Alessio Valente

Morpho-sedimentary features and sediment transport model of the submerged beach of the ‘Pineta della foce del Garigliano’ SCI Site (Caserta, southern Italy)

ABSTRACT In this paper, we present the results of a detailed geomorphological and sedimentological study of a coastal sector of southern Italy, the Pineta della foce del Garigliano SCI (i.e. Site of Community Importance), which is largely affected by shoreline retreat and the degradation of dune habitat. The analysis of shoreline evolution demonstrates that severe erosion processes have occurred over the last 50 years. They caused the complete dismantling of the foredune, whereas the anomalous and advanced position of the secondary dune promoted a progressive loss of vegetation habitat of high environmental value such as juniper (Juniperus oxycedrus ssp. macrocarpa). Morpho-sedimentary data and hydrodynamic models suggest that the main climate events promoted a net longshore transport toward the South. Our analyses confirm that erosion processes are linked to natural factors but several negative human practices have contributed to the acceleration of shoreline retreat and degradation of the dune habitat. In addition to its scientific value, the map and data here presented represent an important tool for beach management purposes.

Soft-sediment deformation structures in seismically affected deep-sea Miocene turbidites (Cilento Basin, southern Italy)

Abstract Soft-sediment deformation structures (SSDS) are widespread in the upper part of the S. Mauro Formation (Cilento Group, Middle-Late Miocene). The succession is represented mainly by thick and very thick, massive, coarse-grained sandstones, deposited by rapid sedimentation of high-density turbidity currents. The most common SSDS are short pillars, dishes, sedimentary sills and convolutions. They occur mostly in the upper parts of sandstone beds. Vertical tubes of 4-5 cm in diameter and up to 50 cm long constitute the most striking structures. They begin in the middle part of sandstone beds, which are basically massive or contain faint dish structures. These tubes can bifurcate upwards and/ or pass into bedding-parallel veins or dikes. The vertical tubes sometimes form sand volcanoes on the then sedimentary surface. The SSDS are interpreted as the result of earthquake-triggered liquefaction and/or fluidisation of the turbidites that were affected by the seismic shocks. This implies that the deformed layers should be considered as seismites.

Morphological and palaeoenvironmental evolution of the Lagoon of Papas, southwestern Greece, during the Holocene (*)

Geomorphological, stratigraphic and palaeoecological surveys have been carried out along the coastland of the Lagoon of Papas (Kalogria) since 1994, with the aim of depicting its morphodynamic and palaeoenvironmental evolution during the Holocene, until the present. The coast was previously affected by tectonic activity which exerted a morphologic control, interacting with the Quaternary sea-level changes. These processes resulted in subsidence during the MIS 7, followed by the MIS 5 transgression with marine and lagoon sediment deposition. The subsequent regression caused the deposition of alluvial covers and fans, later dislocated by the differential uplift which formed a terrace and a coastal plain at its base, tilted towards the northwest. This plain was dissected and uplifted by recent tectonics which has developed a new terrace, separated from the former by a post-Tyrrhenian fault scarp. Particularly, during the Holocene the coastal plain was characterized by the deposition of alluvial sediments eroded from the southwestern hills, increase of fluvial meanders, westward deviation of watercourses, development of ponds, swamps and finally of a lagoon. Multidisciplinary studies, including examination of historical cartography, bathymetric map, microfossil analysis and geomorphological surveys, have shed light on the gradual genesis of the lagoon. The lagoon developed during the Holocene in a pre-existing wide bay, starting from a sequence of a few littoral spits elongated from southeast to northwest. Palaeoecological analysis confirmed the alternation of brackish to marine environments, through the recognition of different groups of microfossil assemblages. Morphological and sedimentological study of the lagoon bottom showed some hummocks and facies related to buried relict spit and overwash structures. This morphodynamic evolution is analogous to that described for some Tyrrhenian and Adriatic lagoons from Italy, as well as for other Mediterranean lagoons.

Application of a method to assess coastal hazard: the cliffs of the Sorrento Peninsula and Capri (southern Italy)

Abstract A systematic method to quantify, rank and map the distribution of hazards is applied to the coastal cliffs of the Sorrento Peninsula and Capri (Campania, southern Italy). For such cliffs, which have previously been characterized in terms of types and processes, and therefore compartmentalized, the predisposition to a particular hazard (or indicator), based on its nature, magnitude and recurrence, is evaluated by assigning a code: the higher the predisposition, the higher the code for each compartment. Moreover, hazards can influence one another, and the number of such interactions indicates the seriousness of each hazard, to which a weighting is assigned. By comparing each code in a specific compartment using an interaction matrix, which takes the weighting into consideration, we have calculated a resultant, which is the overall hazard for the compartment. This resultant can also be expressed cartographically. In this application six primary hazards (parameters) are considered: cliff retreat, riverine flooding, storms, landslides, seismicity and volcanism, and man-made structures. The last is the most hazardous parameter, which is weighted highly, owing to its extensive influence on the other hazards. In contrast, riverine flooding and seismicity and volcanism are the least interactive.

The flood event in Benevento on 14th-15th October 2015: a short reportEnvironmental pollution along the Ionian Coast in Punta Alice area, Cirò Marina (Kr), Italy: preliminary results

This report describes the flooding features caused by an unusual weather event. This event was characterized by severe rainfall that occurred between 14th and 15th October 2015 in Benevento and the surrounding areas. Extensive damage affected populated areas due to the overflow of the Calore River and its tributaries.

The Coastal Landscape of Cilento (Southern Italy): A Challenge for Protection and Tourism Valorisation

A striking coastline, about 100 km long, characterizes the southernmost part of the Campania region. It is comprised within one of the largest National Parks of Italy, named “Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni Park”. The coast preserves a great number of geological and geomorphological features, frequently well integrated with anthropic structures, which makes it a unique landscape. The morphology of the coastal area of the Park is characterized by hills sloping down to the sea, where alternate bays with small beaches and rocky headlands, hosting a large number of Norman-Aragonese watchtowers. Limestone cliffs display impressive karst landforms, such as caves, which have undoubtedly favoured human presence since the Middle Paleolithic. In this suggestive landscape several landforms and deposits permit to reconstruct the Quaternary-aged sea-level changes.

Coastal Morphodynamics AIGeo-WG: new geomorphological legend of the Italian coast.

Abstract from 88th Congress of the Italian Geological Society, 2016-09-07 - 2016-09-09, NaplesAbstract from 88th Congress of the Italian Geological Society, 2016-09-07, 2016-09-09, Naplesbook Edited by D. Calcaterra, S. Mazzoli, F.M. Petti, B. Carmina & A. Zuccari doi: 10.3301/ROL.2016.79

Un Sistema Informativo Territoriale per la valorizzazione delle risorse geoturistiche del Parco Naturale Regionale del Taburno-Camposauro (Campania)

This paper illustrates a project, developed in a Geographic Information System (GIS), about the promotion and dissemination of geo-sites and geo-morpho-sites identified in the Regional Natural Park of Taburno-Camposauro in the province of Benevento in Campania. The aim of the project is the realization of a possible training/educational/cognitive route about the goods and the environmental resources of the Park so that different users will use and managed it by Hi-Tech devices and similar products. The geo-tourist resources could complete a local tourist offer that is still not fully exploited. This has already happened in other protected areas in Italy and foreign countries. The update of tourist offer would also contribute to the economic development of local communities and, at the same time, it would be an upgrade to the advanced technological knowledge and the dissemination of attractive resources of the area of the Park.Various GIS databases designed to achieve thematic maps that could potentially be exploited as online geo-tourist maps or as tools for spatial planning. Forty-six geosites and geomorphosites, some partially known and others completely new, were counted in the Park and then information/cognitive file-cards were created in Access and imported into GIS (QGIS 1.8 v. open source) Thanks to the development and overlap of acquired metadata, new and more complete interactive digital maps were obtained. They can be used as informational support and easily managed in Hi-Tech service systems platforms.

Morphotectonic features of the Tammaro River basin, Southern Apennines, Italy

In this paper, the preliminary results of a research aimed to reconstruct the morphotectonic framework of the Tammaro River basin are presented. The use of dedicated geographic information systems (GIS) enabled an efficient managing and processing of heterogeneous datasets, produced using GIS-aided classical techniques of geological and geomorphological analysis of the relief. On these data, advanced statistical processing procedures were carried out. The Tammaro R. basin corresponds to a sector of the Southern Apennines experiencing a general SW–NE extension, with several evidence of recent seismicity, and looks very similar to other intermontane basins hosted along the axis of the Apennines. The basin is dominated by NE–SW striking faults that seem to be the key structures for the morphotectonic evolution of the area. NW–SE, N–S and E–W azimuthal sets of faults are also well represented and seem to have played a minor role. The existence of these faults is confirmed by clear geomorphological evidence, such as fluvial elbows, subsequent reaches of streams, straight slopes shaped as triangular or trapezoidal facets, fault scarps and displacements of five orders of palaeosurfaces.