DOI: 10.1285/i15910725v42p49
title: A new underwater karst phenomenon along the west coast of the Salento Peninsula (Italy): The "Enzo Manieri-Elia" Cave

description: Nell'agosto 2019 gli speleosub del Centro di Speleologia Sottomarina Apogon di Nardò (LE - Italia) hanno condotto l'esplorazione di una cavità sottomarina ubicata tra numerosi fenomeni carsici sommersi e semi-sommersi della costa ionica salentina. I catasti regionali delle grotte scoperte in Italia (che annoverano nel complesso più di 33.000 cavità naturali) rappresentano lo strumento per la catalogazione degli ambienti cavernicoli e, di conseguenza, sono un'importante fonte di informazioni per fini di ricerca. Quello pugliese (istituito dalla legge regionale 33/2009 e curato dalla Federazione Speleologica Pugliese) conta circa 2650 ambienti cavernicoli naturali distribuiti su un territorio che è costituito per almeno l'80% da rocce carbonatiche. L'esplorazione e la documentazione topografica, video e fotografica della cavità sommersa hanno consentito l'inserimento di questo fenomeno carsico, con codice identificativo PU/LE 1836, nel Catasto delle Grotte della Puglia.
description: On August 2019 cave divers belonging to the Apogon Submarine Speleology Centre of Nardò (Italy) explored an underwater cave located among other submerged and semi-submerged karst phenomena of the Salento (South-Est Italy) Ionian coast. The Italian caves register (which includes more than 33,000 karstic natural environments) represents an important source of information for research purposes. The Apulian register (established by the regional law 33/2009 and made by the Apulian Speleological Federation) comprehends about 2650 natural caves discovered within a territory which is more than 80% made up of carbonate rocks. The exploration and the topography, video and photographic documentation of the submerged cave allowed to include this karst phenomenon (PU/LE 1836 identification code) within the Apulian register. The investigation area is part of the Municipality of Nardò (LE), between the localities of Santa Maria al Bagno and the Regional Natural Park Porto Selvaggio e Palude del Capitano. The underwater cave was explored by the means of cave-diving techniques aiming at the planimetric representation, the documentation of the aquatic system and the protection of the naturalistic and cultural heritage represented by the karst environments thanks to the Apulian Caves official register. The diving equipment was based on a specific and redundant air breathing apparatus (A.R.A.), comprehending reels and a helmets with three or four flashlights. The first part of the cave, whose door is at about 8 meters deep, has a pebbly bottom extended for about 10 m. Then the bottom becomes muddy. The second room of the cave comprehend a central column and emerged areas (air bubbles). Following a flow of cold water it is possible to go in a small chamber oriented on the NNO-SSE axis where there is a large group of small "biostalactites strictly oriented in the direction of the current which will be for" brevity called "trays" in the following parts of the text. The first examples of trays were found along the East coast of the Salento peninsula within another submerged cave named Lu Lampiune, in Otranto (LE), in the 1990s. One of these trays was taken from Lu Lampiune and a longitudinal section was examined to ascertain the internal central axis composition, which resulted to be made by calcareous tubes of invertebrate filtering sessile polychaetes of the Serpulidae family, incorporated and coated at the death of the animal by microcrystalline material of probable sedimentary origin. The trays found in Grotta Enzo Manieri-Elia are smaller and presumably younger than those of Lu Lampiune. Future studies could evaluate their specific organogenic structure.