The phenomenon of sand erosion is recently spreading inMediterranean beaches in a worrisome way. Cellular Automata modellingsuch a phenomenon involves many difficulties for adopting a convenienttime and space scale (minute and decimeter), that can permit temporallyreasonable simulations. A very preliminary model RUSICA was developedin association with an experimental work in order to test hypotheses,to receive suggestion separately for some basic processes and to learnfrom past occurred cases. During this contamination phase, some experimentalapplications were succesfully projected in order to contrast sanderosion on the coast. This paper presents the current initial version ofRUSICA for sand erosion=transport=deposition and describes the resultsobtained at Porto Cesareo coast in the Italian Apulia Region. Completesimulations by RUSICA will soon follow this preparatory work.

Il sistema carsico "Le Mannute" (PU 144), ubicato all'estremità meridionale del Salento, è costituto da una serie di cavità che si aprono lungo una alta costa rocciosa. Esso è caratterizzato da numerose concrezioni adornanti vestiboli e spazi ante grotta, spesso visibili dal mare, già classificati dal Gruppo Speleologico Neretino in sei diversi tipi morfologici.Oggetto del presente contributo è l'aggiornamento delle ricerche sulle concrezioni a "zampa d'elefante". Lo studio petrografico ne ha consentito la classificazione come biocostruzioni miste, prodotte da organismi fototropi e da precipitazione chimica.

Al fine di definire i tipi litologici e individuare le relative aree di provenienza, sono state effettuate osservazioni macroscopiche in situ sui lapidei impiegati per la costruzione del molo antico di San Cataldo. Successivamente sono stati prelevati alcuni campioni per l'esecuzione di analisi microscopiche a luce polarizzata su sezioni sottili, asportando frammenti già sconnessi dalla struttura, onde limitare al massimo gli effetti del campionamento, ma significativi per una preliminare caratterizzazionepetrografica. Sono stati altresì analizzati vari affioramenti del substrato roccioso del territorio compreso tra San Cataldo e Lecce (fig. 1), e prelevati campioni per i dovuti confronti con i materiali lapidei del "molo di Adriano".I blocchi del paramento in opera quadrata sono risultati essere costituiti da calcareniti medio-fini, glauconitico-fosfatiche, con frammenti di macrofossili; tale tipo lapideo può essere ricondotto al piromafo, unità stratigrafica informale del Miocene medio-superiore 54. Ilpietrame del nucleo in opus caementicium è invece formato da differenti tipi di calcari macrofossiliferi riferibili a litologie delle Calcareniti di Andrano (Miocene superiore)55. Occasionalmente sono stati osservati frammenti di calcari micritici e calciruditi.Lo studio eseguito permette di escludere l'immediato entroterra di San Cataldo (per una fascia di circa 3 km dalla costa) quale area di provenienza dei lapidei delmolo antico, poiché in questo settore affiorano calcareniti e calciruditi macrofossilifere con struttura da compatta a tufacea del Pliocene-Pleistocene. Più versoOvest, già a ridosso del limite interno della suddetta fascia di territorio, affiorano a luoghi calcareniti glauconitico-fosfatiche (piromafo), ed è dunque qui che potevano essere ubicate le cave di estrazione dei blocchi usati per la realizzazione del paramento.

In this note, the Water Budget Method (WBM) is applied to estimate local values of the specific yield of the deep karst aquifer of Salento peninsula. A selection in a period of two years of relevant short precipitation events has been considered and the related localized recharges have been compared to the water table fluctuations measured at two selected wells. The recharge amounts have been corrected by using data of evapotranspiration and soil water storage available from a micrometeorological base. The results are very similar for both the wells and more consistent when the corrections are applied. A discussion involving frequency and apertures of the fractures in the rock mass of the aquifer suggests the effect of the karst dissolution to be dominant in determining these values of the specific yield.

The Mannute Caves (Salento, Italy) are a karst system that can only be reached using vertical rope techniques for caving and, hence, are not suitable for tourist visits because of their inaccessibility. New texture, geochemistry and age data of a peculiar type of carbonate accretion known as 'bulky stalactites' are presented here. Based on previous topographic surveys and observations on calcareous tufas, new geological data enables us to infer the palaeo-environmental history of the Mannute Piccola Cave. The present location of the bulky stalactites, close to the entrance of the cave, is in disagreement with an accretion process which requires sciophilous conditions. Based on U-Th dating, the growth of the bulky stalactites can be shown to have occurred in the Holocene and ended abruptly when the entrance of the cave was enlarged, probably due to a rockslide. The growing demand for geotourism in Salento suggests that management guidelines are required for coastal cave attractions, along with strategies to protect and evaluate the Mannute Piccola Cave as a potential geosite. Improved geological knowledge of the cave should be seen as a preliminary stage for geoheritage promotion through information communication technology (ICT) strategies, with the aim being to integrate the site within regional networks for cultural heritage enjoyment.

This paper deals with proxies preserved in hypogean tufas of a highly responsive region to climate changes, the central Mediterranean. Field studies allowed determining four stages of carbonate accretion driven by climatic and / or environmental shifts over the mid-late Holocene (i.e., the last eight millennia). The studied accretions show petrological analogies with the so called "trays", particular speleothems reported in few worldwide caves. Positive covariation between the ratios of oxygen and carbon isotopes is interpreted as due to climate signal. Hypogean tufas have recorded a long term (probably millennial-scale) reduction in precipitation and / or shift in storm trajectories as the interlacement of geological and geochemistry features suggests. Local conditions likely became severely dry over the transition from middle to late Holocene. Comparison between tufa archives and regional-scale data may improve climate knowledges and calibration of models. Further researches need interdisciplinary approaches to solve some basic uncertainties and to enhance data on geological archives.

The 9th of October 1963, 200 millions of cubic meters of rock detached from one side of the Vajont Valley (northern Italy) and slipped into a dam lake. The landslide generated water waves destroyed a town and some villages; nearly 2000 persons died. The Vajont dam and surrounding landscape currently represent, as a whole, the "intangible expressions" of the actions which led to such a hydrogeological catastrophe. They have a primary social value and need to be studied and protected as cultural heritage. The debate on the responsibilities of the disaster was influenced by the State Interest and became an ideological conflict. A post-agricultural society, committed to build a new national identity, was the context for the debate. Socio-political disputes biased data interpretation, data production, reports and scientific communication of experts and researchers. However, morphological and geotechnical uncertainties were reduced in time to undertake the countermeasures in favour of the collectivity.

In the framework of the SIGIEC (Sistema di Gestione Integrata per l'Erosione Costiera) PON project, focused on the erosion of key shore areas in Calabria and Apulia, the coastal area in front of the Alimini lakes (Otranto, Apulia) has been selected for the absence of anthropic structures or activities. The beach is 7.5 kms long and lays against a calcarenitic bedrock. It is sandy, and characterized by a volcaniclastic fraction and a biogenic component.The internal stratigraphy of the beach deposits is based on the reconstruction of stratigraphic sections in trenches. Vertical boundary between black to dark- grey to greyand light-grey layersand/or laminae characterize the entire sequence. Samples insight each layers or set of laminae were analysed to obtain information on the waves regimes and hydraulic control on sedimentation. Grain-size analysis have been performed on each sample. On the 0.25 and 0.5 mm fraction polished thin sections have been observed under the optical microscope, and selected grains have been analysed by SEM-EDX.Highly rounded quartz, limestone fragments and feldspars grains prevail in the grey to light-grey layers whereas mafic componentmainly consists of clinopyroxene, brown to yellow garnet and amphibole; sporadic crystals of colorless garnet also occur. The dark layers contain the same minerals but with different proportions: pyroxene and brown garnets are the dominant phases, followed by colorless garnets, opaques, quartz and amphibole. Feldspars and limestone fragments are subordinate; few staurolite and titanite crystals also occur. SEM- EDX analyses showed that pyroxenes can be classified as diopside-augite. Two population of garnets can be distinguished: a brown to yellow population with melanitic composition, and a colorless group of piralspitic composition. As already suggested by previous studies (Delle Rose and Elia, 2008) melanite, amphiboles and clinopyroxenes are of volcanic origin and their source can be found in the Vulture volcanic. However, the presence of piralspitic garnet and staurolite cannot be reconducted to Vulture volcano. Rather, we suggest a provenance from the Fossa Bradanica and/or Apenninic Units. The source areas and the roundness of the grains suggest that the sediments have been transported by Ofanto River, draining the Apenninic units and the Fossa Bradanica sediments together with the volcanics of Mt. Vulture. The sediments arriving at the Ofanto mouth, about 300 km North of Alimini beach, are drifted along the coast towards South.

Cahuachi is located inside the coastal desert of Peru (department of Ica, province of Nasca) on the left of the Nasca River, within one of the more driest regions of the Earth. It was the largest adobe ceremonial centre of the world, presenting around 40 earthen mounds located on sedimentary deposits. Peculiar features of such a substratum drawn the interest of geologists since the eighties. Some deductions of the first geological surveys (Grodzicki 1990, 1992, 1994) embraced the environmental late Holocene history of the site and the relations between human settlement and natural events. New studies performed in the last years, let us to improve the knowledges about these arguments.

Time series of micrometeorological data from the CNR ISAC-Lecce base have been used to estimate the seasonal/yearly surface infiltration in the period 2003-2016 in the Salento peninsula (Southern Italy). The estimated values of infiltration were compared with piezometric levels measured in the regional karst aquifer during the overlapping period 2009-2011. The results, besides the complex groundwater circulation, suggest the possibility of a quite short-time component in the deep aquifer response to the recharge input. This quick response, together with the growing hydroclimatic intensity, outlined in literature studies and observed in the last decade, could increasingly affect the seasonal aquifer dynamics in the near future. Some possible consequences on the water management in karst regions under Mediterranean climate are discussed.

According to the Protection Civil Department database, Apulia is the fourth region in Italy affected by sinkholes, due to collapse of natural or man-made cavities. The southern part of the region (the Salento peninsula) had hosted in the last twenty years at least fifteen events of sinkholes, the greatest part of which occurred inside "soft"carbonate rocks (calcarenites). The most catastrophic sinkhole, due to the presence of underground quarries, occurred at Gallipoli on 29 March 2007, when a collapse created a 12 x 18 m sinkhole which involved two 3 floors buildings. and 140 people were evacuated. In these cases, the usual approach of investigation of the area consist of geological survey supported by geophysical prospecting aimed to evaluate the real size of sinkhole crater and to predict its development over the time. In spite of the importance on the civil protection, the prediction of the sinkhole events is currently an hard issue, especially if they are related to caves of cultural interest as the case at hand, where are summarised questions of safety of people and cultural heritage.The "Poesia Piccola" cave, located at the Salento area of the Puglia region (southern Italy), has such features and it is the case study of this paper.The cave is an outstanding example of hypogean archaeological site morphologically in evolution and potentially dangerous for humans. It belongs to a karst system formed by dome-shaped caves, minor cavities and galleries. The system, named "Grotte della Poesia", is joined to the ground through vertical and horizontal entrances,respectively placed on a coastal plateau and along the contiguous cliff. This paper provides a new methodological approach on the evaluation of sinkhole hazard in such "soft" carbonate rocks combing geological, geophysical and mine engineering complementary methods, such as: geological analysis of outcrops and boreholes, aerophotogrammetric interpretation of aerial photos, electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), ground penetrating radar (GPR), seismic tomography, stability models to evaluation of ceiling caves.The research allows to define the geometrical caves shape (span, length and thickness of the crown pillars) which related to the geological features and physics properties of the rocks, determine the instability of the ceiling caves and, as a consequence, the sinkhole hazard.

Coastal erosion is a growing phenomenon that is increasingly causing difficulties both from environmental land management and social and economic point of views. Three processes are considered, over time scales consistent with natural hazard analysis: sea level rise, changes in storm climate, human interference. Such global causes are differently evaluated by scientific communities. Generally, such phenomena are addressed by PDE with classical approaches, only since recent times, alternative approaches had been used such as Cellular Automata (CA) methodology. In dealing with macroscopic complex systems, an extension of classical CA, i.e. macroscopic CA [DI GREGORIO S., SERRA R] were developed in order to model complex macroscopic fluid-dynamical phenomena, difficult to be modelled in other CA frames. Macroscopic CA can need a large amount of states that describe properties of the cells (e.g., altitude, depth of bottom sea, ..) called substates. The third dimension may be enclosed in substates for surface phenomena. In the past, the erosion problem by CA approach was described and modelled by: (D'AMBROSIO et alii, 2001) soil erosion by rain (SCAVATU model); (CHOPARD et alii, 2000) transport, deposit and erosion by sand and snow; (CHOPARD et alii, 2000; KUBO et alii, 2005) subaerial-subaqueous flow-like landslides (AVOLIO et alii, 2012). In this contribution, we aim to show, adopting CA, how it is possible to model and simulate dynamics of the coastal erosion complex phenomenon integrating empirical observation. After geomorphological considerations of the experimental site and a brief description of empirical observation and considerations, the very preliminar CA model RUSICA (RUdimental SImulation of Coastal erosion by cellular Automata) is sketched and then experimental results are described (CALIDONNA et alii).Finally, some conclusions and perspectives of this work are outlined.

Lungo la fascia costiera della Puglia meridionale, sui versanti ionico e adriatico, affiorano svariate litologie calcarenitiche, appartenenti alla Formazione della Calcarenite di Gravina e a quella dei Depositi Marini Terrazzati. Esse hanno da sempre costituito fonte di approvvigionamento di rocce tenere largamente utilizzate nel patrimonio costruito dall'antichità fino a tempi molto recenti. Il sistema dei depositi calcarenitici costieri e delle cave in esso presenti rappresenta senza dubbio un insieme di geoarcheositi, all'interno dei quali, evidenze di importanza archeologica e storica si associano ad elementi di significato geologico e geomorfologico.I siti di Torre Ovo, Campomarino, Marina Serra, Porto Miggiano, Torre Santa Sabina, Torre Canne, Egnazia, San Vito di Polignano e Capitolo, considerati nel presente lavoro, rappresentano esempi significativi da salvaguardare e valorizzare per la molteplicità, la peculiarità e l'interesse degli elementi geomorfologici, geostratigrafici e archeologici che essi offrono per la comprensione dell' evoluzione del territorio negli ultimi due millenni.

This paper aims to evaluate the causes of shoreline shift on a low-lying coast whose beaches have undergone erosion throughout the last six decades. The case study regards about 70 km long southern Adriatic coast of Apulia (Italy). Shoreline retreat has affected the economy of the tourism activities as well as forced environmental changes in lagoons and coastal moist areas. The study was carried out using field surveys and interpretation of map, orthophots and satellite images. Shoreline mobility changes in space and in time are stressed. Mean shoreline retreats of 10 (±5) m from the late 1940s to the late 1980s, and of 5 (±2.5) m from the late 1980s to the early 2010s have been estimated. Retreats up to 50 (±10) m have affected portions of beach of tens of meters long and particularly prone to erosion.A pocket beach was in dynamic equilibrium over the last twenty years and most likely progradated over the last six decades. The collected data allow for the determination of changes in the possible main cause of erosion occurred in the early 1990s. In view of climatic changes, the economic relevance of the coast for the tourism industry, the importance of several habitats and the uncertainty about the magnitude of erosion processes make the development of tools for the integrated management of the coastal zone an engaging challenge.

This work shows the granulometric, mineralogical and micromorphoscopic data of the Alimini (Lecce, Apulia) beach, an important touristic site with a strong erosive rate. Our study demonstrates that the sediments forming the sands are rarely related to the carbonatic rocks outcropping in the area. Rather, they are mainly represented by heavy minerals and quartz of volcanic and metamorphic origin. The presence of peculiar mineral phases as the melanitic garnet points to a provenance from the Vulture volcano. However, the occurrence of quartz, microcline and piralspitic garnets points to a simultaneous feeding fromthe southern Appenninic units. Sediments are probably eroded and transported by the Ofanto river. The high roundness of the grains witnesses the long transport along the coast and, probably, also the continuous recycle from the dune to the beach and vice versa.

Casalabate is a coastal small town frequently affected by sinkhole events. The first noticed event occurred on 1993 and caused several destructions of buildings. In the same year, a sinking of a small portion of emerged beach happened (Delle Rose and Federico, 2002). Four years later a collapse affected the submerged portion of beach and allowed the formations of a submarine spring, since then the bathing was forbidden for some weeks. Two episodes of sinkhole on the emerged beach occurred during 2000 and 2004, along a strike no longer than 30 meters. Each of they caused on surface short-lived elliptical depression quickly filled by sand. All the aforementioned episodes occurred inside a narrow area (about 250 m long and 100 m wide) close to the coast and oriented according to a north-north-east - south-south-west tectonic structures system (Delle Rose and Leucci, 2010). Further episodes occurred on March 2010, November 2010 and March 2011. The last noticed sinkhole happened on 7 January 2012. Usually the sinkholes occurred during or after rains or sea storms and each episode lasts some minutes at least. Due to geological and geotechnical uncertainties, Casalabate became an intriguing case study of sinkhole hazard in urban areas and three geological-geophysical models were recently proposed to explain the ground-instability and to asses the related hazard (Delle Rose and Leucci, 2010; Calò et al., 2011; Margiotta et al., 2012). 3D geological model and new geophysical data here shown can contribute to an efficient predictive model taking into account the hydrogeology context. Moreover, some epistemological considerations had performed to improve the interdisciplinary exchange between geologists and geophysicists.

Observational estimates of the seasonal/yearly surface infiltration in the period 2003-2016 in Salento peninsula (Southern Italy) have been obtained from data time series of the CNR ISAC-Lecce micrometeorological base. The net infiltration has then been estimated and compared with piezometric levels measured in several wells of the deep karst aquifer during a governmental experimental campaign in the period 2009-2011. Within the complex characteristics of the groundwater circulation, the results suggest the possibility of a quite short-time component in the deep aquifer response to the recharge input. This quick response, together with the expected and observed growing hydroclimatic intensity, could increasingly affect the aquifer dynamics in the next future, with possible consequences on the local water management.

Cahuachi, the largest adobe ceremonial site in the world, is located on the coastal desert of Peru (Nasca Province), one of the driest zone of the Earth. It was the main centre of the Nasca culture (Orefici, 2012). In the nineties, an hypothesis of destruction of the site due to a Mega-El Niño event, based on a geological reconstruction, was proposed by Grodzicki (1990). Although some questions arose among the scientific community about this catastrophic interpretation (Bonavia, 1995), such a hypothesis finally led to believe that Cahuachi was covered by a huge flood that would have deposited conglomerates even on top of the highest buildings. A stratigraphic section was measured in correspondence of the bedrock of the "Pirámide Sur" at Cahuachi. The section consist of mudstones, siltstones, sandstones and conglomerates. Our sedimentologic and petrographic studies clearly allow us to correlate the whole sedimentary deposits to the local geology, as defined by Montoya et al. (1994).The investigated succession can be referred to the Changuillo Formation having an Upper Pliocene-Lower Pleistocene age (Montoya et al., 1994) rather than to the Holocene alluvial terraces (Grodzicki, 1990). The conglomerate deposits at the top of the section could be also interpreted as a lateral facies of the base of Canete Formation and unequivocally underlie the ceremonial buildings. Most likely, Grodzicki and his collaborators had not good exposures of the bedrock and interpreted these deposits as a recent alluvial terrace, also following a subjective aerial photo interpretation (Ostaficzuk, 1990). The epistemological implications of the geological interpretations are evident.The hydrogeological hazard assessed at Cahuachi (e.g. the occurrence of huaycos, debris flows triggered by extreme rain events) and the intense local earthquake activity are consistent with the influence of hydrological and seismic damages on the decline of the Nasca culture as asserted by Orefici (2012). However, the geological observation allow us to overcome the paradigm of the Nasca culture destruction due to a Mega-El Niño event.

A peculiar aspect of Apulia beaches sand is the occurrence of important amounts of heavy silicate minerals (mainly pyroxenes, garnets and amphiboles), forming thin, dark layers and placers interbedded with the dominant light carbonaticlastic fraction. A granulometric, compositional and microanalytical study was carried out on the sand of the beaches stretched along the Gulf of Manfredonia to the Otranto promontory, in order to detail provenance and dispersion of the heavy silicate sandy fraction. The rocks outcropping along the Apulia coast are mainly represented by the limestones of the Mesozoic platform of the foreland domain and by the Plio- Pleistocenic sedimentary covers. The origin of the silicate minerals cannot therefore be found in the rocks outcropping in the area, but must be related to a more distant source. The Ofanto river, whose mouth is in the Gulf of Manfredonia, is the main stream feeding the Apulia coast with sediments eroded by the southern Apennines units and the Mt. Vulture volcano. The microanalitical study revealed that the composition of the pyroxene, melanite garnets and Mg-hastingsite amphiboles is identical to that of the same minerals found in the sediments along the Ofanto river and occurring inside the volcanic bedrock of Mt. Vulture. A minor population of colorless grains of garnets can be probably related to the recycling processes from the Oligo-Miocene sandstones of Southern Apennine terrains. Heavy detrital minerals shed by Vulture edifice source rocks have been found in the sandy fraction dispersed along both northward and southward of the Ofanto mouth. This is in accordance with main longshore current depositing them in the Gulf of Manfredonia. Part of the sands, however, is transported southward by the littoral currents of the Adriatic Sea. The sandy heavy minerals fraction in the is not constant along the coastline. The highest contents are in the northern sector, from the Gulf of Manfredonia to Trani, while they almost disappear in the central sector between Molfetta (BA) and Torre Canne (BR). South of Posticeddu (BR) the amount of heavy minerals increases again, though being always subordinate to the carbonaticlastic fraction. These variations are correlated to the coast physiography: the northern and southern sectors are characterized by a larger platform with a wide surf zone and low energy of the waves, while in the central sector a narrower platform is responsible of a higher energy environment, preventing the deposition of the heavy fraction. A coarser grain size also characterizes the beaches of this sector. At a smaller scale, local variations in the heavy minerals abundances are also related to erosional processes due to anthropic factors: an example is the harbor of Margherita di Savoia (BT), which eastern pier obstacles the northward transport of the Ofanto sediments. The beach southward of the pier has relatively low heavy mineral percentages, while northward the carbonate erosion indirectly ca

Satellite remote sensing as well as geophysical techniques proved to be successful tools for characterizingarchaeological areas. In order to provide useful information on the presence of buried structures and the iterationbetween the aqueducts (Puquios) and the local hydrogeological setting, a multi-disciplinary and multi-scaleapproach based on the integration of satellite remote sensing and geophysical techniques was applied in differentsites of Perù.Such investigations were carried out by the Italian mission ITACA, funded by the Italian Ministry Affairs andcomposed of researchers of two institutes of CNR (IMAA and IBAM), which provides a scientific support forarchaeological research, since 2007.In detail, the archaeological Cahuachi site (0-400 AD) was investigated by geoelectrical and georadar prospecting,in order to highlight buried structures and platforms. The detection and characterization of perhispanic aqueductsand canals were the main aims in the Nasca drainage basin and in the Ceremonial Centre of Pachacamac(500-1400 ADF). Finally, the integration of all data acquired by the different remote sensing techniques allowedfor spatially characterizing the archaeological features, thus providing important information for the planning ofnext archaeological excavations and glimpses into the use and management of water resources by prehispaniccivilizations.

Fifty years of research on the disaster of Vajont were not sufficient to make seismologists and geologists convergence in a common explanation. The different points of view can be summarized in the following sentences: "the study of seismograms leaves no uncertainty: theearthquake was the consequence and not the cause [of the rockslide]" (Selli and Trevisan, 1964); "[a] fault hypothesis raises the possibility that seismicity played a part in initiating the slide even if only by triggering an imminent event" (Mantovani and Vita-Finzi, 2003). The measured and evaluated characteristics (geological, engineering, hydraulical, geophysical data) of the Vajont event may be assembled and interpreted according to a wide range of views. This constitutes an obstacle to obtain convergent results. However, this impasse is common in complex environmental policy problems (cf. Sarewitz, 2004). A new interpretation of the kinematics of the Vajont slide is proposedwith the aims to overcome scientific inconsistencies and to stimulate interdisciplinary studies.

Development of sinkholes in urban and rural area of Apulia (S Italy) is certainly one of the main hazards in the region. Related both to natural and anthropogenic cavities, sinkholes pose serious problems as regards safeguard of the territory, and have recently been the object of interest by mass media and population. For instance, the sinkholes at Marina di Lesina, the Alliste sinkhole in February 2004,the sinkhole of Via Firenze at Gallipoli on March 29, 2007, the several sinkholes in the Altamura municipality.The present work illustrates the research activities carried out by the Basin Authority of Apulia and the Institute of Research for the Hydrogeological Protection (IRPI) of CNR, aimed at predisposing an updated list of the Municipalities of Apulia Region interested by anthropogenic cavities, and at performing detailed studies about development of the underground cavities, and the likely failures induced. The present work, therefore, does not take into consideration sinkholes directly linked to presence of natural caves. An accurate inventory of the anthropogenic cavities in the region has been created, starting from the list by the local caving federation (FSP). The 564 man-made cavities have been analyzed, while detailed historical, archival and bibliographical researches, in turn integrated by interviews with the responsibles of the Technical Offices, were carried out. A survey form has been created to collect and analyze the information on the inventoried cavities; in such form, particular focus was given to those information useful to preliminarly evaluate the susceptibility to failures of the examined sites, also in relation to presence of elements at risk above the cavities, or in their immediate proximity. The first phase of work allowed to obtain a regional framework of knowledge that was useful to select ten municipalities where to perform analysis at a greater detail. These consisted of detailed geological and morphological descriptions, analysis of typology and distribution of the artificial cavities, evaluation of the overall stability in the areas affected by their presence, and description of the engineering works realized in the past, where present. In addition,three specific sites have been individuated to carry out further topographic surveys, and geological-structural analysis as well.All this work allowed to identify those areas in the regional territory that are mostly threatened by likely development of sinkholes related to anthropogenic cavities; further information on about three hundred other cavities have been then found, in many cases being related to systems of cavities rather than to single caves. This also stresses the very high number of man-made cavities in the region (estimated on the order of some thousands), and the need to continue studying sinkholes related to anthropogenic cavities, in order to contribute to mitigation of the related risk.

Several central Andean pre-Columbian sites struck by hydrogeological disasters due to El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events are reported in the literature. The mainstream explanation for the decline and demise of Cahuachi (pampa of Nazca, south Peru) implies the damage and burial of such a ceremonial center as a consequence of two catastrophic river floods, which occurred around 600 CE and 1000 CE, respectively. Therefore, geological studies at Cahuachi are mandatory with regard to both the correlations of ENSO-related deposits ("event-strata") among different Peruvian sites and the assessment of the millennium-scale climate variability. In particular, the latter is crucial to evaluate the environmental and economic consequences due to the incoming fluctuations of ENSO. In this paper, stratigraphic, grain-size distribution, and petrographic investigations on a sedimentary section exposed close to one of the main temples of Cahuachi are reported. They represent the first test for the current mainstream explanation. The preliminary finding indicates that the studied stratigraphic interval may belong to the common regional succession of the pampa of Nazca rather than the ENSO-related deposits described in the literature. However, further geological research will be necessary to unravel this issue in more detail.

In vista della stagione estiva e a seguito di valutazioni di pericolosità geomorfologica è ricorrente, da parte delle Autorità Marittime (Capitanerie e Uffici Circondariali), emanare disposizioni limitanti la fruizione balneare di tratti costieri a falesia della Puglia meridionale. Nell'anno corrente, ad esempio, la Capitaneria di Porto di Gallipoli ha emesso una serie di ordinanze (ord. CP 28, 29, 32 e 33/2018) sicché, con linguaggio mass-mediatico "più che una lista di divieti, la mappa delle zone di mare interdette ha assunto le fattezze di un vero e proprio bollettino di guerra: ad essere colpiti sono tratti costieri appartenenti ai Comuni di Galatone, Alliste, Castrignano del Capo e Patù, che includono località marine molto note e amate soprattutto dai turisti che vengono appositamente in Salento per conoscere le sue acque limpide" . Al di là delle coloriture giornalistiche, emergono oggettivamente sia il problema di possibili conseguenze negative sulle economie locali sia l'opportunità di procedere con studi supplementari per la rimodulazione dei divieti, in ragione dello scalamento delle indagini. Peraltro, la rimodulazione può comportare anche drastiche riduzioni della estensione dei tratti soggetti a divieto, come verificatosi nel caso della Ord. CP 22 del 2014 relativa al Comune di Melendugno (provincia di Lecce).Scopo di questa nota è la deduzione, a partire da un caso particolare, di principi generali per la definizione e l'adozione delle contromisure necessarie per garantire la balneazione in condizioni di ragionevole sicurezza per il breve termine, argomento di particolare interesse anche alla luce delle probabili conseguenze sulla dinamica costiera dei cambiamenti climatici. In base a fonti cronachistiche si può ritenere che, negli ultimi anni, crolli delle falesie siano avvenuti in concomitanza, o a seguito, di forti mareggiate e/o di piogge più o meno intense.

Data from 14 years (2003-2016) of activity of the ISAC-Lecce eddy covariance micrometeorological station have been analyzed with focus on the atmosphere-surface water budget in the Salento Peninsula, the far South-East region in the Italian peninsula (Apulia region). Seasonal and annual totals for precipitation and evapotranspiration have been calculated together with some suitable indices such as the aridity index, the precipitation intensity and the ground water infiltration fraction (difference between precipitation and real evapotranspiration, divided by precipitation). An analysis of the footprint associated to the measured scalar fluxes has been performed to assess their areal representativeness. An evaluation of the uncertainty of the results, related to the measurement errors, the data gaps in the time series and the surface energy budget closure has been attempted. A decadal analysis of the surface water budget is important for the evaluation of the surface water infiltration potentially affecting the recharge of the karstic aquifer that provides fresh water to the whole region.

Data from a ten years (2003-2013) period of activity of the ISAC-Lecce micrometeorological station have been discussed focusing on the atmosphere-surface exchange. Some suitable indices have been calculated such as the precipitation intensity, the aridity index and the ground water infiltration fraction (ratio of the difference between precipitation and real evapotranspiration and the precipitation). Possible trends of annual averages in the decadal period are considered, trying to take also into account the statistical uncertainty associated to measurement errors and missing data. The results indicate a significant increasing in the precipitation intensity together with an experimental evidence of increasing of the ground water infiltration in the measurement area that is in agreement with recent estimations for the whole Salento peninsula. Nevertheless, during the same period the marine water intrusion together with salinization of the deep aquifer keep increasing, thus requiring attention in the hydrological modelling of the Salento deep aquifer and/or in its management for freshwater supply.

The 220km2 extended Asso Torrent basin (Apulia, Southern Italy) is crossed by natural and artificial channels flowing towards swallow holes and absorbing wells. The 7th March of 2015, the basin was struck by an unpredicted flood event. Rain intensity during the previous days was not exceptional, however damages to agriculture and dangers to vehicle traffic were experienced. In this respect, the analysis of the event may be useful to improve the alert system of the regional Protection Civil Agency.Despite of several urban and rural floods occurred in the last decades, new problems of water management raised after this event, because of the extensive hydraulic works previously made to reduce the hazard. The areas damaged by the event are placed at the lower branch of the basin (surrounding of karst swallow holes) and at the middle branch.From the analysis of precipitation of the CNR ISAC micrometeorological station it is apparent that the runoff generated by rains on 5th and 6th of March added to that of the previous days (not yet absorbed by the receptors), thus causing an overflow.The prediction of the flood events at the Asso Torrent basin needs two elements: a) a network of hydrometric stations and rain gauges; b) an efficient hydrologic model based on the actual geological features of the basin. In this note, indications are reported about these two elements in the context of a preliminary work, together with the analysis of the 2015 flooding.

Calcareous tufas of the "Mannute Piccola" cave (Salento, SE Italy) have been studied in order to obtain an interpretation of the accretion-process. Results showed that physico-chemical and biological features affect the growth of carbonate deposits in this area. Inside the "Mannute Piccola" cave, two types of tufas and one type of composite accretions were identified, respectively, erratic stalactites, bulky stalactites and pseudo-stalagmites. Each of them let us to reconstruct peculiar palaeo-environmental features. The location into the cave of the bulky stalactites appears incompatible with their accretion-process interpretation, suggesting that the entrance of the cave was more narrow than today, when the accretion-process was in course. Age determinations of such accretions are in progress. This study, improving knowledge about this geosite, represents a valuable preliminary phase for a geoheritage protection and valorization.

Cahuachi, located on the coastal desert of Southern Peru (Nasca Province), represented the main ceremonial centre of the Nasca culture. An hypothesis of destruction of the site related to catastrophic floods (the youngest around the 10th century AD), due to El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) was proposed by Grodzicki (1990) three decades ago. This paradigm finally led to believe that Cahuachi was covered by huge catastrophic floods accumulating conglomerates up to the top of the highest buildings. By contrast, Orefici (2016) emphasizes progressive abandonment of large areas of the ceremonial site probably due to several environmental stress such as the occurrence of huaycos (i.e. moderate non-catastrophic debris flows) and earthquakes. In order to investigate the origin of the conglomerates at Cahuachi, a stratigraphic succession outcropping on the bedrock of the "Pirámide Sur" was studied by means of mineralogical, petrographic and sedimentological approaches. In addition, a comprehensive overview of the paleoclimatic data from the literature concerning southern Peru (coast vs. Andean Cordillera), such as ENSO cycles, SOI (Southern Oscillation Index) and oxygen isotopes contributed to unravel the cause/s of the Nasca culture decline and demise.The investigated stratigraphic succession consists of mudstones, siltstones, sandstones and conglomerates, all sharing similar silty-clayey components (powder XRD data). Conglomerates, likely resulting from progradation of alluvial fan systems, have the same lithotypes of pebbles (mainly granitoids/diorites, lavas of andesite/dacite/rhyolite compositions, vitrophyric pyroclasts, arenites/quarzarenites). In addition, the conglomerates occurring at the top of the section unequivocally underlie the ceremonial buildings. Along the stratigraphic succession a clear volcaniclastic silty layer (CH3) was also found, just above the two conglomerates at the bottom (CH1-CH2) of the stratigraphic sequence. This volcaniclastic level could also represent a tephrostratigraphic regional marker. Independent paleoclimatic data indicate, around 700 AD, an increase of temperature, driven by the intensification of the ENSO events. At high altitudes strong ENSO implies an increase of precipitation (mainly snow) as confirmed by the SOI. This increase in temperature correspond to dry condition in the lowlands of Southern Peru, where a period of aridity started after 250 AD, culminating after 650 AD, which is also confirmed by an increase of river incision (Eitel et al., 2005).Among the conglomerates of the investigated stratigraphic succession, mineralogical and petrographic studies of the samples do not point out differences in components (i.e. lithology of the pebbles and composition of the fine fraction of the whole samples). This surveyed stratigraphic section well correlates with the Upper Pliocene-Lower Pleistocene "Changuillo Formation" (Montoya et al., 1994). The conglomerate deposits at the top of the section could be

The Vajont dam disaster is a world-known case of man-made hydrogeological catastrophe. On 9 October 1963, an about 2 kmq rock mass, detached from a side of the Mount Toc (placed between Veneto and Friuli regions, Italy), sliding into an artificial dam lake. It moved laterally some 360 m, and 140 m upward on the opposite valley flank. The great part of the landslide moved as a whole, propagating water waves which eroded soils of Vajont valley up to 235 m above the reservoir level. The adjoining villages of Erto and Casso had been "touched lightly" by waves. Toward Pieve valley, water swept across the dam and down the Vajont Gorge, reaching an estimated wave height of 80 m at gorge mouth. Inside the gorge, the water mass provoked air compression that, in turn, was energetically pushed out of the gorge mouth. The airflow energy has been evaluated to be about twice than that occurring at Hiroshima with the explosion of the atomic bomb. Then, the water wave reached the Piave valley. Longarone and other villages (Pirago, Villanova, Rivalta, Faé) were destroyed and almost 2000 persons died and many others were injured. Notwithstanding the impressive development of energy, the Vajont dam remained undamaged. Two opposing interpretations have been proposed in literature: the disaster was completely foreseeable (see for instance: Roubault, Pent-om prévoir les catastrophes naturelles?, 1970) or, vice-versa, nobody would have been able to predict it (Selli and Trevisan, Caratteri e interpretazione della frana del Vajont, 1964; Semenza, Sintesi degli studi geologici sulla frana del Vajont dal 1959 al 1964, 1965).According to current concepts of environmental policy and epistemology of geology, a review of both the decision making-process which led to the disaster and the consequent post-disaster policy, are proposed. It can be argued that uncertainty about: (i) the depth of the slip surface (i.e. the volume of the landslide), (ii) the compactness of the slide (that involved a presumed division into two parts of the mass movement) and (iii) the low shear strength of the beds at the slip surface (and so a rate of the sliding higher than a predicted one), had been reduced at a time consistent with a change of management strategy oriented toward the safety people.The scientific debates which followed the disaster had influenced by State's Interest, reaching a level of a true ideological conflict which reflected exasperated tensions growing inside the Society. The cultural context was that of a post-agricultural society commit oneself to build a new national identity. An identity of a rising industrial power. The post-disaster policy had biased data interpretation, data production, memory and scientific communication of experts and researchers. Dealing with the drawing of guidelines about environmental policy and hazards managements, can be useful to try to understand the reasons of such errors. A number of general features must be considered and, among these:

Sinkholes occur in many areas of the world, especially where carbonate rocks crop out. They are formed due to natural processes or caused by man's activities. In both cases, severe consequences have to be registered on the anthropogenic environment and related infrastructures. Knowledge of both the mechanism of the sinkhole formation and the localization of this subtle geohazard is therefore necessary for planners and decision makers to perform the most appropriate and suitable programs of land use and development. The Apulia region of southern Italy is characterized for most of its extension by carbonate rocks, which makes it one of the most remarkable examples of karst in the Mediterranean basin. The sinkhole formation in Apulia urban areas has recently produced severe damages, especially along its coastal planes, where different types of sinkholes occur. The detection of cavities, that could collapse and create a sinkhole, in an urban environment presents numerous difficulties (buried networks, reworked soils, etc). A methodology has been developed to respond to this need based on the integration of four complementary methods: geological analysis of outcrops and existing borehole descriptions, aerophotogrammetric interpretation of aerial photos, electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and ground penetrating radar (GPR).The combination of these methods, applied to a test sector in the city of Casalabate, made it possible to locate the principal karstic conduits beneath the study area and identify a zone of high sinkhole geohazard associated with one such feature.

Il contrasto all'erosione costiera costituisce una delle problematiche d'interesse degli ultimi decenni. La modellazione di questo fenomeno è stata classicamente affrontata con modelli fluidodinamici basati su equazioni differenziali. Qui si propone un approccio alternativo di tipo semiempirico basato sul paradigma degli Automi Cellulari (AC), ideali non solo per la modellazione di sistemi complessi, la cui evoluzione si basa principalmente su interazioni locali, ma anche per la possibilità di poter accoppiare componenti fenomenologici di diversa tipologia, ad es. di tipo biologico e fisico. Gli AC operano in uno spazio/tempo discreto, la metodologia adottata prevede l'individuazione delle caratteristiche e delle dinamiche del sistema, che si suppongono essere determinanti alla sua evoluzione. Il modello è sviluppato in modo incrementale per confronto con eventi reali via via più complessi tramite simulazione, per poi essere utilizzato a scopo predittivo. Con un tale metodo è stato concepito un modello preliminare "RUSICA", per simulare l'erosione e il ripascimento di arenili, onde identificare meccanismi e azioni che permettono di volgere l'effetto di erosione dell'energia meteo-marina in accumulo. In questo lavoro si presenta RUSICA ed una correlata (per ora qualitativamente) sperimentazione sul campo a basso impatto ambientale; i primi risultati sono incoraggianti e ci confortano nel proseguire parallelamente sia nella modellazione che nella sperimentazione.

In this note, a case history of improper water management in an endorheic karst basin is described with specific reference to the effect of treated wastewater on the functioning of drainage receptors. The basin is the Asso Torrent basin (Apulia region, Italy), crossed by a dendritic channel system, tributary of a set of swallow holes. The discharge into the channels of effluents deriving from sewage treatment plants (STPs) was designed about 30 years ago to increase recharge for the mainregional groundwater system, a deep karstic limestone aquifer subjected to seawater intrusion. However, during this time, number and magnitude of the flood events have increased, with repeated damages to urban and rural areas. Floods depend on several causes, whose identification has required hydrological-geomorphological study, the evaluation of runoff, and the assessment of the contaminant load of the STP effluents. The results of the runoff model suggest the inability to drain storm events even in absence of clogging phenomena. Four out of five STPs are undersized and, especially in summer, discharge larger amounts of suspended solids and nutrients, thus increasing the clogging of the swallow holes. In addition, increasing of intense rain events has exacerbated the problem. As a whole, such issues confirm the necessity to skip the old water paradigms based on the assumption of stationarity of the hydrologic variables (i.e., rainfall and rain intensity) and the building of centralized water infrastructures. Examining the site-specific issues, insights are gained that may help avoid unpleasant environmental consequences in similar hydro-geomorphological settings.

Inside the earth sciences community, the wide limestone plateau between Slovenia and Italy, named Kras in Slovenian and Carso in Italian, is known to have given the name to the "karst landscapes". As a consequence, it is also referred as the Classical Karst. Some other areas encompassed between Italy, Slovenia and Croatia belong to this type of territory. Dolinas, caverns, ponds, sinkholes and abysses are the main characteristic features of such landscapes. The aforementioned areas had been the "conflict theaters" of a number of II World War episodes, which the current hegemonic Italian historiography refereed, as a whole, to the so called "foibe tragedy".Usually the term "foiba" (pl. foibe, in Italian) is used to indicate deep natural sinkhole or doline. It may also refer to a chasm of a river at the place where it goes underground. Nevertheless, especially in Italy, "foiba" is commonly associated with the mass killings perpetrated by local and Yugoslav partisans, during and shortly after the II World War, against Italians and other real or perceived enemies of the incoming Tito communists. According to the Italian Minister of the Interior "thousands of soldiers and civilians, many of them still alive, were thrown into [the foibe]. The wave of blind violence and summary executions, which involved partisans (Italian anti-fascist partisan organizations), Germans, fascists and Tito's army, lasted until 1947" (www.interno.it). After the end of the Paris Conference, which resulted in the Peace Treaties signed on 10 February 1947, thousands of Istria, Fiume and Dalmatia residents became victims of a forced migration from their regions of settlement. However, during the Cold War and until the disintegration of Yugoslavia and Soviet Empire, the question of the "foibe tragedy" sinking into oblivion. To start from the '90, the history writing process of the above mentioned facts have been constantly accompanied by a political quarrel. At the same time, the Italian Government, by means of adequate laws, has designed the foibe of Basovizza and Monrupino as national monuments. Finally, to keep memory of foibe and of the post-1947 exiles, in 2005 the Italian Republic set aside a memorial day called "Giorno del Ricordo", a civil celebration held on 10th February every year.By the point of view of the military history studies, it seems to be necessary to question about the "reasons" which could have determined the mass killing. Ethnic hatred and war revenges appear to be plausible causes, although Yugoslav army would have not had any "war usefulness" by such massacres. Moreover, in term of partisan "guerrilla economy", capture, deportation and killing by means of throw into abysses of many hundred of people could be unreal. Perhaps, just to clear such hurdle, some Italian scholars invoke an "ancient use" of the foibe to human killing by Slavonic populations. However, the approval of such disputable hypothesis could lever, for instance, on the ancestral fear

Among the peculiarities of karst environment, distinguishing it from any other natural settings, the very limited surface runoff and the slightly defined surface watersheds play a significant role. Notwithstanding such features, even in flat karst areas as is the case for most of Apulia (south-east Italy), the surface hydrographic lines were a very important element in the karst landscape, that greatly controlled location and spreading of the first human settlements in the region. In the centuries, the many interventions carried out by man have caused heavy changes in the original hydrographic network: swallets have been covered and/or clogged, water lines diverted, and a complex network of artificial channels progressively took the place of the original surface runoff. The artificial channels are still today used to discharge the urban and industrial wastewaters in many areas of the region.All this situation on the occasion of extreme rainfall determines floods, extending over wide areas, and, as indirect consequence, spreading of pollutants in the fields. Water management in the karst environment of Apulia is discussed in this paper. Two examples are used to describe both history of the anthropogenic actions, and the main effects they caused: Castellana-Grotte, in the Murge plateau, and Nardò, in the Salento Peninsula.

In karstic endhoreic basins the hydraulic works for runoff regulation, marshland reclaiming and defence from inundations usually consist of channels tributary to sinkholes vertically connected to aquifers through karstic conduits and fractures. The drainage capacity of such basins reduces as conduits and fractures are progressively clogged by sediments, thus floodings may occur during heavy rains. The sinks may also be utilized to inject treated wastewater underground. This note concerns the management issues of the Asso Torrent basin (Italy), where the recharge through water sinks preserves the deep aquifer from saltwater intrusion. The basin represents a controversial case for which the sequence of infrastructures produced a critical system and nowadays it is difficult to find a compromise among mitigation of flood hazard, safeguard of groundwater resources and preservation of human health. The hydrogeological framework and the hydraulic works executed in the basin are described, followed by considerations on the environmental effects of the decision-making process. Finally, statements concerning alternative measures for the management of the water resources are given. Management actions conforming to the Integrated Water Resources Management recommendations fail in the studied case because there is an intrinsic difficulty to transform the related concepts to practical and robust solutions.