Geological and geophysical characterization of the southeastern side of the High Agri Valley (southern Apennines, Italy)

Abstract. In the frame of a national project funded by Eni S.p.A. and developed by three institutes of the National Research Council (the Institute of Methodologies for Environmental Analysis, the Institute of Research for Hydrogeological Protection and the Institute for Electromagnetic Sensing of the Environment), a multidisciplinary approach based on the integration of satellite, aero-photogrammetric and in situ geophysical techniques was applied to investigate an area located in the Montemurro territory in the southeastern sector of the High Agri Valley (Basilicata Region, southern Italy). This paper reports the results obtained by the joint analysis of in situ geophysical surveys, aerial photos interpretation, morphotectonic investigation, geological field survey and borehole data. The joint analysis of different data allowed us (1) to show the shallow geological and structural setting, (2) to detect the geometry of the different lithological units and their mechanical and dynamical properties, (3) to image a previously unmapped fault beneath suspected scarps/warps and (4) to characterize the geometry of an active landslide affecting the study area

Corrigendum to "Geological and geophysical characterization of the southeastern side of the High Agri Valley (southern Apennines, Italy)" published in Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 15, 315–323, 2015

No abstract available

Geological and geophysical characterization of the southeastern side of the High Agri Valley (southern Apennines, Italy)

In the frame of a national project funded by Eni S.p.A. and developed by three institutes of the National Research Council (the Institute of Methodologies for Environmental Analysis, the Institute of Research for Hydrogeological Protection and the Institute for Electromagnetic Sensing of the Environment), a multidisciplinary approach based on the integration of satellite, aero-photogrammetric and in situ geophysical techniques was applied to investigate an area located in the Montemurro territory in the southeastern sector of the High Agri Valley (Basilicata Region, southern Italy). This paper reports the results obtained by the joint analysis of in situ geophysical surveys, aerial photos interpretation, morphotectonic investigation, geological field survey and borehole data. The joint analysis of different data allowed us (1) to show the shallow geological and structural setting, (2) to detect the geometry of the different lithological units and their mechanical and dynamical properties, (3) to image a previously unmapped fault beneath suspected scarps/warps and (4) to characterize the geometry of an active landslide affecting the study area

The history of a post-orogenic trough: the High Agri Valley, Southern Apennines, Italy

The Apennine orogen is characterised by paired belts of contraction and extension which migrated eastward during the Neogene-Quaternary times. Since the Miocene, the eastward propagation of the fold-and-thrust structures was accompanied and followed by the development of post-orogenic normal faults related to the collapse of the chain. In southen Apennines, post-Messinian evolution is marked by a drastic slowdown of slab migration due to collision with the Apulian swell. From this time onward, direct convergence has been accommodated mainly by sinistral transpression. In the inner portion of the orogen, the eastward migration of the post-orogenic extensional front, accommodated by Pliocene low-angle normal faults and by early Pleistocene normal to left-oblique transtensional faults, determined the progressive fragmentation of the fold-and-thrust architecture. SW-NE- directed shortening in the frontal part of the southern Apennines ceased during the middle Pleistocene. Afterwards, the deformation regime was dominated by NE-SW directed extension mainly accommodated by NW-SE trending high-angle normal faults. Pliocene to Quaternary extension was accompanied by intense uplift

The Verdesca landslide in the Agri Valley (Basilicata, southern Italy): a new geological and geomorphological framework

A landslide, to the west of Montemurro (a small village in southern Italy), has recently caused damage to buildings and other infrastructure in an urbanized area; as a result the development of new economic activities has been prohibited. The landslide phenomenon started in the last century and has been studied since the 1990s using classical geotechnical methods; however the sliding body continues to move. This paper presents the results of a study carried out using field surveys, geognostic investigations and TDR (time domain reflectometry) measurements in order to reconstruct the stratigraphy of the sediments involved and to further understand the geological and geomorphological context of the slope. This study is part of a larger multidisciplinary project, the results of which will also be presented in this paper. The landslide (rotational slide in the upper sector, developing into a translational slide in the lower part) affects Quaternary continental clastic deposits resting on a bedrock formed by Tertiary siliciclastic sediments of the Gorgoglione Flysch. TDR measurements did not show any significant movement during the period monitored (January 2013–January 2014). Slip zone geometries were hypothesized using inclinometric measurements taken from previous studies, stratigraphic data and geomorphological interpretations of topographic scarps. Feedback from monitoring will confirm this hypothesis