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Environmental control on a land–sea transitional setting: integrated sedimentological, geochemical and faunal approaches

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Abstract

Because of their location at the interface between sea and emerged lands, so-called transitional environments are characterized by strong spatial and temporal variability in terms of sedimentological, physicochemical, and geochemical parameters. An increasing number of studies put forward the use of bioindicators as a tool for environmental monitoring. However, the sensitivity to these environmental parameters is commonly tested separately, even though it is known that interactions are numerous within this complex ecosystem. An integrated methodological study was conducted in Lake Varano (Italy). On the basis of 45 spatially distributed samples throughout the area and selected environmental parameters (trace elements, organic matter, clay mineral assemblages, grain size of sediment, and water characteristics), four factors are identified. The Lake Varano ecosystem is predominantly influenced by terrigenous inputs (first-order factor). The clastic fractions of the sediments supply a large range of trace elements, occasionally in relatively high concentrations. Under such circumstances, despite occasionally exceeding of threshold limits, the trace element pollution can generally be ruled out. The organic content combined with depth is the second key factor. In Lake Varano, the organic content is high and may lead to seasonal eutrophication. As a third-order factor, although only analyzed once, oxygen, ORP, salinity, and pH gradients show that foraminiferal diversity is positively influenced by more saline conditions. The fourth-order factor is the sediment size. To conclude, this paper illustrates the interest in and need to conduct a detailed, integrated, sedimentological study of a site prior to any examination of its ecological status (possible occurrences of sources of pollution).

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Acknowledgments

We warmly thank Romain Abraham and Marion Delattre for technical analysis. The authors are grateful to the three anonymous reviewers as well as the co-editor in chief Prof. Olaf Kolditz for the thorough suggestions and revisions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UMR 8187, LOG, Laboratoire d’Océanologie et de Géosciences, Univ. Lille, CNRS, Univ. Littoral Cote d’Opale, 59 000, Lille, France

    Eric Armynot du Châtelet, Viviane Bout-Roumazeilles, Fabio Francescangeli, Alain Trentesaux & Nicolas Tribovillard

  2. Università degli Studi di Urbino “Carlo Bo”, DiSTeVA, Campus Scientifico Enrico Mattei, Località’ Crocicchia, 61029, Urbino, Italy

    Rodolfo Coccioni, Fabrizio Frontalini, Fabio Francescangeli & Federica Semprucci

  3. Universita Degli Studi Di Perugia, Dipartimento di Scienzedella Terra, Piazza Università, 06123, Perugia, Italy

    Fabio Francescangeli, Giulia Margaritelli & Roberto Rettori

  4. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Scienze Marine (ISMAR), Largo Fiera dellaPesca, 60125, Ancona, Italy

    Federico Spagnoli

Authors
  1. Eric Armynot du Châtelet
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  2. Viviane Bout-Roumazeilles
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  3. Rodolfo Coccioni
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  4. Fabrizio Frontalini
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  6. Giulia Margaritelli
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  7. Roberto Rettori
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  8. Federico Spagnoli
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  9. Federica Semprucci
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  10. Alain Trentesaux
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  11. Nicolas Tribovillard
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Correspondence to Eric Armynot du Châtelet.

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Armynot du Châtelet, E., Bout-Roumazeilles, V., Coccioni, R. et al. Environmental control on a land–sea transitional setting: integrated sedimentological, geochemical and faunal approaches. Environ Earth Sci 75, 123 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-015-4957-7

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