Michele Lancia

Subsidence Detected by Multi-Pass Differential SAR Interferometry in the Cassino Plain (Central Italy): Joint Effect of Geological and Anthropogenic Factors?

In the present work, the Differential SAR Interferometry (DInSAR) technique has been applied to study the surface movements affecting the sedimentary basin of Cassino municipality. Two datasets of SAR images, provided by ERS 1-2 and Envisat missions, have been acquired from 1992 to 2010. Such datasets have been processed independently each other and with different techniques nevertheless providing compatible results. DInSAR data show a subsidence rate mostly located in the northeast side of the city, with a subsidence rate decreasing from about 5–6 mm/yr in the period 1992–2000 to about 1–2 mm/yr between 2004 and 2010, highlighting a progressive reduction of the phenomenon. Based on interferometric results and geological/geotechnical observations, the explanation of the detected movements allows to confirm the anthropogenic (surface effect due to building construction) and geological causes (thickness and characteristics of the compressible stratum).

New geological data on the Cassino intermontane basin, central Apennines, Italy

This paper presents the outcome of photogeological analysis, field survey as well as borehole correlation, to add new data concerning the intermontane Cassino basin and define facies and thickness of its Quaternary deposits. The investigated area is located in the end sector of the Latina Valley, Southern Lazio and belongs to the Lazio–Abruzzi domain. With a maximum extension of 250 km2 and a NW–SE trend, this paleo-lake was created by lava flows from the Roccamonfina volcano, which barred the Latina Valley. The lacustrine facies were described during the 1960s but available bibliographic data about its spatial distribution and its relationship with the Mesozoic–Cenozoic bedrock are scarce. The thickness of Quaternary deposits has been deeply influenced by inherited paleo-morphologies. Indeed the geological reconstruction of the basin has outlined the presence of an underlying horst and graben structure. This latter obscured the contractional tectonics originated by the orogenetic deformation, even if new structures have been recognized at the foot of Montecassino Hill. We infer that a key role has been performed by the Roveto Valley–Atina–Caserta fault, between Atina and San Pietro Infine.

A Double Scale Methodology to Investigate Flow in Karst Fractured Media via Numerical Analysis: The Cassino Plain Case Study (Central Apennine, Italy)

A methodology to evaluate the hydraulic conductivity of the karst media at a regional scale has been proposed, combining pumping tests and the hydrostructural approach, evaluating the hydraulic conductivity of fractured rocks at the block scale. Obtaining hydraulic conductivity values, calibrated at a regional scale, a numerical flow model of the Cassino area has been developed, to validate the methodology and investigate the ambiguity, related to a nonunique hydrogeological conceptual model. The Cassino plain is an intermontane basin with outstanding groundwater resources. The plain is surrounded by karst hydrostructures that feed the Gari Springs and Peccia Springs. Since the 1970s, the study area was the object of detailed investigations with an exceptional density of water-wells and piezometers, representing one of the most important karst study-sites in central-southern Italy. Application of the proposed methodology investigates the hydraulic conductivity tensor at local and regional scales, reawakening geological and hydrogeological issues of a crucial area and tackling the limits of the continuum modelling in karst media.

Permeability evaluation of fractured rock-masses in the Cassino area (central Italy)

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

The hydrogeology of the Cassino basin from Boni to Celico: 30 years later.

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

Hydrogeological study and numerical model of the Suio-Castelforte hydrothermal area (central Italy)

A numerical simulation has been performed through the natural geothermal system of Suio-Castelforte (LT) in order to investigate the hydothermal area and assess its geothermal potentiality. Starting from geological and hydrogeological data a 2D conceptual model has been built. For numerical purpose, the latter idealizes and simplifies the natural system. The area has been affected by a temperature gradient, from low to medium enthalpy, related to the Quaternary volcanism. By a FEM (Finite Element Model) method, using the COMSOL MULTIPHYSICS® software, a homogeneous and isotrope media have been assumed, simulating the groundwater flow and simultaneous heat transfer. Using the porous media approach, Darcy and heat transfer laws have been applied in steady-state conditions. The results have been compared with the collected data and bibliography.

Seismic Microzonation of the Cassino Plain

Thanks to its favourable hydrogeological conditions, Cassino is one of the most studied sites of Central Italy. More than two hundred soil borings, some of them reaching depths as high as 100 m, have revealed a subsoil characterized by a calcareous platform and post-orogenetic series forming a tectonic basin filled by lacustrine and volcanic deposits. Together with the already available data, a number of geological, geotechnical and geophysical data have collected to study at a very detailed scale the seismic response of the site. Among them, a series of HVSR (horizontal to vertical spectral ratio) measurements have been performed to estimate the natural frequency of oscillation of the more deformable deposits. The combination of these data with the information given by the deep boreholes, permitted to rebuild the geological complexities of the tectonically driven seismic bedrock, outcropping continuously at east and west of the basin. This study forms the basis for mono, bi and three-dimensional numerical analyses aimed at predicting local amplification effects.

A hydrogeological study to assess the geothermal potentiality of Suio Terme (central Italy)

The study concerns part of the plain sector of Aosta Valley (NW Italy). The investigated area is located between the cities of Sarre-Gressan and Pollein-Saint Christophe and is characterized by the presence of hexavalent chromium in the main shallow unconfined aquifer. The pollution is probably related to the negative environmental effects induced by the industrial steel production that since 1915 is present over the area. Since 1990 the industrial area was subjected to a number of direct investigations aimed to assess the contamination intensity. A preliminary remediation activity has been developed in last decades but the contaminants have been still observed in the groundwater monitoring network. This study highlights the set-up of a groundwater conceptual and numerical model of the shallow aquifer aimed to better understand and analyze the transport dynamics of hexavalent chromium in the local aquifer. The simulation is performed using the specific finite element software Feflow for groundwater flow and mass transport modeling. The hydrogeological setting of this area is related to the different sedimentary glacial, lacustrine and fluvial processes which characterized the bottom of the Aosta valley during the Quaternary. The shallow 80m-width aquifer is constituted by sandy to gravelly deposits and presents rare silty lens while its bottom is characterized by a decametric lacustrine silty level. The main aims of the numerical model are to give a more unequivocal explanation of the origin of the contamination and to support the predictive analyses in order to design an efficient site remediation for soil and groundwater. This represents a fundamental task in order to preserve the safety of the public water uses supplied by the aquifer. The preliminary hypothesis about the source of contaminations are still uncertain and referred to different scenarios that have to be further investigated by comparing monitoring data and transient flow simulation conditions.

The hydrogeological setting of the Cassino plain (central Italy).

The study concerns part of the plain sector of Aosta Valley (NW Italy). The investigated area is located between the cities of Sarre-Gressan and Pollein-Saint Christophe and is characterized by the presence of hexavalent chromium in the main shallow unconfined aquifer. The pollution is probably related to the negative environmental effects induced by the industrial steel production that since 1915 is present over the area. Since 1990 the industrial area was subjected to a number of direct investigations aimed to assess the contamination intensity. A preliminary remediation activity has been developed in last decades but the contaminants have been still observed in the groundwater monitoring network. This study highlights the set-up of a groundwater conceptual and numerical model of the shallow aquifer aimed to better understand and analyze the transport dynamics of hexavalent chromium in the local aquifer. The simulation is performed using the specific finite element software Feflow for groundwater flow and mass transport modeling. The hydrogeological setting of this area is related to the different sedimentary glacial, lacustrine and fluvial processes which characterized the bottom of the Aosta valley during the Quaternary. The shallow 80m-width aquifer is constituted by sandy to gravelly deposits and presents rare silty lens while its bottom is characterized by a decametric lacustrine silty level. The main aims of the numerical model are to give a more unequivocal explanation of the origin of the contamination and to support the predictive analyses in order to design an efficient site remediation for soil and groundwater. This represents a fundamental task in order to preserve the safety of the public water uses supplied by the aquifer. The preliminary hypothesis about the source of contaminations are still uncertain and referred to different scenarios that have to be further investigated by comparing monitoring data and transient flow simulation conditions.

A numerical model to verify the communication between Gari and Peccia springs (Cassino, Central Italy)

A numerical simulation has been performed through the Cassino plain, in order to test the contrasting hydrogeological conceptual-models, available in literature. The studied area shows two huge springs (Gari and Peccia springs) located on the edge of the Cassino plain. For numerical purposes, a 2D hydrogeological section has been built. The analysis followed a FEM (Finite Element Model) method by the software COMSOL®, assuming homogeneous and isotrope media. Using a porous approach, the Darcy law has been applied. The Gari-Peccia communication model has been studied from a numerical point of view, in order to quantify a possible underground flow. Since the model is affected by several approximations, the discharge ratio has been calculated, downstream and upstream Gari springs. The obtained results have been compared with field results from literature.