1,721,029 research outputs found
Present day and future scenarios of coastal erosion and flooding processes along the Italian Adriatic coast: the case of Molise region
No full textCoastal erosion and flooding are the main hazards affecting coastal areas, especially low-lying ones, which are particularly prone to damage by storm surges. Due to climate change and socio-economic development, the potential impacts of coastal hazards are globally increasing, and erosion and flooding processes will persist in the future especially when considering the future sea level rise projections. In this paper, we have applied an index-based methodology for the evaluation of the present-day susceptibility to erosion and flooding processes along an Italian Adriatic coastal stretch, the Molise coast. The susceptibility indexes that characterize the coastal system in terms of beach and dune system morphologies, shoreline evolution, wave climate effect, river features and coastal topography, have allowed for dividing the study coast into stretches according to their degree of erosion and flooding susceptibility. To identify the hotspot areas, i.e., the areas characterized by the highest potential coastal risk, susceptibility and socio-economic exposure indexes have been combined. The latter have been evaluated for coastal sectors of 1 km according to the CRAF 1 phase of the RISC-KIT index-method, based on indicators referring to land use categories, economic activities and social vulnerability. Taking in consideration the IPCC sea level projections, future hazard scenarios based on estimated global sea level rise by 2065 and 2100 have been evaluated by means of specific erosion and flooding models executed for the hotspot areas. These scenarios have shown that sea level rise will cause strong erosion of beach and dune systems along the study coast, exposing the economic activities and ecological assets to potential serious damage. The study highlights that correct predictions of future coastal hazard scenarios are essential for the assessment of the long term coastal risk and the definition of related prevention and mitigation measures
Sedimentology and depositional history of the travertine outcropping in the Poseidonia-Paestum archaeological area
No full textThe travertines on which the ancient town of
Paestum was built about 2,600 years ago, have been
investigated to restore the original sedimentary environment
of these freshwater limestones formed during the Late
Pleistocene–Holocene in the southern sector of the Sele
River plain. For this purpose, the few present outcrops of
travertine have been analysed from a palaeoenvironmental
point of view, integrating the morphology and the sedimentology
of the substrate with the information on the
textural patterns of the blocks forming the town walls, some
of which have a clear similarity with the outcropping substrate.
The Paestum travertines can be distinguished into two
sedimentary units: the lower Paestum travertines (LPT)
which formed between Late Pleistocene (75,000 years BP)
and the Early Holocene, and the upper Paestum travertines
(UPT) formed during Late Roman to Medieval times. The
UPT reached various meters of thickness within the southern
and western part of the town, obstructing completely
its western entrance, Porta Marina, with its flanking side
towers, and were largely removed during archaeological
excavations that started in the 1930s. A possible mechanism
for this fossilization calls for a process of progressive
upward growth of an incrustation barrier within the door,
while the calcariferous waters were flowing out from the
town at increasing heights
Cambiamenti ambientali e climatici olocenici lungo le coste della Puglia meridionale (Italia). Evidenze malacologiche e morfo-pedo-sedimentarie.
No full textThe Middle Pleistocene pedostratigraphic succession of Sessano (Molise, Italy): palaeoenvironmental reconstruction
No full textA 900 m-deep borehole from Boiano intermontane basin (southern Apennines, Italy): Age constraints and palaeoenvironmental features of the Quaternary infilling
No full textThe Boiano Basin is one of the largest Quaternary intermontane basins of the central-southern Apennines within one of the most tectonically active areas of the Mediterranean region. In order to reconstruct its entire Quaternary stratigraphic, tectonic, and palaeoenvironment evolution, lithofacies and palaeomagnetic analyses have been performed on a 900 m-deep borehole (CP1) drilled in the southwestern sector of the basin. The Quaternary succession consists of an alternating of alluvial fan and fluvial–marshy deposits for a total thickness of 240 m, unconformably laying on Lower Miocene deposits of the Sannio Unit, thrusted on upper Miocene deposits of the Molise Flysch. In addition, the stratigraphic study and facies distribution of 29 intermediate and shallow wells drilled in the basin, allowing us to define the thickness and lithofacies variations of the Quaternary sedimentary units inside the entire Boiano Basin in the sector of Campochiaro alluvial fan. Our results demonstrate that the Boiano Basin infilling started during the late Early Pleistocene (c. 1.1 Ma) and developed with variation in lithofacies distribution and thickness. The first depositional unit (Early Pleistocene–early Middle Pleistocene in age) was palustrine and fluvial–marshy, the second (Middle Pleistocene in age) was characterized by the occurrence of the first cycle of alluvial fan deposition, the third (late Middle Pleistocene in age) was newly palustrine and fluvial marshy and, finally, the fourth recorded two cycles of alluvial fan deposition (late Middle Pleistocene and Late Pleistocene in age, respectively), interspersed by short periods of palustrinity, tephra layers deposition, and palaeosols development. The study allows the hypothesizing that the Quaternary infilling was accommodated within a graben (or semigraben) structure, affected mainly by extensional fault systems localized in the inner part of the basin and secondly by fault systems bounding the basin
Holocene to near-future evolution of the southern Molise coast (Central Adriatic, Italy) under the influence of natural and anthropogenic controls
Full text linkCoastal areas are dynamic environments that easily change over time. To contribute to a better understanding of natural and anthropogenic factors that may have contributed in the past and/or control present-day and near-future coastline modifications, we have realised a chronologically arranged sequence of three geomorphological and geothematic maps focusing on the southern Molise coast (Adriatic coast, Italy). The first two maps concern the geomorphological and anthropogenic modifications that occurred respectively from the Holocene to the 1950s (Map 1), and from the 1950s to the Present (Map 2). The third map deals with the present-day conditions and near-future scenarios of coastal hazard considering the period from the Present to the year 2050. Results obtained and comparative observations of the three maps highlight the elevated shoreline mobility of the Biferno River alluvial coastal plain sector, and its high susceptibility to further coastal hazard due to erosion and inundation
New morphostratigraphic and chronological constraints for the Quaternary palaeosurfaces of the Molise Apennines (southern Italy).
No full textThe Molise Apennines feature numerous relicts of palaeosurfaces, mostly of erosional origin, which represent the remnants of gently-rolling ancient landscapes now hanging at different altitudes above the local base-levels of erosion. Their genesis can be related to prolonged periods of relative tectonic stability alternating with periods of uplift, or to the interplay between steady tectonic uplift and climatic fluctuations. Four orders of palaeosurfaces were recognized: I (> 1100 m a.s.l), II (900-1000 m a.s.l), III (750-850 m a.s.l.), IV (600-720 m a.s.l.). The most ancient orders (I and II) are cut into the bedrock and are located at the top of the Matese and Montagnola di Frosolone massifs. The youngest palaeosurfaces (III-IV), partially cut into Quaternary deposits, are found along the valley flanks of the main river systems and within the Boiano, Carpino, Isernia and Sessano intramontane basins. The present study deals with the dating of the Sessano Basin Palaeosurface which is related to the IV order and is cut into the basin infill. The 40Ar/39Ar age of a tephra layer (437 ± 1.9 ky), intercalated at the top of the succession, supported by archaeo-stratigraphic, palynological and palaeopedological data, allowed the SBP surface to be constrained to 350-300 ky. The SBP chrononological position represents an important morpho-stratigraphic marker: it is the first ante quem and post quem date that allows the chronological position of the other orders of palaeosurfaces to be better constrained
La classificazione climatica della Regione Molise
No full textSono stati analizzati i dati storici meteorologici della Regione Molise e si è definito a grandi linee il clima del Molis
Landslide susceptibility zonation at the regional scale: the Molise case study (Italy)
No full textMolise is an Italian region with a high concentration of landslides. However, an estimation of landslide susceptibility for the entire region has never been officially performed. In this paper, a landslide susceptibility analysis is illustrated based on the implementation of two different statistical methods (bivariate and multivariate). The aim is to obtain a susceptibility map that provides a good representation of the criticality of the study area together with a reliable statistical performance. Various combinations of conditioning factors were tested with the two methods and, based on expert judgment and ROC (Receiver Operating Curve) values, the one obtained through the multivariate approach was selected as the best map
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