Large-Scale Mercury Dispersion at Sea: Modelling a Multi-Hazard Case Study from Augusta Bay (Central Mediterranean Sea)

Mario Sprovieri, Andrea Cucco, Francesca Budillon, Daniela Salvagio Manta, Fabio Trincardi and Salvatore Passaro
Additional contact information
Mario Sprovieri: Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto per lo Studio Degli Impatti Antropici e Sostenibilità in Ambiente Marino, 91021 Trapani, Italy
Andrea Cucco: Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto per lo Studio Degli Impatti Antropici e Sostenibilità in Ambiente Marino, 09170 Oristano, Italy
Francesca Budillon: Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Scienze Marine, 80133 Napoli, Italy
Daniela Salvagio Manta: Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto per lo Studio Degli Impatti Antropici e Sostenibilità in Ambiente Marino, 91021 Trapani, Italy
Fabio Trincardi: Dipartimento di Scienze del Sistema Terra e Tecnologie per l’Ambiente, 00185 Rome, Italy
Salvatore Passaro: Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Scienze Marine, 80133 Napoli, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 7, 1-16

Abstract: This contribution discusses an example of potential multi-hazard effects resulting from an earthquake in a highly seismogenic area of the Mediterranean Sea, the Augusta Bay, which presents high levels of contamination in sediments and seawater, due particularly to high-concentrations of mercury as a result of a long-term industrial exploitation. In particular, a high-resolution hydrodynamic and transport model is used to calculate the effects of enhanced mercury spreading in the open sea after significant damage and collapse of the artificial damming system confining the embayment where a very high concentration of Hg occurs in seafloor sediments and seawater. Coupling high-resolution 3D dynamic circulation modelling and sediment–seawater Hg fluxes calculated using the HR3DHG diffusion–reaction model for both inorganic and organic Hg species offers a valuable approach to simulating and estimating the effects of spatial dispersion of this contaminant due to unpredictable hazard events in coastal systems, with the potential attendant enhanced effects on the marine ecosystem. The simulated scenario definitely suggests that a combination of natural and anthropogenic multi-hazards calls for a thorough re-thinking of risk management in marine areas characterised by significant levels of contamination and where a deep understanding of the biogeochemical dynamics of pollutants does not cover all the aspects of danger for the environment.

Keywords: hazard chain; mercury contamination; earthquake damages; numerical modelling; marine-coastal area (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/7/3956/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/7/3956/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:7:p:3956-:d:780240

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().