The Subsurface Geology and Landscape Evolution of the Volturno Coastal Plain, Italy: Interplay between Tectonics and Sea-Level Changes during the Quaternary

The Volturno alluvial-coastal plain is a relevant feature of the Tyrrhenian side of southern Italy. Its plan-view squared shape is due to Pliocene-Quaternary block-faulting of the western flank of the south-Apennines chain. On the basis of the stratigraphic analysis of almost 700 borehole logs and new geomorphological survey, an accurate paleoenvironmental reconstruction before and after the Campania Ignimbrite (CI; about 40 ky B.P.) eruption is here presented. Tectonics and eustatic forcing have been both taken into account to completely picture the evolution of the coastal plain during Late Quaternary times. The upper Pleistocene-Holocene infill of the Volturno plain has been here re-organized in a new stratigraphic framework, which includes seven depositional units. Structural analysis showed that two sets of faults displaced the CI, so accounting for recent tectonic activity. Yet Late Quaternary tectonics is rather mild, as evidenced by the decametric vertical separations operated by those faults. The average slip rate, which would represent the tectonic subsidence rate of the plain, is about 0.5 mm/yr. A grid of cross sections shows the stratigraphic architecture which resulted from interactions among eustatic changes, tectonics and sedimentary input variations. On the basis of boreholes analysis, the trend of the CI roof was reconstructed. An asymmetrical shape of its ancient morphology—with a steeper slope toward the north-west border—and the lack of coincidence between the present course of the Volturno River and the main buried bedrock incision, are significant achievements of this study. Finally, the morpho-evolutionary path of the Volturno plain has been discussed

An Innovative Approach to Determine Coastal Scenic Beauty and Sensitivity in a Scenario of Increasing Human Pressure and Natural Impacts due to Climate Change

Coasts worldwide face a great variety of environmental impacts, as well as increased anthropogenic pressures due to urbanization and rapid population growth. Human activities menace ecosystem services and the economy of coastal countries, often based on "Sun, Sea and Sand" (3S) tourism. The five parameters of greatest importance (the "Big Five") for beach visitors are safety, facilities, water quality, no litter and scenery, and the characterization of the latter was recently carried out by means of a checklist of 26 natural and human parameters, parameter weighting matrices and fuzzy logic, according to the "Coastal Scenic Evaluation System" (CSES) methodology. In order to propose sound coastal management strategies, the main aim of this paper is to propose a method to determine the scenic sensitivity of (i) natural parameters to coastal natural processes in a Climate Change context and (ii) human parameters to visitors' pressure in a scenario of increasing tourism and coastal developments. Regarding natural parameters, the sensitivity of "Beach face" and "Dunes" parameters is determined according to an Erodibility Index with a Correction Factor, taking into account wave forcing characteristics, tidal range and trends at a local scale of Sea Level Rise and Storm Surge. This establishes a Sensitivity Index to natural processes. A site's scenic sensitivity to human pressure/activities was determined by considering the sensitivity of several human parameters of the CSES method according to beach typology and access difficulty together with the Protection Area Management Category to which a site belongs. A Human Impact Index is obtained, which is afterwards corrected by taking into account local trends of tourism pressure, establishing a Sensitivity Index to human pressure. Finally, a total Sensitivity Index considering both natural processes and human pressure is obtained, and sites divided into three sensitive groups. The results can be useful to limit and prevent environmental degradation linked to natural processes and tourism development, and also to suggest measures to improve the scenic value of investigated sites and their sustainable usage. The method was tested for 29 sites of great scenic quality along the Mediterranean coast of Andalusia, Spain

Recent changes in rainfalland air temperature at Agnone(Molise - Central Italy)

An exhaustive daily rainfall and extreme air temperature series (1883-2000) was reconstructed for Agnone, a small town in Molise (Central Italy). Long-term analysis identified an increasing trend of 1.3 ± 0.4°C per 100 years, statistically confident at the 95% level, only for minimum air temperature, and of a seasonal march, reasonably stationary along the entire investigated interval, explaining more than 50% of the corresponding monthly variance, with maxima in November and July for rainfall and air temperature, respectively. Daily clustering analysis evidenced scale-invariant properties, largely dependent on the threshold value, for all the investigated parameters

Coastal Scenic Beauty and Sensitivity at the Balearic Islands, Spain: Implication of Natural and Human Factors

Coastal areas globally are facing a significant range of environmental stresses, enhanced by climate change-related processes and a continuous increase of human activities. The economic benefits of tourism are well-known for coastal regions, but, very often, conflicts arise between short-term benefits and long-term conservation goals. Among beach user preferences, five parameters of greater importance stand out from the rest, i.e., safety, facilities, water quality, litter and scenery; the latter is the main concern of this study. A coastal scenic evaluation was carried out in the Balearic Islands and focused on two major issues: coastal scenic beauty together with sensitivity to natural processes and human pressure. The archipelago is renowned as a top international coastal tourist destination that receives more than 13.5 million visitors (2019). Impressive landscape diversity makes the Balearics Islands an ideal field for this research. In total, 52 sites, respectively located in Ibiza (11), Formentera (5), Mallorca (18) and Menorca (18), were field-tested. In a first step, coastal scenic beauty was quantified using the coastal scenic evaluation system (CSES) method, based on the evaluation of 26 physical and human parameters, and using weighting matrices parameters and fuzzy logic mathematics. An evaluation index ("D") was obtained for each site, allowing one to classify them in one of the five scenic classes established by the method. Twenty-nine sites were included in class I, corresponding to extremely attractive sites (CSES), which were mainly observed in Menorca. Several sound measures were proposed to maintain and/or enhance sites' scenic value. In a second step, scenic sensitivity was evaluated using a novel methodological approach that makes possible the assessment of three different coastal scenic sensitivity indexes (CSSI), i.e., the natural sensitivity index NSI, the human sensitivity index HSI and the total sensitivity index TSI. Future climate change trends and projection of tourism development, studied at municipality scale, were considered as correction factors. All the islands showed places highly sensitive to environmental processes, while sensitivity to human pressure was essentially observed at Ibiza and Mallorca. Thereafter, sites were categorized into one of three sensitive groups established by the methodology. Results obtained are useful in pointing out very sensitive sceneries as well as limiting, preventing and/or anticipating future scenic degradation linked to natural and human issues

Characteristics and coastal effects of a destructive marine storm in the Gulf of Naples (southern Italy)

Destructive marine storms bring large waves and unusually high surges of water to coastal areas, resulting in significant damages and economic loss. This study analyses the characteristics of a destructive marine storm on the strongly inhabited coastal area of Gulf of Naples, along the Italian coasts of the Tyrrhenian Sea. This is highly vulnerable to marine storms due to the accelerated relative sea level rise trend and the increased anthropogenic impact on the coastal area. The marine storm, which occurred on 28 December 2020, was analyzed through an unstructured wind-wave coupled model that takes into account the main marine weather components of the coastal setup. The model, validated with in situ data, allowed the establishment of threshold values for the most significant marine and atmospheric parameters (i.e., wind intensity and duration) beyond which an event can produce destructive effects. Finally, a first assessment of the return period of this event was evaluated using local press reports on damage to urban furniture and port infrastructures

Geomorphology of Naples and the Campi Flegrei: human and natural landscapes in a restless land

Naples and its surroundings are a very young landscape, originated from 40 ka in response to strong and explosive volcanic processes, which created the Campi Flegrei, one of the largest volcanic fields of the world. Despite the repeated and continuous volcanic activity, this territory was selected for human settlements since Neolithic times and hosted some of the most important Greek and Roman towns in the Mediterranean area (e.g., Cuma, Parthenope, Neapolis, Baia and Puteoli). Geoarcheological data and historical chronicles testify to human coexistence with eruptions, bradyseismic ground motions, coastline changes, floods and landslides. With the aim of describing the geomorphological evolution of this area to a wide audience, including also non-experts, we constructed a synthetic geomorphological map of the area and sketches that synthesise the main stages of the geomorphological evolution of the historical centre of Naples and the coastal belt of the Gulf of Pozzuoli during the last millennia

Rip current evidence by hydrodynamic simulations, bathymetric surveys and UAV observation

Abstract. The prediction of the formation, spacing and location of rip currents is a scientific challenge that can be achieved by means of different complementary methods. In this paper the analysis of numerical and experimental data, including RPAS (remotely piloted aircraft systems) observations, allowed us to detect the presence of rip currents and rip channels at the mouth of Sele River, in the Gulf of Salerno, southern Italy. The dataset used to analyze these phenomena consisted of two different bathymetric surveys, a detailed sediment analysis and a set of high-resolution wave numerical simulations, completed with Google EarthTM images and RPAS observations. The grain size trend analysis and the numerical simulations allowed us to identify the rip current occurrence, forced by topographically constrained channels incised on the seabed, which were compared with observations

Evoluzione recente e rischio di erosione della Costa Molisana (Italia Meridionale)

As documented by various recent studies (AUCELLI et alii, 2004; FAILLACE, 2004; IANNANTUONO et alii, 2005; GRUPPO NAZIONALE PER LA RICERCA DELL’AMBIENTE COSTIERO, 2006a; AUCELLI et alii, 2007; IANNANTUONO, 2007), the evolution of the 36 km long Molise coast during the last fifty years is characterised by a prevailing tendency to shoreline retreat. The aim of the present paper is to provide a precise description of the Molise coast with reference to its coastal morphology along with a detailed frame of the evolution of its shoreline and first indications on the potential erosion risk. The Molise coast that includes ca. 13 km of high coast behaves altogether as a low coast system, because the cliffs limiting the high coast to the sea are located, except for the promontory of Termoli, at variable distance from the shoreline. Beaches are present nearly all along the coast and anthropic structures frequently are located along their inner edges. To analyse shoreline variations in detail, the Molise coast was subdivided in nine reaches (T1-T9) of different lengths and characters. Quantitative analyses on linear shoreline variations and related surface changes were carried out for the 1954-2003 time interval and relative sub-periods 1954-1992 and 1992-2003. From 1954 to 2003, the general shoreline retreat caused a total loss of ca. 1.090.000 m2 of coastal area (beaches, dunes, deltaic and retro-dune areas). The most sensible reaches to erosion are T1 and T7 that respectively comprise the mouths of the Trigno and Biferno rivers, which experienced in this period a retreat of ca. 250 and 350 metres, respectively. A consistent acceleration of shoreline retreat with time is shown by the comparison between sub-periods 1954-1992 and 1992-2003. Though the second period is much shorter (11 years vs. 38 years), T1 and T7, in particular, totalize nearly 50% of the surface losses that occurred during the precedent period. Due to such an acceleration, during the second period ca. 32% of the total erosion occurred, giving rise to a loss of ca. 348.609 m2. For reaches T1 and T7, the average annual retreat rates changed from respectively 2.37 and 3.24 m/y to 4.24 and 4.74 m/y during the second period, when reach T7 underwent a maximum retreat of about 231 metres which corresponds to an average annual retreat of 21 m/y. The reconstructed acceleration of erosion is in net contrast to the increasing protection of the coast by defense structures as evident above all for reach T7. In order to better understand this apparent inconsistency, and the consequent hypothesis for a possible meteoclimatic influence (already outlined for part of the Molise coast by AUCELLI et alii, 2007), a detailed analysis of the period 1992-2003, subdivided therefore into sub-periods 1992-1997, 1997- 2000, 2000-2003, was carried out. This analysis showed consistent differences between the distinguished sub-periods in relation to average annual shoreline variations and the percentage with which each reach contributed to erosion. The observed differences strongly support the hypothesis that variations of meteomarine conditions have strongly favoured erosion during the second period, and in particular during sub-period 2000-2003, thus outlining the need to adequately consider such climatic influence when developing potential erosion scenaries related to climate change. Starting from the basic morphological and topographical features of the Molise coast, in order to examine the potential erosion risk, the rates of annual average linear shoreline variations for periods 1954- 1992 and 1992-2003 were examined on the basis of the risk scheme developed by GORNITZ et alii (1994). Such an examination allowed to evaluate the degree of erosion risk for each reach and to attribute, in particular, a very high erosion risk to reaches T1 and T7, which, indeed, are the main responsible for the observed shoreline instability. Further analyses carried out on coastal sectors characterised by the occurrence of constructions located up to ca. 200 m from the current shoreline along the inner edges of the beaches, allowed to calculate the potential time span required by marine erosion to possibly affect the constructions. Said calculations point out for the northern sectors of reaches T1 and T7 time spans of 13,5 and 22 years, respectively, and therefore a real, and very high erosion risk