1,721,361 research outputs found
Le forme del vuoto. Una guida per vedere le grotte con occhi diversi.
No full textLibro che descrive e spiega le forme, i depositi e gli speleotemi nelle grotte, con molte foto e disegni originali di Veronica Chiarini
Candidate cave entrances in a planetary analogue evaporite karst (Cordillera de la Sal, Chile): A remote sensing approach and ground-truth reconnaissance
Full text linkThe Cordillera de la Sal (CDS) is a NNE-SSW elongated fold-and-thrust belt several km wide and over 100 km long
located in the hyper-arid climate of the Atacama Desert. This ridge contains important Oligocene-Miocene continental
sediments including thick interbedded salt rock units which form extensive outcrops. Despite the rare occurrence
of rain events, these salt rock beds host well-developed and scientifically interesting underground cave
systems, perfectly adapted to the contemporary drainage network. The complete lack of vegetation makes this
area a perfect analogue to extraterrestrial evaporite karst areas. A remote sensing analysis of 600 km2 of Pleiades
images (acquired in 2018 by courtesy of European Space Agency) at a spatial resolution of 0.5m(panchromatic)
and 2m(RGB and near-infrared bands) and DTMs extracted from stereographic couples has allowed tomap
the lithological units, the drainage network, and the candidate cave entrances (CCEs) of most of the
Cordillera de la Sal.
The study area has been divided in eight morpho-structural units, based on our geological and geomorphological
mapping. An Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to classify the CCE potential of these karst zones into
four classes: low, medium, high, and very high potential of finding new caves. This remote-sensing derived
CCEs inventory has been ground truthed with two testing datasets (101 points): i) confronting the cave register
based on explorations carried out prior to this analysis, and ii) with a field-based validation in completely unexplored
areas. These ground-truthing methods support the quality and reliability of our remote sensing-derived
CCEs, with accuracies of 71% and 83%, respectively.
With this integrated remote-sensing and ground-truthing approach, we highlight that CCEs identification by
image analysis and GIS processing appears reliable for speleological explorations in the CDS and might be a
valuable tool also for objective decision-making in the search of caves and potential areas susceptible to karst formation on other planetary bodies
International Journal of Speleology
No full textRivisti internazionale di speleologia, IF 2012 = 1.34
Risorse didattiche per lo studio della Speleologia e del Carsismo: i sussidi multimediali creati dalla Società Speleologica Italiana
No full textSpiegazione del progetto powerpoint, una risorsa digitale per la didattica della speleologia e del carsismo
LOWER- TO MIDDLE PLEISTOCENE FLANK MARGIN CAVES AT CUSTONACI (TRAPANI, NW SICILY) AND THEIR RELATION WITH PAST SEA LEVELS
Full text linkThe peninsula of San Vito Lo Capo, 50 km West of Palermo (Sicily), is characterised by the presence of a wide set of evidences of past sea level changes, such as marine terraces, notches, marine and coastal caves with phreatic overgrowths on speleothems, and continental and marine deposits. The exceptional good preservation of these landforms and deposits has been used by different authors for the reconstruction of sea level changes and neotectonic movements. Among the many caves discussed by previous authors, most are of marine origin and can preserve signs of old sea level highstands such as notches and marine or continental sediments. However, two caves in particular, Fantasma Cave and Falesia Rocca Rumena I cave, show evidences to be flank margin caves. Both caves are records of rising and falling sea level, and their position and the correlation with marine terraces suggest them to be around 0.8 and 1.1–1.2 Ma old respectively. This study shows that not all sea level high stands are preserved in the stratigraphical and geomorphological record
A journey across speleological Italy
No full textMap with the karst areas of Italy, divided in evaporite karst and carbonate karst, and volcanic cave-containg areas (e.g. Etna), made in collaboration with ISPRA, and containing a description of 140 karst sites in Italy divided in categories. The map is in scale 1:1.500.00
A Global Perspective on Sustainable Show Cave Tourism
Full text linkCaves are among the most visited geological features in the world, attracting over 70 million people every year in more than 1,200 caves worldwide, and amounting up to 800 million Euros in entrance fees alone. The global business of show caves employs roughly 25,000 people directly (management, guides), and at least 100 times more people if we consider the connected tourist activities (souvenir shops, local transport, travel agencies, restaurants, and bars). It is estimated that the whole show cave business has a global commercial value of roughly 2 billion Euros, a number that is increasing constantly. Show caves are generally fragile ecosystems, and care should be taken in their management to safeguard their value for future generations. The international scientific (speleological) community has issued international guidelines for the sustainable development and management of show caves eight years ago, but their application is still far from being applied globally, especially in developing and least developed countries. Cave tourism is expected to increase, especially in countries where caves are abundant but not yet considered as tourist attractions, and where economic and political instability slow down the development of tourism. There are still a lot of possibilities for the opening of new show caves, especially in countries with low Gross Domestic Income (GDI), but their management needs to be sustainable, so that caves become a means of sustaining local economies, educating people on these fragile geo- and ecosystems, and protecting contemporarily their scientific and cultural heritage for future generations. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12371-022-00717-5
Underground Geodiversity of Italian Show Caves: an Overview
Full text linkAbout a fifth of the Italian territory is characterised by the presence of soluble rocks, consisting mainly of limestone and
dolostone but also of marble and evaporite rocks (gypsum). More than 50,000 natural caves are currently known in this
country, a number that is constantly increasing thanks to speleological exploration. Less than 1% of these caves are equipped
for visits, and only 64 can be defined as real show (tourist) caves. In the latter, it is necessary to buy an entrance ticket, visits
take place only accompanied by a guide, and the underground trail is equipped with paths, walkways and, generally, lighting
systems. The Italian show caves expose a great geodiversity and biodiversity, often accompanied by a considerable historical
and/or archaeological interest. The underground geodiversity of Italian show caves is related to the variety of lithologies
characterising this territory and to the geomorphological and geodynamic processes that have been active during different
geological periods. Important scientific research has taken place in many of these caves, and several of these fragile environments
are monitored continuously to verify their environmental conditions
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