Salinity variations in the Venice Lagoon, Italy: Results from the SIOSED Project, May 2005–February 2007

As a component of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Sediment Research Project (SIOSED) in the Venice Lagoon, we studied the variability of the salinity regime with time at three principal locations in the south-central part of the Lagoon. We carried out measurements of salinity near the bottom of the Lagoon at these stations, as well as measurements of the chloride concentrations of the sedimentary pore fluids with depth into the sediments. The principal aim of these combined studies was to examine the relationship between the chloride contents of the overlying waters with those in the pore fluids. Salinity variations were measured several times over month-long periods during the SIOSED program. Occasionally these measurements overlapped with the taking of sediment cores from which pore fluids were extracted for studies of interstitial water chemistry.