Francesco Ferrarese

Future of oil and gas development in the western Amazon

The western Amazon is one of the world’s last high-biodiversity wilderness areas, characterized by extraordinary species richness and large tracts of roadless humid tropical forest. It is also home to an active hydrocarbon (oil and gas) sector, characterized by operations in extremely remote areas that require new access routes. Here, we present the first integrated analysis of the hydrocarbon sector and its associated road-building in the western Amazon. Specifically, we document the (a) current panorama, including location and development status of all oil and gas discoveries, of the sector, and (b) current and future scenario of access (i.e. access road versus roadless access) to discoveries. We present an updated 2014 western Amazon hydrocarbon map illustrating that oil and gas blocks now cover 733 414 km2, an area much larger than the US state of Texas, and have been expanding since the last assessment in 2008. In terms of access, we documented 11 examples of the access road model and six examples of roadless access across the region. Finally, we documented 35 confirmed and/or suspected untapped hydrocarbon discoveries across the western Amazon. In the Discussion, we argue that if these reserves must be developed, use of the offshore inland model—a method that strategically avoids the construction of access roads—is crucial to minimizing ecological impacts in one of the most globally important conservation regions.

Uncontacted Waorani in the Yasuní Biosphere Reserve: Geographical Validation of the Zona Intangible Tagaeri Taromenane (ZITT)

The Tagaeri Taromenane People are two indigenous groups belonging to the Waorani first nation living in voluntary isolation within the Napo region of the western Amazon rainforest. To protect their territory the Ecuadorean State has declared and geographically defined, by Decrees, the Zona Intangible Tagaeri Taromenane (ZITT). This zone is located within the UNESCO Yasuní Biosphere Reserve (1989), one of the most biodiverse areas in the world. Due to several hydrocarbon reserve exploitation projects running in the area and the advancing of a large-scale deforestation front, the survival of these groups is presently at risk. The general aim was to validate the ZITT boundary using the geographical references included in the Decree 2187 (2007) by analyzing the geomorphological characteristics of the area. Remote sensing data such as Digital Elevation Models (DEM), Landsat imagery, topographic cartography of IGM-Ecuador, and fieldwork geographical data have been integrated and processed by Geographical Information System (GIS). The ZITT presents two levels of geographic inconsistencies. The first dimension is about the serious cartographical weaknesses in the perimeter delimitation related to the impossibility of linking two rivers belonging to different basins while the second deals with the perimeter line not respecting the hydrographic network. The GIS analysis results clearly show that ZITT boundary is cartographically nonsense due to the impossibility of mapping out the perimeter. Furthermore, GIS analysis of anthropological data shows presence of Tagaeri Taromenane clans outside the ZITT perimeter, within oil production areas and in nearby farmer settlements, reflecting the limits of protection policies for non-contacted indigenous territory. The delimitation of the ZITT followed a traditional pattern of geometric boundary not taking into account the nomadic characteristic of Tagaeri Taromenane: it is necessary to adopt geographical approaches to recognize the indigenous right to their liveable territories in the complex territorialities enacted by different stakeholders.

The Map of Altinum, Ancestor of Venice

Arial mapping during an extreme drought has revealed the detailed plan of a major Roman city in the Venice lagoon. Processing and interpretation of July 2007 digital visible and near-infrared aerial photographs, coupled by a digital terrain model, has allowed for detailed reconstruction of the topography and the paleoenvironmental setting of the Roman city of Altinum, shedding new light on the far origins of Venice. Images were taken during severe dry conditions, which stressed the maize and soy crops. The city walls and doors, the street network, dwellings, theaters, amphitheater, forum, emporia, basilica, and a complex network of rivers and canals have been mapped.

Solution and recrystallisation processes and associated landforms in gypsum outcrops of Sicily

Abstract Four small areas of Messinian (Upper Miocene) age gypsum, outcropping in western Sicily, are described. Messinian age evaporites are found in Sicily over a 1000-km 2 area. Here, gypsum outcrops extensively as a consequence of soil erosion induced by human impact. Geomorphological maps show how the rocky surfaces are characterized by a wide range of forms. There are large, medium, small, and microsized forms, which can be identified as belonging to different morphotypes. The morphotypes can be classified into two main categories: those that originated by solution and those that originated through recrystallisation. Four areas, illustrated by geomorphological maps, were specifically chosen to describe a type of medium-sized form: dome-like hills. These medium-sized forms are covered by a mosaic of smaller forms, related to both the previous categories: different types of karren and of “expansion” forms. The types of karren can be explained as the results of the solution process under different hydro-dynamical behaviour; the dome-like hills and other related “expansion” forms are more difficult to understand. These “expansion” forms can be explained by the same process that leads to the development of gypsum tumuli. The outcrops of gypsum lacking soil cover and influenced by alternating seasonal water conditions of surplus and deficit are affected by both solution and recrystallisation processes. During the wet season, the water soaks into the rocky mass, filling all the fissures and pores of the outer rocky layer from a few centimetres to some metres below the surface. During the dry season, there is a capillary upward motion of the water solution. Near the surface, gypsum precipitates from the oversaturated solution, increasing the crystal size or forming new crystals. In this way, during the dry season, there is a pressure increase in the outer gypsum layers, which is responsible for the development of a “gypsum weathering crust” and characterised by many different forms such as gypsum tumuli, pressure ridges, pressure humps, and other related small forms. The crust may also lead to the development of mega-tumuli and dome-like hills. From the morphostructural point of view, the dome-like hills do not seem to be controlled by the strike, dip, or fissuring of the gypsum beds. Their evolution seems to be linked to the fact that on most of the dome surfaces, the weathering crust is evolving through a nearly isotropic field of stresses, resulting in volume increase in the outer gypsum layer.

GIS analysis of the trafficability determined by slope in the eastern Tyrol front (WWI, Eastern Alps): a military history reading

ABSTRACT In the autumn of 1914, Austria-Hungary began to prepare for the possibility of an Italian offensive by building field fortifications, which formed the Tyrol Defense Line (TDL). Mountainous areas, such as the area of the TDL, present obstacles to trafficability in large part caused by terrain slope. On the eastern Tyrol front, steep slope obstructed trafficability when the Italians attacked the TDL and represented, in turn, an advantage for the Austro-Hungarian defense. This paper focuses on the assessment of the conditions of trafficability determined by slope in the eastern Tyrol front, using a GIS cost distance analysis. Key sources were the maps of Austrian and Italian official histories, parameters derived mainly from Marinelli’s slope classification, and from the interpretation of the particular historical circumstances. The advantages and disadvantages were considered from the perspective of the defensive and offensive and their significance for the history of this conflict. In particular, these were related to the perimeter to be defended by alternative Austro-Hungarian lines.