Coastal vulnerability to wave storms of Sele littoral plain (southern Italy)

This paper presents a new method for coastal vulnerability assessment (CVA), which relies upon three indicators: run-up distance (as a measurement of coastal inundation), beach retreat (as a measurement of potential erosion), and beach erosion rate (obtained through the shoreline positions in different periods). The coastal vulnerability analysis of Sele Coastal Plain to storm impacts is examined along a number of beach profiles realized between 2008 and 2009. This particular study area has been selected due to its low-lying topography and high erosion propensity. Results are given in terms of an impact index, performed by combining the response due to coastal inundation, storm erosion, and beach erosion rate. This analysis is implemented on the basis of morphosedimentary characteristics of the beach, wave climate evaluation, and examination of multitemporal aerial photographs and topographic maps. The analysis of the final results evidences different coastal responses as a function of the beach width and slope, which in turn depend on the local anthropization level. The comparison of this method with a Coastal Vulnerability Index method evidences the better attitude of CVA index to take into account the different beach features to explain the experienced damages in specific stretches of the coastline considered.     

Assessing spatial uncertainty in mapping soil erodibility factor using geostatistical stochastic simulation

Soil erosion is one of most widespread process of degradation. The erodibility of a soil is a measure of its susceptibility to erosion and depends on many soil properties. Soil erodibility factor varies greatly over space and is commonly estimated using the revised universal soil loss equation. Neglecting information about estimation uncertainty may lead to improper decision-making. One geostatistical approach to spatial analysis is sequential Gaussian simulation, which draws alternative, equally probable, joint realizations of a regionalised variable. Differences between the realizations provide a measure of spatial uncertainty and allow us to carry out an error analysis. The objective of this paper was to assess the model output error of soil erodibility resulting from the uncertainties in the input attributes (texture and organic matter). The study area covers about 30 km² (Calabria, southern Italy). Topsoil samples were collected at 175 locations within the study area in 2006 and the main chemical and physical soil properties were determined. As soil textural size fractions are compositional data, the additive-logratio (alr) transformation was used to remove the non-negativity and constant-sum constraints on compositional variables. A Monte Carlo analysis was performed, which consisted of drawing a large number (500) of identically distributed input attributes from the multivariable joint probability distribution function. We incorporated spatial cross-correlation information through joint sequential Gaussian simulation, because model inputs were spatially correlated. The erodibility model was then estimated for each set of the 500 joint realisations of the input variables and the ensemble of the model outputs was used to infer the erodibility probability distribution function. This approach has also allowed for delineating the areas characterised by greater uncertainty and then to suggest efficient supplementary sampling strategies for further improving the precision of K value predictions.     

Geomorphology and GIS analysis for mapping gully erosion susceptibility in the Turbolo stream catchment (Northern Calabria, Italy)

This work summarizes the results of a geomorphological and bivariate statistical approach to gully erosion susceptibility mapping in the Turbolo stream catchment (northern Calabria, Italy). An inventory map of gully erosion landforms of the area has been obtained by detailed field survey and air photograph interpretation. Lithology, land use, slope, aspect, plan curvature, stream power index, topographical wetness index and length-slope factor were assumed as gully erosion predisposing factors. In order to estimate and validate gully erosion susceptibility, the mapped gully areas were divided in two groups using a random partitions strategy. One group (training set) was used to prepare the susceptibility map, using a bivariate statistical analysis (Information Value method) in GIS environment, while the second group (validation set) to validate the susceptibility map, using the success and prediction rate curves. The validation results showed satisfactory agreement between the susceptibility map and the existing data on gully areas locations; therefore, over 88% of the gullies of the validation set are correctly classified falling in high and very high susceptibility areas. The susceptibility map, produced using a methodology that is easy to apply and to update, represents a useful tool for sustainable planning, conservation and protection of land from gully processes. Therefore, this methodology can be used to assess gully erosion susceptibility in other areas of Calabria, as well as in other regions, especially in the Mediterranean area, that have similar morphoclimatic features and sensitivity to concentrated erosion.     

The tropical storm Noel and its effects on the territory of the Dominican Republic

In the period between the end of October and the beginning of November 2007, the Dominican Republic was hit by the tropical storm Noel, then turned into hurricane in its movement toward the Californian coasts. The passage of Noel was accompanied by huge precipitation especially in the south-western part of the country. In some areas, the rainfall registered in 6 days exceeded 700 mm, i.e., more than two-thirds of the mean annual precipitation. The return periods calculated for this rainfall event vary greatly from region to region: while they locally reach 200 years, such as in San José de Ocoa (50 km west of Santo Domingo), in other areas, as for instance in the territory of the capital Santo Domingo, return periods do not exceed 20 years. The tropical storm caused huge damage both in terms of human victims and economic losses, related to diffused inundations and landslide phenomena, which may be attributed only partially to the exceptionality of the event. As a matter of fact, in many regions, the inadequate answer of the territory—widely characterized by serious problems of land degradation and an almost complete lack of territorial planning—appears to be the major responsible for the occurred negative effects. The impact assessment, based on the calculation of an Impact Index, confirms this statement.     

A deep, stratigraphically and structurally controlled landslide: the case of Mount La Civita (Molise, Italy)

The present paper illustrates the results of an integrated study of a large landslide located on the southern slope of Mount la Civita (Molise, Southern Apennine), an E–W elongated, SSE dipping and 890-m-high monocline carbonate ridge. The upper part of the slope affected by the landslide is largely controlled by strata attitude while its basal part is marked by a strike–slip fault causing the tectonic juxtaposition of the carbonate successions against predominantly clayey flysch units. An integrated study, including geological, geomorphological and geotechnical investigations, was carried out to determine the features of the landslide and to plan further investigation and monitoring. In particular, from 2002 to 2004, Differential Global Positioning System monitoring and core drillings, coupled with inclinometer measurements, were carried out to determine the landslide’s kinematics, extent, depth to the surface of rupture and rates of movement. Inclinometer data revealed the presence of the rupture surface at a depth of about 20 m. DGPS monitoring allowed rates of movement up to several tens of centimetres per year to be recorded. The nearby village of Civitanova del Sannio can still be considered at risk due to the landslide, as recent remedial works, consisting mainly of very shallow re-shaping of the slope by blasting and partial filling of trenches, did not succeed in stopping its movement.     

The Pleistocene tectono‐‐sedimentary evolution of the Apenninic foreland basin between Trigno and Fortore rivers (Southern Italy) through a sequence‐stratigraphic perspective

A basin‐scale, integrated approach, including sedimentological, geomorphological and soil data, enables the reliable reconstruction of the infilling history of the southern Apenninic foredeep, with its subsequent inclusion in the wedge‐top of the foreland basin system. An example is shown from the Molise‐Apulian Apennines (Southern Italy), between Trigno and Fortore rivers, where the Pleistocene tectono‐sedimentary evolution of the basin is framed into a sequence‐stratigraphic scheme. Specifically, within the traditional subdivision into Quaternary marine (Qm) and Quaternary continental (Qc) depositional cycles, five third‐order depositional sequences (Qm1, Qm2, Qc1, Qc2 and Qc3) are identified based on recognition of four major stratigraphic discontinuities. The lower sequence boundaries are represented by angular unconformities or abrupt facies shifts and are generally associated with distinctive pedological and geomorphological features. Three paleosols, observed at top of depositional sequences Qm2, Qc1 and Qc2, represent pedostratigraphic markers that can be tracked basinwide. The geomorphological response to major tectono‐sedimentary events is marked by a series of paleosurfaces with erosional, depositional and complex characteristics. Detailed investigation of the relationships between stratigraphic architecture and development of unconformities, paleosols and paleosurfaces suggests that the four sequence boundaries were formed in response to four geomorphological phases/tectonic events which affected the basin during the Quaternary. The first three tectonic events (Lower‐Middle Pleistocene), marking the lower boundaries of sequences Qm2, Qc1 and Qc2, respectively, are interpreted to be related to the tectonic regime that characterized the last phase of thrusting recorded in the Southern Apennines. In contrast, sequence Qc3 does not display evidence of thrust tectonics and accumulated as a result of a phase of regional uplift starting with the Middle Pleistocene.     

Geomorphic response to late Quaternary tectonics in the axial portion of the Southern Apennines (Italy): A case study from the Calore River valley

The present study focuses on the morphotectonic evolution of the axial portion of the Southern Apennine chain between the lower Calore River valley and the northern Camposauro mountain front (Campania Region). A multidisciplinary approach was used, including geomorphological, field‐geology, stratigraphical, morphotectonic, structural, ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar and tephrostratigraphical data. Results indicate that, from the Lower Pleistocene onwards, this sector of the chain was affected by extensional tectonics responsible for the onset of the sedimentation of Quaternary fluvial, alluvial fan and slope deposits. Fault systems are mainly composed of NW‐SE, NE–SW and W‐E trending strike‐slip and normal faults, associated to NW‐SE and NE–SW oriented extensions. Fault scarps, stratigraphical and structural data and morphotectonic indicators suggest that these faults affected the wide piedmont area of the northern Camposauro mountain front in the Lower Pleistocene–Upper Pleistocene time span. Faults affected both the oldest Quaternary slope deposits (Laiano Synthem, Lower Pleistocene) and the overlying alluvial fan system deposits constrained between the late Middle Pleistocene and the Holocene. The latter are geomorphologically and chrono‐stratigraphically grouped into four generations, I generation: late Middle Pleistocene–early Upper Pleistocene, with tephra layers ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dated to 158±6 and 113±7 ka; II generation: Upper Pleistocene, with tephra layers correlated with the Campanian Ignimbrite (39 ka) and with the slightly older Campi Flegrei activity (⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age 48±7 ka); III generation: late Upper Pleistocene–Lower Holocene, with tephra layers correlated with the Neapolitan Yellow Tuff (~15 ka); IV generation: Holocene in age. The evolution of the first three generations was controlled by Middle Pleistocene extensional tectonics, while Holocene fans do not show evidence of tectonic activity. Nevertheless, considering the moderate to high magnitude historical seismicity of the study area, we cannot rule out that some of the recognized faults may still be active. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Geoarchaeological Survey of the Marine Extension of the Roman Archaeological Site Villa del Pezzolo,Vico Equense,on the Sorrento Peninsula,Italy

The Roman Villa on the Marina di Equa (Vico Equense, Sorrento Peninsula, Italy), built in the first century A.D., is an important coastal site where the geological effects of the A.D. 79 eruption of Vesuvius are combined with archaeological remains, thus representing an interaction of both human and natural events. At this site, a patrician Roman villa, located at the outlet of a steep V‐shaped valley on the northern flank of a ridge in the Lattari Mountains, was completely destroyed by the A.D. 79 eruption and by subsequent mud/debris flows and floods. During these catastrophic events, the villa was rebuilt twice, in the second and third centuries A.D., as shown by archaeological evidence on the beach. A marine geophysical survey was conducted to study the unexplored portion of this archaeological site. A geographical information system (GIS) analysis of integrated geophysical survey data has identified and mapped (in two and three dimensions) the major underwater archaeological structures on and below the seabed in the villa harbor. A map of the ancient port of the Roman villa has been created by correlating the submerged remains with the construction phases of the villa.