Benthic fluxes of dissolved heavy metals in polluted sediments of the Adriatic Sea.

This contribution presents some findings of PERSEUS and previous researches on the Adriatic Sea bottom sediments regarding the heavy metal pollution. The geochemical characterization of surficial sediments, the early diagenesis processes and the dissolved benthic fluxes have been investigate to evaluate heavy metal pollution in the studied area. Heavy metal concentrations in surface sediments, early diagenesis processes and dissolved benthic fluxes generally decrease from the Po River mouths southward as a consequence of dilution processes of Po River inputs with anomalies near the Italian coast for local continental inputs.