Despite its remarkable geomorphological, ecological, and touristic value, the coastal sector of the Apulia region (Southern Italy) hosts three of the main contaminated Italian sites (Sites of National Interest, or SINs), for which urgent environmental remediation and reclamation actions are required. These sites are affected by intense coastal modification and diffuse environmental pollution due to the strong industrialisation and urbanisation processes that have been taking place since the second half of the XIX century. The Apulian coastal SINs, established by the National Law 426/1998 and delimited by the Ministerial Decree of 10 January 2000, include large coastal sectors and marine areas, which have been deeply investigated by the National Institution for the Environmental Research and Protection (ISPRA) and the Regional Agency for the Prevention and Protection of the Environment (ARPA) with the aim of obtaining a deep environmental characterisation of the marine matrices (sediments, water, and biota). More recently, high-resolution and multidisciplinary investigations focused on the geo-environmental characterisation of the coastal basins in the SIN Taranto site have been funded by the “Special Commissioner for the urgent measures of reclamation, environmental improvements, and redevelopment of Taranto”. In this review, we propose an overview of the investigations carried out in the Apulian SINs for the environmental characterisation of the marine matrices, with special reference to the sea bottom and sediments. Based on the experience gained in the previous characterisation activities, further research is aimed at defying a specific protocol of analysis for supporting the identification of priority actions for an effective and efficient geo-morphodynamic and environmental characterisation of the contaminated coastal areas, with special reference to geomorphological, sedimentological, and geo-dynamic features for which innovative and high-resolution investigations are required.

This study focuses on the analysis of sandy beaches by integrating sedimentological, geomorphological, and geophysical investigations. The beach represents an extremely variable environment where different natural processes act simultaneously with human activities, leading to the gathering of different methodologies of the Earth Sciences to study its evolution in space and time. The aim of this research is to propose a potential procedure for monitoring the morpho-sedimentary processes of sandy beaches by analyzing the textural and compositional characteristics of the sands and quantifying the volumes involved in the coastal dynamics. The study area includes two Apulian sandy beaches (Torre Guaceto and Le Dune beach) that are representative of the coastal dynamics of a large sector of the central/northern Mediterranean Sea involving the southern Adriatic Sea and the northern Ionian Sea. Sedimentological and ecological investigations allowed to describe the textural and compositional characteristics of the beach sands by interpreting their sand provenance and the physical/biological interactions within the beach. The topographic surveys carried out with a Terrestrial Laser Scanner and an Optical Total Station, aimed to quantify the variations of sediment volume over time, whereas the Delft3d software was applied to analyze the effects of the dominant wave motion on the sedimentary dynamics. Lastly, the geophysical techniques which included Sub Bottom Profiler procedures, Ground Penetrating Radar investigation, and resistivity models enabled us to calculate the sand sediment thickness above the bedrock.

Sabellaria species are among the most important frame-builders in temperate, shallow marine areas. These polychaetes are suspension feeders able to build bioconstructions using sand and shell fragments cemented with a sticky mucous. Such feature makes these invertebrates “unusual bioconstructors”, as they do not produce calcium carbonate. Sabellaridae reefs are widespread in the Mediterranean and along the Atlantic coast of Europe, but their sedimentological aspects are still poorly known. Over short time intervals, these bioconstructions can rapidly alternate between phases of growth, stasis and destruction during different seasons. In this paper, we compare reefs of two Sabellaria species (S. alveolata—Ostia, Roma and Tyrrhenian Sea; S. spinulosa—Torre Mileto, Foggia and Adriatic Sea) found at two different sites along the Italian coast. We describe the morphology of worm tubes at the macro- and microscale. Similarities and differences are discussed based on eco-biological features and physical environmental conditions. This work shows a measurement and observation scheme for this type of bioconstructions that has been verified at both the macro- and microscale and which was shown to be useful for defining evolutionary trends of sabellarian bioconstructions. The monitoring parameters were identified and verified over a long period.

Contaminated marine and coastal sediments represent the main source of secondary pollution for the aquatic environment and marine fauna, affecting, directly and indirectly, ecosystems and human health. The assessment of the distribution of chemical pollutants in marine sediments can therefore be considered a preliminary step for understanding the possible circulation of pollutants in the marine environment and planning any targeted and efficient reclamation activity. This study provides new insights on the environmental status of Bay I of Mar Piccolo basin (Southern Italy) by proposing an integrated investigation approach to define the distribution of trace metals and evaluate the thickness of the sediments potentially affected by pollution. To this aim, the concentrations of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Sn, and Zn are estimated for sediment samples collected from 19 cores, and specific environmental indices are calculated. Due to its remarkable environmental and economic relevance, the area of Taranto has been selected as a case study to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method in supporting the identification of hotspot areas for which priority remediation activities are needed.