ABSTRACT
We present the results of a sedimentological and mineralogical study conducted on 305 marine sediment samples (32 seafloor grab samples and 273 subsea floor samples from 91 vibrocores) collected in the marine area of the eastern Pozzuoli Bay, offshore the area of Bagnoli, that has been the site of heavy industrial activity for more than a century.
The coastal (onland-offshore) area of Bagnoli–Coroglio has been recognised as a contaminated Site of National Interest (SNI) by the Italian Ministry of the Environment (2000–2001) and since then it has been the subject of a series of environmental studies that have documented a severe contamination of soils onland and marine sediments offshore.
Based on the outcomes of the sedimentological classification discussed in this study we have constructed a series of thematic maps illustrating the areal distribution of the sedimentary facies at different stratigraphic levels. Our interpretation provides a support in reconstructing the complex set of environmental changes that have affected the offshore of the eastern Pozzuoli Bay prior to and after the termination of the industrial activity of the Bagnoli brownfield.
Acknowledgements
Seafloor grab samples and vibrocore samples analysed in this study have been collected in 2017 within the frame of the research project ABBaCo (Environmental Restoration of the Bagnoli-Coroglio National Site of Interest) coordinated by the SZN Anton Dohrn, Napoli. Sedimentological analyses have been conducted in the laboratory of ISMAR (formerly IAMC)-CNR, Napoli. Mineralogical analyses have been carried out at IAS (formerly IAMC)-CNR laboratory, Torretta Granitola (TP) and at DiSTAR Federico II university laboratory, Napoli.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes on contributors
Flavia Molisso is Technologist at ISMAR-CNR, Napoli. She has experience in sedimentology of siliciclastic rocks and facies analysis of sedimentary environments.
Mauro Caccavale is Researcher at ISMAR-CNR, Napoli. He has experience in database and GIS.
Monica Capodanno is Technician at ISMAR-CNR, Napoli. She has experience in sedimentology lab with processing and elaboration data, and on photographic acquisition of rocks and marine sediments
Costantino di Gregorio is Technician at ISMAR-CNR, Napoli. He has experience in acquisition of side scan sonar data, processing and sampling of marine sediments
Mauro Gilardi is Technician at ISMAR-CNR, Napoli. He has experience in sedimentology lab with processing and acquisition of raw data
Antimo Guarino is Technician at ISMAR-CNR, Napoli. His expertise is related to sedimentological and stratigraphic descriptions of the seafloor samples.
Elvira Oliveri is Researcher at IAS-CNR. Her research is focused on biogeochemistry cycles in marine environments.
Stella Tamburrino is Researcher at the ISMAR-CNR, Napoli. Her research focuses on volcanic products and environmental studies (geochemistry).
Marco Sacchi is Researcher at ISMAR-CNR, Napoli. His research work has focused on sedimentology of siliciclastic-volcaniclastic environments, with a special interest in seismic and sequence stratigraphy of marine and continental strata.