Stefano Furlani

Coastal structure, sea-level changes and vertical motion of the land in the Mediterranean

Abstract The Mediterranean basin is an important area of the Earth for studying the interplay between geodynamic processes and landscape evolution affected by tectonic, glacio-hydro-isostatic and eustatic factors. We focus on determining vertical deformations and relative sea-level change of the coastal zone utilizing geological, archaeological, historical and instrumental data, and modelling. For deformation determinations on recent decadal to centennial time scales, seismic strain analysis based on about 6000 focal mechanisms, surface deformation analysis based on some 850 continuous GPS stations, and 57 tide gauge records were used. Utilizing data from tectonically stable areas, reference surfaces were established to separate tectonic and climate (eustatic) signals throughout the basin for the last 20 000 years. Predominant Holocene subsidence (west coast of Italy, northern Adriatic sea, most of Greece and Turkey are areas at risk of flooding owing to relative sea-level rise), uplift (local areas in southwestern Italy and southern Greece) or stability (northwestern and central western Mediterranean and Levant area) were determined. Superimposed on the long trends, the coasts are also impacted by sudden extreme events such as recurring large storms and numerous, but unpredictable tsunamis caused by the high seismicity of parts of the basins. Supplementary material: A table of locations and timings of the largest tsunamis in the Mediterranean during the last 5660 years BP is available at http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18757.

Geomorphological map of the NW Coast of the Island of Malta (Mediterranean Sea)

This paper presents the results of geomorphological investigations carried along the north-western coast of the Island of Malta. Field surveys, accompanied by aerial photo-interpretation, have led to the production of a geomorphological map at 1:7500 scale which outlines the main processes and related landforms. The latter are the result of the complex interplay of structural, gravitational, coastal and karst processes. Particular attention was devoted to the recognition, identification and mapping of landslides which affect large coastal sectors of the study area, locally giving rise to hazardous conditions.

Geology of the Classical Karst Region (SW Slovenia–NE Italy)

ABSTRACT The paper aims to present the geology of the western part of the Classical Karst (NW Dinarides), located at the border between Slovenia and Italy. The work is based on archive, published and new data collected by Slovenian and Italian researchers within several scientific national and Cross Border Cooperation projects. The map, produced at a scale of 1:50,000, summarizes the lithological and structural setting and is supplemented by three geological cross-sections of the study area.

Geomorphological identification, classification and spatial distribution of coastal landforms of Malta (Mediterranean Sea)

This paper presents the outcomes of a geomorphological investigation carried out along the coasts of the island of Malta and provides a detailed classification of the Maltese coastline based on the identification and definition of specific coastal geomorphotypes. The results of field surveys, supported by air-photo interpretation, have led to the production of a coastal geomorphological map at 1:30,000 scale which outlines the processes and related deposits and landforms. The latter are the result of the complex interplay of structural, gravitational, coastal and karst processes. Moreover, radiocarbon dates of marine organisms encrusted on boulders mapped along the NE coast are presented.

Timing of the emergence of the Europe–Sicily bridge (40–17 cal ka BP) and its implications for the spread of modern humans

Abstract The submerged sill in the Strait of Messina, which is located today at a minimum depth of 81 m below sea level (bsl), represents the only land connection between Sicily and mainland Italy (and thus Europe) during the last lowstand when the sea level locally stood at about 126 m bsl. Today, the sea crossing to Sicily, although it is less than 4 km at the narrowest point, faces hazardous sea conditions, made famous by the myth of Scylla and Charybdis. Through a multidisciplinary research project, we document the timing and mode of emergence of this land connection during the last 40 kyr. The integrated analysis takes into consideration morphobathymetric and lithological data, and relative sea-level change (both isostatic and tectonic), resulting in the hypothesis that a continental land bridge lasted for at least 500 years between 21.5 and 20 cal ka BP. The emergence may have occurred over an even longer time span if one allows for seafloor erosion by marine currents that have lowered the seabed since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Modelling of palaeotidal velocities shows that sea crossings when sea level was lower than present would have faced even stronger and more hazardous sea currents than today, supporting the hypothesis that earliest human entry into Sicily most probably took place on foot during the period when the sill emerged as dry land. This hypothesis is compared with an analysis of Pleistocene vertebrate faunas in Sicily and mainland Italy, including a new radiocarbon date on bone collagen of an Equus hydruntinus specimen from Grotta di San Teodoro (23–21 cal ka BP), the dispersal abilities of the various animal species involved, particularly their swimming abilities, and the Palaeolithic archaeological record, all of which support the hypothesis of a relatively late land-based colonization of Sicily by Homo sapiens.

Morphoneotectonics and lithology of the eastern sector of the Gulf of Trieste (NE Italy)

ABSTRACT The paper aims to describe and map the geomorphological and lithological features of the Gulf of Trieste and its eastern coasts and to define its neotectonic behaviour by means of the analysis of the morphoneotectonic evidence. The final map, produced at a scale of 1:30,000, shows the outcome of field investigations carried out along the coast and the sea bottom and a detailed geomorphological classification of the coastline. Published and new data coming from the analysis of archaeological remains, geomorphological and sedimentological sea-level indicators and geophysical researches are discussed in order to provide a complete overview of the study area.

MEDFLOOD project: MEDiterranean sea-level change and projection for future FLOODing

MEDFLOOD is a four-year interdisciplinary project recently launched by a team of scientists working in fields concerned with Mediterranean sea-level change. The project has the timely and ambitious aim to build a spatially explicit database of relative sea levels for the Mediterranean and to use this resource to model risk and help project future flooding in and around the Mediterranean ba-

Early Roman military fortifications and the origin of Trieste, Italy

Significance Archaeological evidence from the Trieste area (Italy), revealed by airborne remote sensing and geophysical surveys, provides one of the earliest examples of Roman military fortifications. They are the only ones identified in Italy so far. Their origin is most likely related to the first year of the second Roman war against the Histri in 178 B.C., reported by Livy, but the sites were in use, perhaps not continuously, at least until the mid first century B.C. The main identified San Rocco military camp is the best candidate for the site of the first Trieste. An interdisciplinary study of the archaeological landscape of the Trieste area (northeastern Italy), mainly based on airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR), ground penetrating radar (GPR), and archaeological surveys, has led to the discovery of an early Roman fortification system, composed of a big central camp (San Rocco) flanked by two minor forts. The most ancient archaeological findings, including a Greco–Italic amphora rim produced in Latium or Campania, provide a relative chronology for the first installation of the structures between the end of the third century B.C. and the first decades of the second century B.C. whereas other materials, such as Lamboglia 2 amphorae and a military footwear hobnail (type D of Alesia), indicate that they maintained a strategic role at least up to the mid first century B.C. According to archaeological data and literary sources, the sites were probably established in connection with the Roman conquest of the Istria peninsula in 178–177 B.C. They were in use, perhaps not continuously, at least until the foundation of Tergeste, the ancestor of Trieste, in the mid first century B.C. The San Rocco site, with its exceptional size and imposing fortifications, is the main known Roman evidence of the Trieste area during this phase and could correspond to the location of the first settlement of Tergeste preceding the colony foundation. This hypothesis would also be supported by literary sources that describe it as a phrourion (Strabo, V, 1, 9, C 215), a term used by ancient writers to designate the fortifications of the Roman army.

Factors Triggering Sea Cliff Instability Along the Slovenian Coasts

ABSTRACT FURLANI, S., DEVOTO, S., BIOLCHI, S and CUCCHI, F., 2011. Factors Triggering Sea Cliff Instability Along the Slovenian Coasts. In: Micallef, A. (ed.), MCRR3-2010 Conference Proceedings, Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue, No. 61, pp. 387–393. Grosseto, Tuscany, Italy, ISSN 0749-0208. The cliff retreat is the sum of the sustained action of marine and continental factors. Their interrelations depend on the geological and environmental settings of the area. The studied cliffs are cut in the Eocene Flysch, a turbiditic succession composed by centimetric—metric sandstones with millimetric-centimetric interbedded silty marlstones, almost horizontal in the study area. The low resistance of the rock mass allows the rapid retreat of the cliffs and the development of wide shore platforms. This work aims at evaluating sea cliff retreat and the factors that trigger the collapse of material and its removal from the cliff foot. Different methods have been used: a detailed characterization of the geomechanical properties and the quality of rock masses, the susceptibility to rock falls and a photographic surveying. The sea cliff retreat in five sites along the Slovenian coast, in the Northeastern Adriatic Sea, has been studied through the comparison of more than 7000 pictures collected since 1998, at precise time steps and under any weather conditions. These data have been subsequently compared with archaeological data, historical maps and the characterization of the geomechanical features of rock masses in order to determine the factors triggering the cliff retreat. Photographic surveying displays a rapid but complex behaviour of the cliff retreat: during long stable-weather periods, cliff modifications are very low and groundwater solution or landslides have been observed. Major changes in the cliff face have been observed after great storm events, because of a complex interaction between marine and non-marine factors. The integrated method proposed here, including the photographic surveying and the geomorphological-geomechanical characterisation of rock masses is a valuable method for understanding and evaluating the mechanisms of cliff retreat.

Integrating multidisciplinary instruments for assessing coastal vulnerability to erosion and sea level rise: lessons and challenges from the Adriatic Sea, Italy

The evolution of coastal and transitional environments depends upon the interplay of human activities and natural drivers, two factors that are strongly connected and many times conflicting. The urge for efficient tools for characterising and predicting the behaviour of such systems is nowadays particularly pressing, especially under the effects of a changing climate, and requires a deeper understanding of the connections among different drivers and different scales. To this aim, the present paper reviews the results of a set of interdisciplinary and coordinated experiences carried out in the Adriatic Sea (north-eastern Mediterranean region), discussing state-of-the art methods for coastal dynamics assessment and monitoring, and suggests strategies towards a more efficient coastal management. Coupled with detailed geomorphological information, the methodologies currently available for evaluating the different components of relative sea level rise facilitate a first identification of the flooding hazard in coastal areas, providing a fundamental element for the prioritization and identification of the sustainability of possible interventions and policies. In addition, hydro- and morpho-dynamic models are achieving significant advances in terms of spatial resolution and physical insight, also in a climatological context, improving the description of the interactions between meteo-oceanographic processes at the regional scale to coastal dynamics at the local scale. We point out that a coordinated use of the described tools should be promptly promoted in the design of survey and monitoring activities as well as in the exploitation of already collected data. Moreover, expected benefits from this strategy include the production of services and infrastructures for coastal protection with a focus on short-term forecast and rapid response, enabling the implementation of an event-oriented sampling strategy.