Editing Taranto (section)

===Big Sea and Little Sea===
[[File:Mar Piccolo Taranto panorama.jpg|right|thumb|The view of the Little Sea from the [[Appian Way]]]]
The Big Sea (or "Mare Grande") is frequently known as the ''Big Sea bay'' as that is where ships harbour. It is separated from the Little Sea (or "Mare Piccolo") by a cape which closes the gulf, leading to the artificial island. This island formed the heart of the original city and it is connected to the mainland by the [[Ponte di Porta Napoli]] and the [[Ponte Girevole]]. The Big Sea is separated from the Ionian Sea by the Capo San Vito, the Isole Cheradi of St Peter and St Paul, and the three islands of San Nicolicchio, which are completely incorporated by the [[Ilva (company)|ILVA steelworks]]. The latter form a little [[archipelago]] which closes off the arc creating the natural Big Sea bay.

The Little Sea is considered to be a lagoon so it presents problems of water exchange.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} It is virtually divided into two by the [[Ponte Punta Penna Pizzone]], which joins the Punta Penna to the Punta Pizzone. The first of these forms a rough triangle, whose corners are the opening to the east and the Porta Napoli [[Channel (geography)|channel]] linking it to the Big Sea in the west.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} The second half forms an [[ellipse]] whose major axis measures almost {{cvt|5|km|0|abbr=off}} from the south-west to the north-east. The [[Galeso]] river flows into the first half.

The two water bodies have slightly different winds and tides and their underwater springs have different salinities. These affect the currents on the surface and in the depths of the Big Sea and the two halves of the Little Sea. In the Big Sea and in the northern part of the Little Sea, there are some underwater springs called [[citro|citri]],<ref>{{cite journal |last=Parenzan |first=Pietro |url=http://siba2.unile.it/ese/issues/3/170/ts03_06.pdf |title=L'anello di san Cataldo nel Mar Grande di Taranto |journal=Thalassia Salentina |volume=6 |year=1972 |pages=3–24 |access-date=7 May 2009}}{{Dead link|date=June 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=no }}</ref> which carry undrinkable freshwater together with salt water. This creates the ideal biological conditions for cultivating [[Mediterranean mussel]]s, known locally as ''cozze''.