ENVIRONMENTAL EVOLUTION OF THE LONGARINI AND CUBA LAGOONS (SOUTHEASTERN SICILY)

The Longarini and Cuba lagoons are the largest wetlands in a system of lagoons located inland of the Ambra Coast in southeastern Sicily. A r econstruction of their evolution through a comparative study of textur al, compositional and faunal data, showed facies of a lagoonal system influenced differently and in varying degrees by rivers and sea. The o ldest layers are made of lagoonal pelitic sediments containing faunal assemblages (mixed biocenoses) referable to the zonal classification o f the paralic environment proposed by Guelorget & Perthuisot (1983). I n the more recent layers an environmental change is recorded, showing an increase in lagoonal characteristics and a decrease in ''mixed'' bi ocenoses, due to a greater input of solid materials from the adjacent hydrographic basin.