Conservation and Enhancement of the Pietrabbondante Archaeological Site between History, Geology and Emerging Crowd-Based Digital Technologies

Attention to the condition assessment and conservation of cultural heritage is increasing due to growing sensitivity to the preservation of the built and natural environment and awareness of the risks associated with natural hazards. In this context, a comprehensive approach to the conservation and valorization of cultural heritage requires the combined action of different skills to achieve reliable assessment of the conditions of valuable assets and sites based on qualitative and quantitative indicators. This paper explores the issues of conservation and sustainable management of archaeological sites, considering humanistic and technical aspects. It reviews the current rules and practices concerning the maintenance and administration of archaeological heritage and outlines the implementation of a novel procedure, based on low-cost tools, to assess and describe the current condition of archaeological assets. Specific attention is paid to the interaction between experts and researchers operating in both humanistic and technical fields and to the knowledge and data contribution available on modern web-based platforms to implement reliable and low-cost data acquisition for the development of worthwhile plans for the conservation and enhancement of cultural heritage. The Samnite complex of Pietrabbondante, Molise, South Italy, is employed to apply and check the proposed tools in the real world

Co-seismic and post-seismic changes in groundwater discharge: first results from the epicentral region of the central Italy 2016 earthquake

Earthquakes, groundwater flow, carbonate aquifers

Groundwater planning and protection: assessment of environmental indexes in complex aquifer systems. The Solofrana River Valley case study (South Italy)

Heterogeneity of natural systems governs the pathway of pollutant in the environment, mostly in groundwater resources. A large number of hydrogeological researches aim to parameterize and model these processes. Namely, the spatial variability of the hydrogeological properties of rocks may be defined from geologic observations and local measurements. The Solofrana River Valley (South Italy) is a real natural laboratory to improve understanding of the behaviour and transfer of pollutants on large scale. The geological and structural complexity of the territory, due to the tectonic and morphological evolution of the carbonate platform domains, resulting in filling of the structural depressions by the quaternary deposits (volcanic, talus and alluvial sediments), is combined with a widespread agricultural activity and with the incidence of important industrial centres, among which stands out the Solofra’s tanning pole. A multidisciplinary approach was employed to delineate aquifer/aquitard unit and characterize scale-dependent heterogeneity by means of geological, hydrogeological and geochemical techniques. This paper describes firstly the experience carried out in an area characterized by a high anthropic impact. Besides, it reports about relevant geological and hydrogeological aspects of the Solofrana River Valley and presents some interesting aspects related to field operations and characterization of pollutants flow and transport. Existing data, combined with a specific geological survey and a monthly water level monitoring (July 2010; February 2011-October 2012), as well as a groundwater chemical-physical characterization based on a monthly EC, pH and temperature monitoring and on chemistry analyses involving 77 parameters (July 2010 - April-June 2012), provided to assess the groundwater composition indexes and the chief environmental indexes. So the improvement of the hydrostratigraphic architecture and the hydraulic continuity among aquifers, especially pushing up depths, derived from the assessment of equivalent parameters of hydrodynamic properties. With regard to the hydrogeological and impact conditions, the results of multivariate statistical analyses proved the identification of a number of homogeneous zones even in such complex aquifer systems

Assessment of Environmental Indexes in Alluvial Aquifer Systems

Heterogeneity of natural systems governs the pathway of pollutants in the environment, especially in aquifers. The relationship between a number of environmental pressures and the complex structure of groundwater flow systems generates many processes, which affect the behaviour and transport of pollutants. With regard to the wide variety of structural, volcanic and depositional processes which characterize the alluvial aquifer systems in the Campania Region (South Italy), this paper describes an integrated approach to delineate aquifer/aquitard units and recognize scale-dependent heterogeneity by means of geological, hydrogeological, geochemical and geostatistical techniques. In this analysis, a set of indicators, representative of the groundwater composition, have to be defined. Each indicator describes a specific aspect of groundwater quality and leads in combination with others to the definition of groundwater environmental index, due to natural and anthropogenic phenomena. The results of multivariate statistical analyses provide the identification of a number of homogeneous zones even in complex alluvial aquifer systems. At the same time, in wide regions this analysis enables to point out the most vulnerable sites and leads the working scale for planning technical and procedural solutions

3D geological modelling and groundwater management in the Campanian Plain (South Italy)

Three-dimensional geological modelling is a key topic in hydrogeological studies and has significantly developed in last decade. Despite the constant improvement of knowledge and technologies in 3-D mapping, the predictive function of groundwater models is often constrained by the lack and dishomogeneity of competent existing data. The present paper points out an integrated approach, combining sedimentological, stratigraphical and hydrogeological analyses, to construct a better and more reliable groundwater flow model in complex geological areas, such as the coastal campanian plains. The sample area is a sector of Campanian Plain, located between the Sarno River Plain and the southwestern extremity of the low Solofrana River Valley, wide approximately 10 km2. The site is an area of intense exploitation of groundwater resources, because of many industrial and agricultural activities. The existing boreholes data, integrated with geomorphological and structural information, have been used to build and bind an hydrogeological block diagram. The subsurface model has been used to better define the complexity of this plane sector and to identify the most accurate boundary conditions for the flow model. The setting up of groundwater mathematical model has been calibrated using an iterative approach based on a try and error procedure. As a result the simulation of a specific pumping scenario follows a real observed state (recorded in July 2006) and shows the great control of anthropic activities on the groundwater flow conditions of plain aquifer systems. So an optimized approach to perform an integration between geological and hydrogeological issues is discussed with reference to a real case

Environmental status of groundwater resources in the Solofrana River Valley

Heterogeneity of natural systems governs the pathway of pollutant in the environment, mostly in groundwater resources. A large number of hydrogeological research aims to parametrize and model these processes. The spatial variability of the hydrogeological properties of the rock can be define from geologic observation and local measurements. The Solofrana River Valley is a real natural laboratory to improve understanding of the behaviour and transfer of pollutants on larges scale, because of its geological and structural complexity combined with a strong industrial and agricultural activities. A multidisciplinary approach has been employed to delineate aquifer/aquitard unit and characterize scale-dependent heterogeneity using geological, hydrogeological and geochemical tecniques. The paper describes firstly the experience carried out in an area characterized by a high antropic impact. Besides, it reports about relevant geological and hydrogeological aspects of the Solofrana River Valley and presents some interesting aspects related to field operations and quantitative evaluation of pollution flow and transport