedure for the evaluation of the functional height of architectural elements using modern technologies (Terrestrial Laser Scanner and GPS-Real Time Kinematic) and detailed sea-level analysis. The proposed methodology was applied to coastal quarries located along the coast of Bari (Apulia region, southern Italy). The results allowed us to confirm the functional height of the detachment surface reported in the literature and to assess the sea-level position in the fifth and fourth centuries before Christ.

ARPA Puglia carried out a numerical study to simulate the evolution of the turbidity plume geometry and to describe the bacterial dispersion caused by the discharge of a mixture of raw sewage and surface runoff from the so called condotta Matteotti into the marine-coastal waterbody close to the urban beach (bathing area) called “Pane e Pomodoro”. The condotta Matteotti is an underground concrete pipe connected with a spillway to the main sewer system: it acts as an emergency weir to prevent flooding during or soon after intense rainfall events. During these rainfalls the seaward sluice gates open, and the untreated sewage is discharged into the sea thus decreasing the water quality. The simulation, according to a heavy rainfall and overflow event occurred in July 2018, was implemented using the DHI's Mike 3 suite enhanced with the ECOlab module, both organized as step-by-step processes. The validation of the final model was performed by comparing the microbiological concentration resulted from the model application with the on-field measurements and samples collected by ARPA Puglia during its ordinary water monitoring activities.