La zona costiera è un ecosistema di transizione dove l’interazione di numerosi fattori determina un equilibrio di tipo dinamico, estremamente sensibile agli impatti delle attività antropiche. La costa romagnola, come tutta quella italiana, soffre oggigiorno di un’importante crisi erosiva aggravata dalla subsidenza e dall’intensificarsi di eventi meteomarini potenzialmente erosivi. In questo contesto, la progressiva scomparsa delle dune costiere ha privato il sistema di un’importante difesa naturale ed elemento di resilienza. L’oggetto di studio sono quindi le dune costiere non come elemento isolato ma nell’ottica complessiva di un sistema dinamico e complesso che coinvolge forzanti meteomarine, spiaggia e vegetazione. L’articolazione dello studio ha riguardato prima di tutto l’analisi dei trend evolutivi delle aree dunose a scala secolare, da un punto di vista quantitativo e qualitativo. Lo studio dei fattori fisici ha permesso la definizione del quadro meteomarino di base e l’analisi di mareggiate e storm surge, secondo frequenze attuali e valori estremi. Inoltre, è stata effettuata la caratterizzazione della componente spiaggia da un punto di vista morfodinamico modale. Lo studio della vegetazione costiera in termini di successione spaziale ha evidenziato situazioni di disturbo/naturalità oltre ad importanti relazioni tra specie e valibili morfo-topografiche. Lo ricerca è proseguita quindi con il vero e proprio studio integrato incentrato sullo sviluppo delle dune embrionali (area naturale di foce Bevano) osservando i patterns di sedimentazione/erosione, la risposta ai singoli eventi erosivi, nonché i tassi di crescita in elevazione ed estensione. Le diverse componenti monitorate sono state analizzate in relazione alla dinamica geomorfologica, intesa come aree di accumulo/stabilità/erosione e monitorata tramite tecniche di fotogrammetria Structure from Motion. In conclusione, l’obiettivo dello studio è stato quello di fornire un contributo alla conoscenza delle dinamiche ambientali del sistema costiero, offrendo oltretutto utili indicazioni per la realizzazione di auspicabili interventi di conservazione di questi importanti habitat. / Coastal zone is a transition ecosystem where the interaction of several factors determines a dynamic equilibrium that is extremely sensitive to the impacts of human activities. Now a days the Emilia-Romagna’s coast, like overall Italian coast, suffers from a significant erosive crisis that is worsen by land subsidence and storminess intensification. In this context, the progressive disappearance of costal dune is equivalent to deprive the system from an essential natural defense and resilience element. The object of this study is therefore coastal dunes system not as an isolated element but in the overall perspective of a dynamic and complex system that involves meteo-marine forcing, beach and vegetation. The study starts with a preliminary analysis of evolutionary trends of dune areas, on a century scale, from a quantitative and qualitative point of view. In order to describe physical factors, meteo-marine conditions were defined for the area with particular attentions on potential erosive events such as storm-waves and storm surges, considering current frequency and extreme values. Moreover, natural beaches morphodynamic modal state and closure depth values were assessed. The study of coastal vegetation in terms of spatial sequence showed different situations of disturbance/naturality as well as important relationships between species and morpho-topographical parameters. Research continued then with the actual integrated study focusing on embryo dunes development, in the natural area of Bevano torrent mouth, observing for a year the sedimentation/erosion patterns, the response to single erosive event and growth rates in elevation and extension. The others environmental components monitored were analyzed in connection to geomorphologic dynamic, evaluated in terms of areas of deposition/stability/erosion and surveyed by ground-based and Structure from Motion photogrammetry. In conclusion, the study objective was to provide a contribution to environmental coastal dynamics knowledge, offering moreover useful indications for desirable restoration and conservation actions of this important habitat.

This work focuses on the Late Pleistocene-Holocene transition in the southern Po Basin. Five areas were investigated, with the aim of unraveling the role of different allogenic factors (climate, eustacy, sediment supply) on stratigraphic architecture in the last 45 ky. The study starts from the distal portion of the basin (the coastal plain deposits) and then moves towards increasingly internal areas: the alluvial sector characterized by the Po channel belt deposits, and the mud-prone interfluvial succession between the Apenninic margin and the Po channel belt. In the coastal sector, high-resolution facies analysis, along with a well-constrained chronostratigraphic framework, led to the accurate paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the last 45 ky BP depositional history along the 93 km-long transect. It is also provided a sequence stratigraphic interpretation for the whole sedimentary succession. In the Po channel belt sector, based on 28 radiocarbon dates, facies interpretation from high-quality core descriptions and freshly-drilled continuous cores, the contrasting stratigraphic architecture of Late Pleistocene and Holocene deposits was highlighted. Changes in lithofacies and channel stacking patterns reveal the vertical superposition of amalgamated fluvial-channel sands (Late Pleistocene) and mud-dominated deposits (Holocene), with isolated fluvial-channel bodies. We also attempted to establish the link between facies architecture, sea-level fluctuations and climate changes. The 3rd study area (interfuvial succession) was selected to test a new method for paleosol identification, on the basis of geotechnical properties generated from pocket penetrometer values. Through the reconstruction of the Biferno coastal deposits (4th study area, located ca. 300 km south of the Po Plain) we had the opportunity to document two coeval (Late Pleistocene - Holocene) coastal sedimentary successions, diverging in terms of shelf gradient and proximity to the LGM-lowstand Po Delta. The 5th study area, broadly coincides with Ferrara, was selected to show how high-resolution stratigraphic studies can be used for aquifer protection.

The growth of continental margins typically results in the development of large-scale sedimentary units with sigmoidal-shaped profiles, termed clinothems. Clinothems occur at a variety of spatial and temporal scales, are recognized from shelfal to basin regions and represent one of the fundamental building blocks of prograding successions. This Ph.D. thesis is based on four datasets from different case histories along an hypothetical sediment routing system of the Adriatic continental margin. The main goal of this Ph.D. thesis is to investigate how the interaction of allogenic and autogenic processes impacts on river morphodynamics and drives clinothems development and growth, and ultimately the formation of modern continental margins. The first case history is a portion of the Po River upstream the Isola Serafini dam. This area may be considered as a natural laboratory where investigate and quantify the impact of the backwater effect on river morphodynamics. The second case history is the Mid Adriatic Deep during the Last Glacial Maximum, where a 350m thick succession developped in a very short-time window. This area allows to investigate the internal architecture, geometric relation and facies distribution of a lowstand delta. The third case history, offshore the Gargano Promontory, offers the possibility to investigate how genetically-related coastal and subaqueous progradations, i.e. a compound delta, may develop at sub-millennial time scale. The fourth case history, the southern Adriatic Basin, gives opportunity to investigate the impact of the oceanographic regime on sediment transport, where, far from direct sediment feeding sources, lateral advection and current deposition became the dominant mechanism of margin progradation. Working on the Adriatic Quaternary succession it was possible to document the effect of a paramount control on margin feed and progradation, to discriminate short-lived phases of extremely rapid deposition during the margin construction, and to document the importance of oceanographic processes on margin growth.

Coastal sand dunes represent a richness first of all in terms of defense from the sea storms waves and the saltwater ingression; moreover these morphological elements constitute an unique ecosystem of transition between the sea and the land environment. The research about dune system is a strong part of the coastal sciences, since the last century. Nowadays this branch have assumed even more importance for two reasons: on one side the born of brand new technologies, especially related to the Remote Sensing, have increased the researcher possibilities; on the other side the intense urbanization of these days have strongly limited the dune possibilities of development and fragmented what was remaining from the last century. This is particularly true in the Ravenna area, where the industrialization united to the touristic economy and an intense subsidence, have left only few dune ridges residual still active. In this work three different foredune ridges, along the Ravenna coast, have been studied with Laser Scanner technology. This research didn’t limit to analyze volume or spatial difference, but try also to find new ways and new features to monitor this environment. Moreover the author planned a series of test to validate data from Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS), with the additional aim of finalize a methodology to test 3D survey accuracy. Data acquired by TLS were then applied on one hand to test some brand new applications, such as Digital Shore Line Analysis System (DSAS) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), to prove their efficacy in this field; on the other hand the author used TLS data to find any correlation with meteorological indexes (Forcing Factors), linked to sea and wind (Fryberger's method) applying statistical tools, such as the Principal Component Analysis (PCA).

Landslide hazard and risk are growing as a consequence of climate change and demographic pressure. Land‐use planning represents a powerful tool to manage this socio‐economic problem and build sustainable and landslide resilient communities. Landslide inventory maps are a cornerstone of land‐use planning and, consequently, their quality assessment represents a burning issue. This work aimed to define the quality parameters of a landslide inventory and assess its spatial and temporal accuracy with regard to its possible applications to land‐use planning. In this sense, I proceeded according to a two‐steps approach. An overall assessment of the accuracy of data geographic positioning was performed on four case study sites located in the Italian Northern Apennines. The quantification of the overall spatial and temporal accuracy, instead, focused on the Dorgola Valley (Province of Reggio Emilia). The assessment of spatial accuracy involved a comparison between remotely sensed and field survey data, as well as an innovative fuzzylike analysis of a multi‐temporal landslide inventory map. Conversely, long‐ and short‐term landslide temporal persistence was appraised over a period of 60 years with the aid of 18 remotely sensed image sets. These results were eventually compared with the current Territorial Plan for Provincial Coordination (PTCP) of the Province of Reggio Emilia. The outcome of this work suggested that geomorphologically detected and mapped landslides are a significant approximation of a more complex reality. In order to convey to the end‐users this intrinsic uncertainty, a new form of cartographic representation is needed. In this sense, a fuzzy raster landslide map may be an option. With regard to land‐use planning, landslide inventory maps, if appropriately updated, confirmed to be essential decision‐support tools. This research, however, proved that their spatial and temporal uncertainty discourages any direct use as zoning maps, especially when zoning itself is associated to statutory or advisory regulations.

No description available.

La sedimentazione clastica di mare profondo è attualmente uno dei principali argomenti della ricerca sedimentologica sia in ambito puramente accademico che in ambito petrolifero-industriale. Gli studi recenti hanno enfatizzato l'influenza fondamentale della topografia preesistente del fondo marino sulla crescita e la morfologia sui fan di mare profondo; si è visto come, in molti systemi torbiditici, l’evoluzione dei processi deposizionali sia stata da moderatamente a fortemente controllata dall’ effetto di confinamento di scarpate tettoniche, ridge strutturali e seamounts. Scopo di questo lavoro è studiare l'effetto del confinamento alla scala di bacino sui principali sistemi torbiditici del margine orientale della Sardegna che rappresenta un margine passivo articolato di bacini di intraslope confinati verso mare da seamounts. Lo studio dei sistemi deposizionali è stato eseguito attraverso l'interpretazione di dati di batimetria multibeam ad alto dettaglio acquisiti dall’ISMAR di Bologna durante la crociera Tir99. L’ interpretazione multibeam è stata integrata con l’ analisi di profili sismici a riflessione per comprendere la morfologia l’organizzazione interna e l’evoluzione nel tempo dei principali elementi deposizionali dei sistemi torbiditici. Tre bacini di intraslope (Olbia, Baronie e il settore settentrionale del bacino Ogliastra) sono stati investigati. Il bacino di Olbia è il bacino più settentrionale del margine orientale della Sardegna ed è limitato verso mare dai seamount Etruschi e Baronie. Il principale sistema torbiditico del bacino di Olbia è costituito dal Caprera, articolato in un sistema di canyon alimentatori nella piattaforma e nella scarpata continentale e da un ampio canale con argini alla base della scarpata. Il Caprera è fiancheggiato da un ampia piattaforma continentale, e questa, fungendo da “magazzino” per il materiale piu grossolando, può spiegare la peculiare architettura sedimentaria del suo fan. L'effetto di confinamento del bacino sulla forma e sull'evoluzione del fan del Caprera è evidente soprattutto sull'asimmetria dei leve e su fenomeni di avulsione che hanno coinvolto il canale. Il bacino di intraslope di Olbia appare completamente riempito, e, nel bordo orientale, è presente il canyon di intrabacino verso il bacino sottostante. Gli effetti dell'abbassamento del livello di base sono visibili nel settore distale del sistema, dove si ha lo sviluppo di canali distributari e di valli erosive a basso rilievo, che rappresentano le porzioni "upslope" dei canyon di "bypass". Il bacino di intraslope del Baronie è il bacino centrale del margine, confinato verso mare dal seamount delle Baronie, e presenta una via di fuga laterale rappresentato dal sistema di canyon di Gonone-Orosei. Il Posada è il sistema torbiditico principale, consiste di un canyon profondamente inciso nella piattaforma e nella scarpata, e sviluppa alla base della scarpata un piccolo fa radiale. La morfologia del è il risultato dell'interazione complessa tra la geoemtria del bacino ricevente ed il comportamento dei flussi sedimentari. La forma del bacino ha costretto il sistema torbiditico a cambiare la direzione di sviluppo, da est verso sud. Processi di framanento in massa a grande scala hanno inoltre contribuito alla riorganizzazione del sistema torbiditico. Il bacino dell’Ogliastra è localizzato nel settore meridionale del margine, limitato verso mare dal seamount Quirra. Il settore settentrionale della scarpata continentale del bacino Ogliastra è caratterizzato da canyon e incisioni di carattere ibrido, con tratti deposizionali ed erosivi. L'Arbatax è il principale sistema torbiditico del bacino di Ogliastra caratterizzato da un settore meridionale dominato da un canale alimentatore e da un settore settentrionale abbandonato, caratterizzato da fenomeni di smantellamento e instabilità gravitativa. In generale i risultati dello studio evidenziano l'importanza della combinazione dei fattori di controllo esterni, e della topografia preesistente, nello sviluppo dei processi sedimentari e degli elementi deposizionali dei sistemi torbiditici. In particolare, appare evidente come lo stile deposizionale dei sistemi torbiditici in ambiente confinato diverga sostanzialmente da quello previsto dai modelli di fan sottomarini usati come strumenti predittivi nella esplorazione e sfruttamento dei giacimenti di idrocarburi.

Extensive mass transport deposits and multiple slide scars testify widespread and recurrent submarine sediment failures occurring during the late Quaternary on the SW-Adriatic and SE-Sicilian margins. These mass movements and their consequences contributed to shape the continental slopes and fill the basins with characteristic signatures. Geomorphological, seismo-stratigraphic, sedimentological and biostratigraphic data provide clues to: 1) define distinct failure mechanisms investigating on factors that determine dissimilar organization of coeval displaced masses, 2) reconstruct successive phases of failure stressing on the same location where slide scars crosscut and mass-transport deposits overlap, 3) analyze regional setting and indicate the most suitable place where to calculate mass wasting frequency. Discussions on the role of fluid flow, currents activity and tectonic deformation determine a wider view on the construction of the studied continental margins.

Salt deposits characterize the subsurface of Tuzla (BiH) and made it famous since the ancient times. Archeological discoveries demonstrate the presence of a Neolithic pile-dwelling settlement related to the existence of saltwater springs that contributed to make the most of the area a swampy ground. Since the Roman times, the town is reported as “the City of Salt deposits and Springs”; "tuz" is the Turkish word for salt, as the Ottomans renamed the settlement in the 15th century following their conquest of the medieval Bosnia (Donia and Fine, 1994). Natural brine springs were located everywhere and salt has been evaporated by means of hot charcoals since pre-Roman times. The ancient use of salt was just a small exploitation compared to the massive salt production carried out during the 20th century by means of classical mine methodologies and especially wild brine pumping. In the past salt extraction was practised tapping natural brine springs, while the modern technique consists in about 100 boreholes with pumps tapped to the natural underground brine runs, at an average depth of 400-500 m. The mining operation changed the hydrogeological conditions enabling the downward flow of fresh water causing additional salt dissolution. This process induced severe ground subsidence during the last 60 years reaching up to 10 meters of sinking in the most affected area. Stress and strain of the overlying rocks induced the formation of numerous fractures over a conspicuous area (3 Km2). Consequently serious damages occurred to buildings and infrastructures such as water supply system, sewage networks and power lines. Downtown urban life was compromised by the destruction of more than 2000 buildings that collapsed or needed to be demolished causing the resettlement of about 15000 inhabitants (Tatić, 1979). Recently salt extraction activities have been strongly reduced, but the underground water system is returning to his natural conditions, threatening the flooding of the most collapsed area. During the last 60 years local government developed a monitoring system of the phenomenon, collecting several data about geodetic measurements, amount of brine pumped, piezometry, lithostratigraphy, extension of the salt body and geotechnical parameters. A database was created within a scientific cooperation between the municipality of Tuzla and the city of Rotterdam (D.O.O. Mining Institute Tuzla, 2000). The scientific investigation presented in this dissertation has been financially supported by a cooperation project between the Municipality of Tuzla, The University of Bologna (CIRSA) and the Province of Ravenna. The University of Tuzla (RGGF) gave an important scientific support in particular about the geological and hydrogeological features. Subsidence damage resulting from evaporite dissolution generates substantial losses throughout the world, but the causes are only well understood in a few areas (Gutierrez et al., 2008). The subject of this study is the collapsing phenomenon occurring in Tuzla area with the aim to identify and quantify the several factors involved in the system and their correlations. Tuzla subsidence phenomenon can be defined as geohazard, which represents the consequence of an adverse combination of geological processes and ground conditions precipitated by human activity with the potential to cause harm (Rosenbaum and Culshaw, 2003). Where an hazard induces a risk to a vulnerable element, a risk management process is required. The single factors involved in the subsidence of Tuzla can be considered as hazards. The final objective of this dissertation represents a preliminary risk assessment procedure and guidelines, developed in order to quantify the buildings vulnerability in relation to the overall geohazard that affect the town. The historical available database, never fully processed, have been analyzed by means of geographic information systems and mathematical interpolators (PART I). Modern geomatic applications have been implemented to deeply investigate the most relevant hazards (PART II). In order to monitor and quantify the actual subsidence rates, geodetic GPS technologies have been implemented and 4 survey campaigns have been carried out once a year. Subsidence related fractures system has been identified by means of field surveys and mathematical interpretations of the sinking surface, called curvature analysis. The comparison of mapped and predicted fractures leaded to a better comprehension of the problem. Results confirmed the reliability of fractures identification using curvature analysis applied to sinking data instead of topographic or seismic data. Urban changes evolution has been reconstructed analyzing topographic maps and satellite imageries, identifying the most damaged areas. This part of the investigation was very important for the quantification of buildings vulnerability.

No description available.