Marine circulation and weather conditions during PAH contamination events in the Pozzuoli Bay (Gulf of Naples) in 2016

The Gulf of Pozzuoli, a marginal sub-basin of the Tyrrhenian Sea, is historically dedicated to the farming of bivalve molluscs despite it is characterized by strong anthropogenic impact. In this area, the results of biochemical monitoring show that concentrations of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the mussels from the Lucrino area are significantly high and show a marked seasonality, with higher concentrations of PAHs in mussels primarily occurring in winter. The seasonality of contamination supports the hypothesis of a correlation with meteorological and oceanographic phenomena as coastal hydrodynamic processes. This study describes the marine and weather conditions over the Gulf of Pozzuoli during the winter 2016, when high levels of PAHs were registered. The analyses of available in situ data provided a clear view of the sea surface dynamics, and wind patterns during the days before each contamination event. In this work in situ data collected by Bacoli weather station and ADCP data were used. Numerical model output and satellite data were used to describe the large-scale circulation of the Gulfs of Pozzuoli and Naples. Based on these results, mussel contamination could be related to the remobilization, suspension, and transport of sediments from Bagnoli (exindustrial area) to Lucrino, depending on the variability of marine and weather conditions. Future developments of this work include the analysis of rainfall trends to observe if there is a correlation between the rainfall peaks and the major PAH contaminations. Additionally, a cluster analysis is to be performed using a data set comprising several years of meteo-oceanographic observations.