Historical Evolution of the Shoreline of Reggio Calabria

The urban development in the last century was characterized by a depopulation of the mountains and a concentration of the population in urban areas, most of them are located near the coast. This factor increased significantly the problems and risks connected to coastal erosion. Thus, it implied a stricter monitoring activity in order to protect the coast and the population, as well. This paper discusses the historical variation of the shoreline in Reggio Calabria

SHORELINE EVOLUTION NEAR THE MOUTH OF THE PETRACE RIVER, REGGIO CALABRIA, ITALY

n/

ANALISI E STIMA DEL TRASPORTO SOLIDO FLUVIALE NEI BACINI CALABRESI

Over recent decades, Soil Erosion by Water (WSE) has become a severe issue worldwide, especially in European Mediterranean countries because they are subject to prolonged dry periods followed by heavy erosive rains. All this is very important in the case of river basins characterized by steep slopes and erodible soils. The paper analyzed and quantified river transport in Calabrian basins. Calabria is a region of Southern Italy that represents an interesting case study due to its geomorphological peculiarities for which it is generally subject to WSE. The analysis was carried out by applying the Erosion Potential Method (EPM), particularly reliable for rivers such as most of the Calabrian ones where most of the sediment transport is linked to the WSE and is divided into four main phases: morphometric characterization, estimate of average yearly precipitation and temperature, estimate of EPM coefficient, and estimate of river transport. The main result is that Calabrian rivers are characterized by a high river transport, especially in those with torrential and irregular hydrological regime

Wave Climate along Calabrian Coasts

The wave climate is highly variable temporally and spatially, depending mainly on the atmospheric conditions and on fetch extensions. Wave climate is one of the main causes of coastal erosion processes, together with anthropogenic pressure and with coastal and river sedimentary balance. Therefore, a detailed spatial and temporal knowledge of wave climate is very important in managing coastal areas and in planning coastal defense works. This paper describes an analysis of the wave climate carried out along the Calabrian coasts in over 50 areas, each of them covering an average of 15 km of coastline. For each area, over 40 years of wave data were analyzed to calculate over 20 parameters, representative of annual and seasonal average and maximum wave conditions. The large number of areas is related to the geomorphological and climatic complexity of Calabria. This analysis mainly highlighted that the two Ionian and Tyrrhenian coasts are very different from the wave climate point of view. Indeed, the Ionian coast is heavier in ordinary wave conditions, while the Tyrrhenian coast is heavier in extreme wave conditions

Effects of Anthropogenic Pressures on Dune Systems—Case Study: Calabria (Italy)

During the second half of the last century, considerable anthropization processes were observed throughout most of the Italian territory. These processes have altered the equilibrium conditions of several river and coastal ecosystems, causing the destruction of numerous dune systems. This issue is particularly important in territories such as Calabria, a region in southern Italy subject to considerable anthropogenic pressures and characterized by over 700 km of coast. The aim of the paper was to evaluate the effects of anthropogenic pressures on the Calabrian dune systems, especially in regard to the triggering of coastal erosion processes. For this purpose, historical and current cartographic data, such as shapefiles, cartography, and satellite imagery, were analyzed using QGIS. This evaluation was carried out through the comparison between the current extension of the dune systems and their extensions after the Second World War, before the anthropogenic pressures. This evaluation was also carried out through the analysis of shoreline changes in coastal areas, where dune systems are currently present, and in coastal areas where dune systems have been partially or totally destroyed by anthropogenic causes, compared to the 1950s, thus excluding coastal areas without dune systems in the 1950s, and analyzing what was built in place of the destroyed dune systems. Two criteria were defined to identify the levels of destruction of the dune systems and to identify the coastal erosion processes. The analysis showed a strong correlation between the destruction of dune systems by anthropogenic causes and the triggering of coastal erosion processes

Modeling of the 1783 Tsunami Event in Scilla Generated by Landslide

In 1783, an event that has gone down in history as the great seismic crisis in Calabria began, during which two major earthquakes occurred, affecting the Calabrian ridge from the Strait to the north. Between 6 and 7 February in Scilla a tsunami occurred that caused the greatest number of victims in Italy: 1500 people. The mechanism that triggered the tsunami was the detachment of a ridge of rock due to a violent earthquake that affected the area; this detachment caused a subaerial landslide which, by sliding, then deposited the rock on the seabed a few kilometers from the coast, immediately generating the tsunami event. The objective of this study is to perform numerical simulations for tsunami events that occurred in history and use models that perform the propagation of a tsunami, using the best possible bathymetric and topographic data and the historical data to compare the validity of the results. In this way, one can obtain the validation of a model that can be used to simulate possible events of this magnitude on the Calabrian coasts and therefore be able to develop a reliable early warning tsunami system; it also has the advantage of perfectly combining computational burdens and the validity of results

Historical Evolution of the Shoreline of Reggio Calabria

The urban development in the last century was characterized by a depopulation of the mountains and a concentration of the population in urban areas, most of them are located near the coast. This factor increased significantly the problems and risks connected to coastal erosion. Thus, it implied a stricter monitoring activity in order to protect the coast and the population, as well. This paper discusses the historical variation of the shoreline in Reggio Calabria

Protection and Management of the Annunziata River Mouth Area (Italy)

A better understanding and prediction of the dynamic processes that govern the coastal zone is the topic of the current paper; in particular, a deep investigation of the coastal processes that affect the shoreline dynamic and flood inundation risk is carried out at the Annunziata river mouth area (Italy). The Annunziata River is situated in the Northern part of Reggio Calabria city; it is, at the same time, a source of danger and an important environmental and hydrological resource for Reggio Calabria, since on the right side there is the city port and on the left side there is the public beach. The protection and management of coastal areas should be supported by a deep knowledge of the interaction between water motion and seabed topography, which affects the natural response of coastal systems to changes in external conditions and to human interferences. This work tries to analyze the coastal morphology through the use of some recent models based on spectral theory

FENOMENI EROSIVI IN PROSSIMITÀ DEL PARCO ARCHEOLOGICO DI KAULON (RC): CAUSE E RIMEDI

The paper analyses the beach erosion which affected the coast of Monasterace Marina, Italy, where the Kaulon archaeological site is located. The site extends along the coast for 1 km, it is made of an ancient town, a museum and a Doric Temple which are inside a sand dune along the coast. During the winter season between 2013-2014, two severe storms completely eroded the beach, reaching to the Doric Temple, which was partially destroyed. All the possible causes of the erosional phenomenon are investigated through the analysis of cartography, wave, weather and climate data, and the use of soil. This analysis is carried out for different historical periods over the last 60 years. Also, a quick and temporary solution is described. DOI: http://dx.medra.org/10.19254/LaborEst.12.1

Erosive Phenomena in the Proximity of Kaulon Archaeological Park: Origins and Remedies

Abstract The paper analyses the beach erosion which affected the coast of Monasterace Marina, Italy, where the Kaulon archaeological site is located. The site extends along the coast for 1 km, itI made of an ancient town, a museum and a Doric Temple which are inside a sand dune along the coast. During the winter season between 2013-2014, two severe storms completely eroded the beach, reaching to the Doric Temple, which was partially destroyed. All the possible causes of the erosional phenomenonare investigated through the analysis of cartography, wave, weather and climate data, and the use of soil. This analysis is carried out for different historical periods over the last 60 years. Also, a quick and temporary solution is described