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Unpublished Mediterranean and Black Sea records of marine alien, cryptogenic, and neonative species (III)

Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Unpublished Mediterranean and Black Sea records of marine alien, cryptogenic, and neonative species (III) Authors: Pistevos, Jennifer C. A.; Zenetos, Argyro; Stranga, Yolanda; Teaca, Adrian; Begun, Tatiana; Trkov, Domen; Langeneck, Joachim; Muresan, Mihaela; Comas-González, Robert; Sempere-Valverde, Juan; Toso, Andrea; Chebaane, Sahar; Navarro-Barranco, Carlos; Rosso, Antonietta; Png-Gonzalez, Lydia; Giakoumi, Sylvaine; Vázquez-Luis, Maite; Cañizares-González, José Manuel; Siddiolo, Chiara; Donato, Gemma; Giacobbe, Salvatore; Carbonell, Aina; Zakhama-Sraieb, Rym; Di Martino, Emanuela; Ali Ammar, Izdihar; Cosentino, Andrea; Afifi, Intissar Mnasri; Sanfilippo, Rossana; Bitar, Ghazi; Kytinou, Eleni; Tari, Gokhan; Huseyinoglu, Mehmet Fatih; Gerakaris, Vasilis; Issaris, Yiannis; Lardi, Polytimi-Ioli; Oikonomidis, George; Salomidi, Maria; Tsirintanis, Konstantinos; Kleitou, Periklis; Constantinou, George; Michail, Christina; Bariche, Michel; Deidun, Alan; Marrone, Alessio; Ragkousis, Michail; Falautano, Manuela; Castriota, Luca; Morri, Carla; Bianchi, Carlo Nike; Skouradakis, Grigorios; Nash, Fiona Tomas; Digenis, Markos; Mancini, Emanuele; Stefanova, Elitsa Slaveva; Vella, Adriana; Vella, Noel; Vasileva Mihneva, Vesselina; Papadimitriou, Evangelos; Skolka, Marius; Stefanova, Kremena; Fortič, Ana; Garcia, Maria; Dailianis, Thanos; Tamburello, Laura; Surugiu, Victor; Stancanelli, Bessy; Di Martino, Vincenzo; Bosmali, Angeliki; Mavrič, Borut; Gerovasileiou, Vasilis; Kletou, Demetris; Crocetta, Fabio; Rallis, Ioannis; Evans, Julian; Altamirano, Maria; Cai, Leda Liyue; Taşkın, Ergün; Franzitta, Giulio; Sghaier, Yassine Ramzi; Kennedy, Abigail; Bartolo, Angela G.; Küpper, Frithjof C.; Rousou, Maria; Orenes-Salazar, Víctor; Bonifazi, Andrea; Hadjioannou, Louis; Vlantaridis, Zois; El Shaer, Hany; Çiftçioğlu, Mülkibar; Cerim, Hasan; Lipej, Lovrenc; Grech, Daniele; Zotou, Maria; Azzurro, Ernesto; Schembri, Patrick J.; Tiralongo, Francesco; Chatzigeorgiou, Georgios; Di Lorenzo, Manfredi; Vigo Fernandez, Maria; Di Franco, Antonio; Orlando-Bonaca, Martina; Calò, Antonio; Malefaki, Christina; García-Charton, Jose Antonio; Papadakis, Orestis; Yapıcı, Sercan; Tanduo, Valentina; D’Aniello, Ilaria; Munari, Marco; Kampouris, Thodoros E.; Putignano, Matteo; Virgili, Riccardo; Agius Darmanin, Sandra; Sardo, Giacomo; Calabrò, Monica; Nikolaou, Athanasios; Erga, Zinovia; Zogheib, Ali; Balistreri, Paolo; Çağlar, Senem; Yalgın, Ferhat; Osca, David; Gratsia, Eirini; Aglieri, Giorgio; Çinar, Melih Ertan; Mutalipassi, Mirko; Coco, Salvatore; Gkoulia, Andromachi; Ramos-Esplà, Alfonso A.; Mannino, Anna Maria; Dimichele, Desirèe; Spinelli, Simone; Arroyo Martínez, Elisa; Tursi, Andrea; Capasso, Annalisa; Christidis, Georgios; Solca, Michele; Rifi, Mouna; El Zrelli, Radhouan Belgacem; Bouhlel, Ramla; Scalera, Riccardo; Bandi, Ada; Reboa, Anna; Mazaris, Antonios; Bazairi, Hocein; Bertolino, Marco; Selfati, Mohamed; Sirchia, Benedetto; Georgiadis, Constantinos G.; Petricioli, Donat; Macaluso, Eleonora; D'Aniello, Enrico; Fotiadis, Nikolaos; Tezel, Rifat; Petović, Slavica; Bakran-Petricioli, Tatjana; Pitacco, Valentina; Colletti, Alberto; Bensari, Bilel; Bahbah, Lamia; D'Aniello, Salvatore; Psailas, Spiros; Kalogirou, Stefanos; Kaikai, Tarik; Forcada, Aitor; Manfredonia, Alessandro; Bottalico, Antonella; Valle, Carlos; Bedoret, Coline; Damalas, Dimitrios; Sacco, Domenico; Mollo, Ernesto; Iatrou, Foteini; Cerqueira, Frederique; Viard, Frédérique; Villani, Guido; Foulquié, Mathieu; Geraci, Michele Luca; Šiško, Miljan; Ocaña, Oscar; Dupuy de la Grandrive, Renaud; Vitale, Sergio; Rossi, Tullio; Samaha, Ziad; Aguilar, Ricardo; Alvarez, Helena; Menabit, Selma; Bianca Pavel, Ana; Azzola, Annalisa; Bos, Arthur R.; Anastasiadis, Athanasios; Blanco, Jorge; Lejeusne, Christophe; Coppola, Daniela; Davoult, Dominique; Faget, Daniel; Scannella, Danilo; Keppel, Erica; Falsone, Fabio; Palma Esposito, Fortunato; García, Silvia; Furfaro, Giulia; Zibrowius, Helmut; Iziani, Ibrahim; Anastasopoulou, Iro; Kavakakis, Konstantinos; Scavino, Leonardo; Merotto, Lorenzo; Yankova, Maria; Montefalcone, Monica; Leban, Neža; Ungaro, Nicola; Mariottini, Paolo; Perry, Allison L.; Stavrou, Petros; Mazzella, Valerio; Raykov, Violin; Ferrario, Jasmine; Stamouli, Caterina; Siapatis, Apostolos; Vernadou, Emmanouela; Bommarito, Claudia; Milisenda, Giacomo; Somma, Emanuele; Russo, Stefania; Katsanevakis, Stelios Abstract: To enhance regional knowledge of invasive alien species (IAS), cryptogenic, and neonative species, this study compiles previously unpublished records from the Mediterranean and Black Seas via contributions from 227 marine experts. The open-access dataset includes 7,422 records from 21 countries, representing 275 taxa: 222 Animalia, 44 Plantae, and 9 Chromista. Seventy-two percent of records were collected in 2021–2024 while most reports were from Lebanon, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, and Romania. The most frequently recorded species were Siganus luridus, S. rivulatus, Callinectes sapidus, Caulerpa cylindracea and Parupeneus forsskali. Several records are biogeographically notable: basin-level firsts include Dynoides amblysinus and Symplegma rubra, and the first confirmed occurrence of Malmgrenia mcintoshi. National firsts include Mesanthura cf. romulea, Mitrella psilla, and Syllis ergeni (Algeria); Exogone breviantennata, Jassa marmorata, Leodice antennata, and Syllis schulzi (Cyprus); Botrylloides niger and Polyandrocarpa zorritensis (Greece); Microcosmus exasperatus, Phallusia nigra, and Stypopodium schimperi (Italy); Chaetozone corona (Slovenia); Pseudodiaptomus marinus and Symplegma brakenhielmi (Spain); Aquilonastra burtoni, Siphonaria crenata, and Sphaeroma walkeri (Syria) and Distaplia bermudensis (Tunisia). In the Black Sea, Hydroides dianthus, Ferosagitta sp., and a zoea III of Palaemon macrodactylus are newly documented from Romanian waters. Beyond listing records, this compilation supports spatiotemporal analyses relevant to management. The sharp post-2021 increase reflects both species spread and intensified surveys, and habitat-labelled records include harbours/marinas and shellfish aquaculture settings, consistent with pathway hotspots. By revealing where and when detections concentrate—and which taxa dominate—these data can guide early detection, risk prioritization, and targeted biosecurity, while identifying under-reported coastlines.

Practical analysis of decoy method in QKD over underwater optical fiber

Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Practical analysis of decoy method in QKD over underwater optical fiber Authors: Bacco, Davide; Ribezzo, Domenico; Zahidy, Mujtaba; De Lazzari, Claudia; Vagniluca, Ilaria; Petitjean, Antoine; Lemmi, Gianmarco; Occhipinti, Tommaso; Cataliotti, Francesco Saverio; Oxenløwee, Leif K.; Xuereb, Andre; Zavatta, Alessandro Abstract: Quantum key distribution (QKD) is the first commercial application of the second quantum revolution. Although QKD systems have already been developed and implemented all around the world, some open challenges are limiting the overall deployment of this technology (limited key rate, limited link distance, etc.). By improving the current QKD protocols, it is possible to increase the final secret key generation rate. In this work, we compare 1-decoy with 2-decoy methods in BB84 protocol over an underwater optical fiber link connecting Malta to Italy, showing that 2-decoy can achieve more than twice the key rate of 1-decoy method.

Optimal resolution tomography with error tracking and the structure of the crust and upper mantle beneath Ireland and Britain

Fri, 01 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Optimal resolution tomography with error tracking and the structure of the crust and upper mantle beneath Ireland and Britain Authors: Bonadio, Raffaele; Lebedev, Sergei; Meier, Thomas; Arroucau, Pierre; Schaeffer, Andrew J.; Licciardi, Andrea; Agius, Matthew R.; Horan, Clare; Collins, Louise; O’Reilly, Brian M.; Readman, Peter W. Abstract: The classical Backus–Gilbert method seeks localized Earth-structure averages at the shortest length scales possible, given a data set, data errors, and a threshold for acceptable model errors. The resolving length at a point is the width of the local averaging kernel, and the optimal averaging kernel is the narrowest one such that the model error is below a specified level. This approach is well suited for seismic tomography, which maps 3-D Earth structure using large sets of seismic measurements. The continual measurement-error decreases and data-redundancy increases have reduced the impact of random errors on tomographic models. Systematic errors, however, are resistant to data redundancy and their effect on the model is difficult to predict. Here, we develop a method for finding the optimal resolving length at every point, implementing it for surface-wave tomography. As in the Backus–Gilbert method, every solution at a point results from an entire-system inversion, and the model error is reduced by increasing the model-parameter averaging. The key advantage of our method stems from its direct, empirical evaluation of the posterior model error at a point. We first measure inter station phase velocities at simultaneously recording station pairs and compute phase-velocity maps at densely, logarithmically spaced periods. Numerous versions of the maps with varying smoothness are then computed, ranging from very rough to very smooth. Phase-velocity curves extracted from the maps at every point can be inverted for shear-velocity (𝘝S) profiles. As we show, errors in these phase-velocity curves increase nearly monotonically with the map roughness. We evaluate the error by isolating the roughness of the phase-velocity curve that cannot be explained by any Earth structure and determine the optimal resolving length at a point such that the error of the local phase-velocity curve is below a threshold. A 3-D 𝘝 S model is then computed by the inversion of the composite phase-velocity maps with an optimal resolution at every point. The estimated optimal resolution shows smooth lateral variations, confirming the robustness of the procedure. Importantly, the optimal resolving length does not scale with the density of the data coverage: some of the best-sampled locations display relatively low lateral resolution, probably due to systematic errors in the data. We apply the method to image the lithosphere and underlying mantle beneath Ireland and Britain. Our very large data set was created using new data from Ireland Array, the Irish National Seismic Network, the UK Seismograph Network and other deployments. A total of 11238 inter-station dispersion curves, spanning a very broad total period range (4–500 s), yield unprecedented data coverage of the area and provide fine regional resolution from the crust to the deep asthenosphere. The lateral resolution of the 3-D model is computed explicitly and varies from 39 km in central Ireland to over 800 km at the edges of the area,wherethedatacoveragedeclines.Ourtomographyreveals pronounced, previously unknown variations in the lithospheric thickness beneath Ireland and Britain, with implications for their Caledonian assembly and for the mechanisms of the British Tertiary Igneous Province magmatism.

Sediment characterization at the equatorial mid-Atlantic ridge from P-to-S teleseismic phase conversions recorded on the PI-LAB experiment

Mon, 01 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Title: Sediment characterization at the equatorial mid-Atlantic ridge from P-to-S teleseismic phase conversions recorded on the PI-LAB experiment Authors: Agius, Matthew R.; Harmon, N.; Rychert, C. A.; Tharimena, S.; Kendall, J.-M. Abstract: Accurate marine sediment characteristics, for example, thickness and seismic velocity, are important for constraining sedimentation rates with implications for climate variations and for seismic imaging of deeper structures using ocean bottom seismic deployments. We analyze P-to-S seismic phase conversions from the sediment-crust boundary recorded by the Passive Imaging of the Lithosphere-Asthenosphere Boundary (PI-LAB) experiment to infer the sediment thickness across the Mid-Atlantic Ridge covering 0- to 80-Myr-old seafloor. We find Pds-P delay times of 0.04–0.37 s, or 5- to 82-m thickness. Sediment thickness increases with age. Thickness agrees with global estimates for young (<15–20 Myr) seafloor but is thinner on older lithosphere. Our result may represent a lower limit on sediment thickness, given that several of our stations are on topographic highs. The sedimentation rate decrease observed from 5 to 1.2 mm/kyr at ∼10 Myr suggests a recent increase in productivity related to climate change, eolian dust fluxes, and/or biogenic marine activity.; Studies on marine sediment production rate provide historical information on the past climates and sedimentation processes. Unfortunately, such data from the seafloor is sporadic across the oceans, limited to localized drilled sites and seismic profiles. Here we analyze the sediment characteristics along the equatorial Mid-Atlantic Ocean, starting from age 0 at the ridge to sediments 80 million years old. We use newly acquired seismic data from the recent state-of-the-art Passive Imaging of the Lithosphere-Asthenosphere Boundary experiment. Thirty-nine seismometers were put at the ocean bottom down to about 5,000 m below sea level and left recording seismic data for one year between 2016 and 2017. Conversion of seismic phases from the boundary between the crust and the sediment were analyzed to determine the sediment seismic velocity and thickness below each station. It was found that the thickness increases with age at a slower rate than previously thought and that an abrupt increase in the sedimentation rate occurred in the last 10 million years, from 1.2 to 5 mm per thousand years. The recent increase in productivity may be due to factors such as changes in climate, changes in the eolian dust fluxes from Africa to the Atlantic, and/or changes in biogenic marine activity.