Domenico Aringoli

Groundwater recharge estimation using spring hydrographs: the case of the Tennacola carbonate aquifer (central Apennine, Italy)

The recharge of an aquifer is fundamental to evaluate the availability of the resource and for planning its use over the time.In general, indirect methods are widely used, because these are based on the rainfall, evapotranspiration and runoff data. These three parameters are not always simple to evaluate in relation to the possible presence of errors in the available data, malfunction of instruments or difficulty to make a monitoring in relation to the complexity of the area, with consequent uncertainty on the results. In such situations, the use of a direct method could be useful to estimate more accurately the aquifer recharge.A common direct method is based on the analysis of the spring hydrographs, i.e. the discharge monitored at the spring. In this work, a spring hydrograph from the central Apennines of Italy has been analysed in order to estimate the average recharge value feeding the aquifer.

DSGSDs Induced by Post-Glacial Decompression in Central Apennine (Italy)

During the last 30 years of studies in the field of mass movements located in the calcareous-marly and marly-sandy Apennines (Umbria-Marches and Latium-Abruzzi regions), over to a large number of landslides with different dimensions, even a lot of deep-seated gravitational slope deformations (DSGSDs) have been recognized and analysed. These phenomena are also located in that sector of central Italy affected by a cold climate during the past and actually temperate (central Apennine chain).

Pliocene-Pleistocene geomorphological evolution of the Adriatic side of central Italy

Abstract This work is a significant contribution to knowledge of the Quaternary and pre-Quaternary morphogenesis of a wide sector of central Italy, from the Apennine chain to the Adriatic Sea. The goal is achieved through a careful analysis and interpretation of stratigraphic and tectonic data relating to marine and continental sediments and, mostly, through the study of relict limbs of ancient landscapes (erosional surfaces shaped by prevailing planation processes). The most important scientific datum is the definition of the time span in which the modelling of the oldest morphological element (the “summit relict surface”) occurred: it started during Messinian in the westernmost portion and after a significant phase during middle-late Pliocene, ended in the early Pleistocene. During the middle and late Pleistocene, the rapid tectonic uplift of the area and the climate fluctuations favoured the deepening of the hydrographic network and the genesis of three orders of fluvial terraces, thus completing the fundamental features of the landscape. The subsequent Holocene evolution reshaped the minor elements, but not the basic ones.

Hazard assessment of a complex landslide: the case of Vestea (Abruzzo, Italy)

This short note aims to reconstruct the geomorphological hazard scenarios connected to the complex landslide that insists on the territory of Vestea (Civitella Casanova Municipality, in the province of Pescara, Italy). The landslide, active for several decades, probably since the XIX century, is located along a wide valley and starting from its head. It manifests frequently local reactivations with varying movement typology; while total reactivations, taking place in concomitance of particular climate and hydrogeological factors, are more rare.

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

Deep Seated Gravitational Slope Deformations and Large Landslides Interfering with Fluvial Dynamics; Examples from Central Apennines (Italy)

The study, developed over a wide mountain sector of the central Apennines (Italy), highlights the role of Deep Seated Gravitational Slope Deformations (DSGSD) in the evolution of a mountain portion of the Chienti river valley. Radiocarbon dating and geomorphological considerations, testify that a lateral spreading, developed on a large scale, has triggered large landslides in correspondence of the thalweg. These phenomena have repeatedly dammed the river bed (certainly since the end of the late Pleistocene) creating temporary lakes which lasted also for a long time. The high seismicity and the persistence of conditions favorable to the development of gravitational phenomena, in an area currently occupied by an important communication route, attest to the high degree of risk present in this sector of the Apennine.

Geomorphological Hazard in Hypogeum Karst Touristic Landscape: An Example from Frasassi Cave (Central Italy)

The study of geomorphological hazards in tourist areas has been addressed only recently, mostly because in areas of high touristic value any risk for excursionists or for simple nature lovers represents a strong conditioning factor to the fruition and therefore to the economy of an entire area. The geomorphological hazard can turn into a considerable risk, if one takes into account the increasing human pressure even in remote areas. The development of tourism, in fact, brings an increasing number of people to discover and attend both areas prone to hazards for some time, both in areas where these hazards are being increased. The complexity and multiplicity of these changes require necessarily a greater attention not only for a correct comprehension of natural phenomena but mostly for their possible interactions with tourism attendance and fruition. Based on previous experiences, also as a result of research projects funded by the Italian Ministry for the University and the Research (MIUR). A study on the natural hazards related to the touristic fruition in the area of Frasassi Cave in the Marche region (central Italy) is following presented.

Slope Stability Integrate Analyses: The Study Case of Mount Falcone (Central Italy)

The proposed study case is rather interesting from a scientific-technical and social-economic point of view, since it is tied to conditions of high geological risk for inhabited, originally medieval or earlier, town of Montefalcone Appennino, where frequent damage, sometimes catastrophic are generated. Integrate geological, geomorphological and numerical analyses were carried out to understand the evolution and the kinematics of different types of gravitational movements. These remarkable phenomena are located on the relief of Falcone Mount in central Italy, where the towns of Montefalcone Appennino and Smerillo are builted. On the basis of field surveys, geomorphological interpretation and numerical analyses, turn out to be specific for falls, slides and deep-sited gravitational deformations, the phenomena were analysed, attempting to reconstruct both a geomorphological and a numerical models, checking whether or not their correspondence. The different deformations regard the arenaceous-calcarenitic-conglomeratic bodies superimposed onto marly clays or weathered levels of the pelitic-arenaceous turbidites; the kinematics are further illustrated and interpreted in detail.

Geomorphological evolution of the middle-lower reach of the Tronto river (central Italy), during the last 200 years: impacts on flood hazard

The geomorphological dynamics is an important indicator for understanding processes of river erosion and sediment transport useful to plan appropriate remedial works along the rivers, so as not to modify the fragile equilibrium of the river itself. The present study aims at improve the knowledge on the geomorphological evolution of the Tronto river between the rivers mouth and the town of Ascoli Piceno through the analysis of historical maps and aerial photos covering different time spans.The retrieval of historical maps has allowed the reconstruction of the geomorphological evolution of the river bed and of the intervention aimed at river banks protection or, sometimes, for agricultural and industrial use.The interventions along the river beds began around the early 1900s (following the disastrous events of 1897 and 1898), resulting in a strong reduction of the floodplain width, from about 330 up to 210 meters and a rectification of the same with the construction of embankments up to 6 meters above the thalweg; these interventions were more intense at the mouth. The mismanagement of the terminal reach, among other things, after the interventions started in 1978 with the overall reduction in the flow section of the river, will favor the expansion of the flow during the 1992 flood event. The analysis, carried out in a GIS environment, evidenced as the interventions made along the river, have progressively modified almost all of the river reach for a length of over 20 km, reducing the typical cross section of about 50%.

Large landslides in sea-cliff areas of the central Adriatic coast (Italy)

The present work deals on an example of large landslide at Marina di Altidona, along the central Italy Adriatic coast, representative of many situations observed along the sea-cliff areas of the Marche and the Abruzzo regions; all these phenomena are located in areas which correspond to the most uplifted sectors during the Quaternary. The data collected, allow to hypothesize a past activation of a huge mass movement along a deep sliding surface, presently submarine. It was related to the high relief connected to the strong tectonic uplift of the middle-upper Pleistocene, to which a probable high seismicity was also associated. The validation of the geomorphological model has been carried out by applying a Finite Difference Numerical Code (FLAC_2D) to a huge gravitational movement and, in particular, by characterizing the dynamic evolution along significant transects.