Search Results (7)

Islands are facing significant challenges in meeting their energy needs in a sustainable, affordable, and reliable way. Traditionally, the primary source of electricity on the islands has been imported diesel fuel, with high financial costs for most utilities. In this context, even replacing part of the traditional production with renewable energy source can reduce costs and improve the quality of life of islanders. However, integrating large amounts of renewable energy production into existing grids introduces many concerns regarding feasibility, economic analysis, and technical implementation. From this point of view, machine learning and deep learning techniques are efficient tools to mitigate these problems. Their potential results are beneficial considering isolated grids of small islands which are not connected to the national grid. In this paper, a study of the Italian island of Ponza is carried out. The isolation leads to several challenges, such as the high cost related to the transport, installation, and maintenance of renewable energy sources in a small area with several constraints and their intermittent power production, which requires the use of storage systems for dispatching purposes. The proposed study aims to identify future developments of the electricity grid by considering the deployment of both renewable energy sources and energy storage systems. Furthermore, future scenarios are depicted through the use of autoregressive and deep learning techniques to give an idea about the economic costs of both energy demand and supply. Full article

The delimitation of Limonium taxa is highly complicated due to hybridization, polyploidy, and apomixis. Many “microspecies” were described and aggregated into groups, most of which are still poorly known from both molecular and morphological points of view. The aim of this study is to investigate four endemic species from the Tyrrhenian coast of central Italy and the Ponziane Archipelago belonging to the L. multiforme group (L. amynclaeum, L. circaei, L. pandatariae, and L. pontium) by means of molecular and morphometric analyses. Molecular data by sequencing ITS and three plastid markers and morphometric data highlight new information about the taxonomy of these taxa so as to reduce them into a single specific entity. In fact, the better taxonomic choice is to consider the populations studied as part of a single species, i.e., Limonium pontium. Three subspecies are recognized, i.e., subsp. pontium [= L. circaei = L. amynclaeum; from Circeo to Gianola localities (excluding Terracina) and from islands Ponza, Palmarola, Zannone, and Santo Stefano], subsp. pandatariae comb. et stat. nov. (from island of Ventotene), and subsp. terracinense subsp. nov. (from Terracina). Full article

The seabed of the Pontine Archipelago (Tyrrhenian Sea) insular shelf is peculiar as it is characterized by a mixed siliciclastic–carbonate sedimentation. In order to reconstruct the Late Quaternary paleoenvironmental evolution of the Pontine Archipelago, this study investigates the succession of facies recorded by two sediment cores. For this purpose, benthic foraminifera and rhodoliths assemblages were considered. The two cores (post-Last Glacial Maximum in age) were collected at 60 (CS1) and 122 m (Caro1) depth on the insular shelf off Ponza Island. The paleontological data were compared with seismo-stratigraphic and lithological evidence. The cores show a deepening succession, with a transition from a basal rhodolith-rich biodetritic coarse sand to the surface coralline-barren silty sand. This transition is more evident along core Caro1 (from the bottom to the top), collected at a deeper water depth than CS1. In support of this evidence, along Caro1 was recorded a fairly constant increase in the amount of planktonic foraminiferal and a marked change in benthic foraminiferal assemblages (from Asterigerinata mamilla and Lobatula lobatula assemblage to Cassidulina carinata assemblage). Interestingly, the dating of the Caro1 bottom allowed us to extend to more than 13,000 years BP the rhodolith record in the Pontine Archipelago, indicating the possible presence of an active carbonate factory at that time. Full article

Coastal environments can be influenced by water body masses with particular physical, chemical, and biological properties that create favourable conditions for the development of unique planktonic communities. In this study, we investigated a continental shelf front at Ponza Island (Tyrrhenian Sea) and discussed its diversity and complexity in relation to major environmental parameters. Moon phase and current direction were found to play a significant role in shaping species abundance and behaviour. During in situ observations, we also provided the first data on the behaviour of juveniles of a rare mesopelagic species, Trachipterus trachypterus, suggesting the occurrence of Batesian mimicry. Full article

The Zannone Giant Pockmark (ZGP) is a shallow-water (<−150 m) giant depression located on the shelf off Zannone Island (Pontine Archipelago, central Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy), hosting active hydrothermal vents. The ZGP seabed displays different fluid-venting morphologies (pockmarks, lithified pavements, mounds, and cone-shaped structures) and widespread bacterial communities. In this study, we analyzed ROV (Remote Operated Vehicle) images to gain information on seabed geology and the textural, mineralogical, and geochemical composition of authigenic crusts and gravel-sized clasts sampled close to active emissions. ROV images show authigenic dome-shaped crusts composed of native sulfur associated with barite, gypsum, amorphous silica, and secondary hydrothermal minerals (illite–montmorillonite). The gravel-sized clasts are mostly rhyolites strongly affected by hydrothermal alteration (Alteration Index > 88; depletion of some mobile elements and enrichment of some base metals), causing feldspar-destruction, silicification, formation of hydrothermal phyllosilicates, and precipitation of disseminated pyrite. More intense alteration implying the complete obliteration of the primary mineralogy or fabric is represented by quartz-pyrite samples. ZGP seabed morphology and petro-geochemical features of deposits point to the possible occurrence of a sulfide system linked to the degassing of magma similar to that feeding the Pleistocene products of Ponza Island. Full article

Coastal megaclast deposits are dominated by detrital particles larger than 1 m in size. These attract significant attention of modern researchers because of the needs of sedimentary rock nomenclature development and interpretation of storm and tsunami signatures on seashores. If so, finding localities that exhibit coastal megaclast deposits is an important task. Field studies do not offer a quick solution, and, thus, remote sensing tools have to be addressed. The application of the Google Earth Engine has permitted to find four new localities, namely Hondarribia in northern Spain (Biscay Bay), the Ponza Island in Italy (Tyrrhenian Sea), the Wetar Island in eastern Indonesia (Banda Sea), and the Humboldt o Coredo Bay at the Colombia/Panama border (eastern Pacific). In these localities, coastal megaclast deposits consisting of blocks (1–10 m in size) and some megablocks (>10 m in size) are delineated and preliminary described in regard to the dominant size of particles, package density, mode of occurrence, etc. The limitations of such virtual surveys of coastal megaclast deposits are linked to an insufficiently high resolution of satellite images, as well as ‘masking’ effects of vegetation cover and cliff shadows. However, these limitations do not diminish the importance of the Google Earth Engine for finding these deposits. Consideration of some tourism-related information, including photos captured by tourists and bouldering catalogues, facilitates search for promising areas for subsequent virtual surveying of megaclast distribution. It is also established that the Google Earth Engine permits quantitative analysis of composition of coastal megaclast deposits in some areas, as well as to register decade-long dynamics or stability of these deposits, which is important to interpret their origin. The current opportunities for automatic detection of coastal megaclast deposits seem to be restricted. Full article

This study deals with the energy/water nexus on small off-grid islands. Small islands share several characteristics that hinder the introduction of new plants, such as: Energy system balance when renewable sources are introduced; water shortages, usually addressed via shipping from the mainland; environmental and historical heritage values; and, scarce land availability. In these cases, it is mandatory to detect energy/water technology integration and management solutions respecting the peculiarities and boundaries of the sites. The present work proposes a desalination plant with a primary scope of load leveler and a secondary scope of water producer. The aim is to propose a simple and non-invasive solution for energy/water management in order to limit impacts on the local environment while improving the match between renewable energy and local generation by means of desalination. This study led to an integrated system composed of local diesel engine power plant, distributed roof-top photovoltaic plants and a desalination plant, managed by a dedicated control logic. Desalination from renewable energy and power adjustments of already active diesel engines are favored. The case study refers to Ponza island, in the Tyrrhenian Sea. This paper demonstrates the effective possibility of using a desalination plant with the double purpose of water production and load levelling, providing 98% of the local water demand while mitigating the renewable energy fluctuations effects on the gen-set. Moreover, the proposed system results in a 50% CO_2eq emissions abatement over the current water supply carbon footprint. Full article