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On October 29, 2018, the Vaia storm hits the North-Eastern regions of Italy by wind gusts exceeding 200 km h-1. The forests in these regions have been seriously damaged. This contribution illustrates the methodology adopted in the emergency phase to estimate forest damages caused by Vaia storm, both in terms of damaged forest areas and growing stock volume of fallen trees. 494 Municipalities registered forest damages caused by Vaia, destroyed or intensely damaged forest stands amounted to about 42.500 ha, spread in Trentino Alto Adige, Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Lombardy and, only marginally, Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta. The growing stock volume of fallen trees was about 8.5 millions m3.

A few sparse vessels typologically attributed to the Gàta-Wieselburg Culture are known from Friuli Venezia Giulia region in north-eastern Italy. Such Culture developed between nowadays western Austria and Hungary during the Early-Middle Bronze Age (Reinecke Br A1b and A2, 2100–1700/1600 BC). Single artefacts, generally biconical double-handled jugs with well burnished surfaces, were discovered in caves of the Trieste Karst (Ciclami, Tartaruga, Teresiana and Ossa) and the Natisone valley (Velika jama). Most of them and a similar vessel from a Gàta-Wieselburg site in Hungary (Bük) have been investigated using several destructive and non-destructive techniques. X-ray computed microtomography, portable X-ray fluorescence, optical microscopy and absorbed lipid residue analyses by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry have been applied in order to study their vessel-forming technique, provenance and probable use. According to the preliminary results the Karst vessels were probably imported and the identification of rather uncommon lipids, whose precise identification is still ongoing, opens interesting questions about their possible function.

International audience; The Sauveterrian represents one of the main cultural aspects of the Early Mesolithic in Europe. Its recognition in southern France by L. Coulonge dates back to the beginning of last century. During the 1970s it was also identified in northeastern Italy (Adige Valley) by A. Broglio and some years later in Tuscany. In spite of these early attributions only a few works – essentially applying a typological approach – have attempted to compare the lithic complexes from northern Italy and southern France.By applying a techno-economic analysis to a broad set of assemblages distributed across northern Italy and southern France, a synthesis of Sauveterrian lithic technical systems has been attempted. This has made it possible to identify the general objectives of debitage and the reduction sequences applied by Sauveterrian groups along with some broad evolutionary trends over time. According to this technological perspective the same conceptual schemes are attested in the two regions. Incidentally, certain specific traits – both stylistic and technical – have also been recognized, especially in the production of microliths, which are possibly related to regional adaptations. The key to the success of the Sauveterrian lithic technical systems, which also permitted extensive occupation of the entire territory considered, is recognized here in all its versatility.

This paper shows the first findings of an ongoing research project on “Territorial Impact Assessment of the Italian regions territorial cohesion. Place based evidence model for the policy evaluation towards the development of green economy in inner and metropolitan peripheries”, coordinated by Maria Prezioso (Tor Vergata University, Rome) as Principal Investigator. We hereby present the results of the first two years of investigation carried out by the Research Unit number 8, located in Trieste., Bollettino della Società Geografica Italiana, Series 14 Vol 2 Special Issue (2019)

In recent years Prosecco, the renowned Italian sparkling wine, has become an increasingly popular product globally, leading to a massive expansion of viticulture within Prosecco’s production zones (north-eastern Italy). Through qualitative and quantitative methods, this paper provides the first empirical analysis of the landscape and land-use modifications generated by the planting of new vineyards. Specifically, it seeks to reconstruct both the long-term historical factors that brought about the emergence of the specific winescape (today a candidate for becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site), and the recent conversion of croplands, grassland, and woodland to wine-growing areas. The landscape, particularly on the plains, is radically changing due to the new, large geometric plantations that are perfectly suited to mechanical viticulture. This paper’s conclusions argue for overall regulation of such a booming monoculture in order to effectively harmonize the production needs of wine-growers with the needs of other land-uses (mostly residential), and to protect the historical landscape patterns and ecological biodiversity.

Tardiglacial and early Holocene settlement of the Venetian Prealps (north-eastern Italy): comparative elements. The environmental conditions during Tardiglacial human settlement (19,000-11,500 years cal BP), in the region of the Eastern Italian Alps began with the Wurmian deglaciation, a process that determined the retreat of the icecaps from the cirques in the Piedmont. The earliest Epigravettian occupations of the Tagliente rock shelter represent the first human settlement at the beginning of the Tardiglacial on the Prealpine fringes (17,000 and 16,000 years cal BP). Human recolonization in the Venetian Prealps is accompanied by the expansion of the forest but seems to be limited at first to valley floors and Prealpine plateaus before expanding, during a second phase, to altitudes above 1,000 m. This reference model is based on the link between the altimetric position and economic and functional orientation of the activities and points to a logistic management of the Alpine territory in the ecotone mountain zone-Alpine prairies. The Early Holocene marks the expansion and the intensification of settlement in the region, with the discovery of several dozen sites attributed to the Sauveterrian. This process of anthropic recolonization of the mountain is characterized by the existence of many transformations in Epigravettian and Sauveterrian societies. From a technical viewpoint, the facial operative scheme appears to be an original Epigravettian feature during the first part of the Alleröd. The facial laminar scheme consists in working the volume over a wide and slightly curved surface and maintaining this architecture throughout production, using direct hard hammer percussion. The blades have a rectilinear profile and a robust configuration and are intended for use without retouch or are transformed into backed knives. Micro-wear analysis points to the use of these objects in keeping with the physical properties (robustness and quality of the cutting edge), mainly for butchery activities and/or cutting soft animal matter. During the Early Sauveterrian, lithic production revolves around two main operative themes. The first and main theme is the production of bladelet blanks (bladelets, bladelet-type flakes, flakes) for making armatures (Sauveterre points, geometric arrow heads). The second is much less frequent and consists of blades. As regards the territorial occupation system of Epigravettian human groups, no clear modification has been identified during the Recent Dryas in northeastern Italy. However, we observe that the open-air camps near wetlands appear to be more geographically limited, with an absence of spatial organization and less lithic material. They also comprise frequent spatio-temporal segmentation of lithic production sequences. These elements point to increased mobility in the territory from smaller and ephemeral camps., En marge de l'espace géographique principalement évoqué dans le cadre de cette réunion scientifique, les travaux réalisés depuis plus de 60 ans dans les Préalpes de la Vénétie ont permis de construire un cadre de (re)colonisation de la montagne à la fin du Paléolithique supérieur et au début du Mésolithique. Cette dynamique de repeuplement anthropique est directement liée à l'évolution environnementale des Préalpes d'Italie nord-orientale du Tardiglaciaire au début de l'Holocène. Afin de proposer un parallèle chronologique avec l'évolution des groupes humains du Sud-Ouest français, quelques caractères techniques et comportementaux identifiés au sein des sociétés épigravettiennes récent et sauveterriennes sont présentés dans cet article. Mots-clés

This study investigated the risk of lung and bladder cancers in people residing in proximity of a coal-oil-fired thermal power plant in an area of north-eastern Italy, covered by a population-based cancer registry. Incidence rate ratios (IRR) by sex, age, and histology were computed according to tertiles of residential exposure to benzene, nitrogen dioxide (NO2), particular matter, and sulfur dioxide (SO2) among 1076 incident cases of lung and 650 cases of bladder cancers. In men of all ages and in women under 75 years of age, no significant associations were observed. Conversely, in women aged ≥75 years significantly increased risks of lung and bladder cancers were related to high exposure to benzene (IRR for highest vs. lowest tertile: 2.00 for lung cancer and 1.94 for bladder cancer) and NO2 (IRR: 1.72 for lung cancer; and 1.94 for bladder cancer). In these women, a 1.71-fold higher risk of lung cancer was also related to a high exposure to SO2. Acknowledging the limitations of our study, in particular that we did not have information regarding cigarette smoking habits, the findings of this study indicate that air pollution exposure may have had a role with regard to the risk of lung and bladder cancers limited to women aged ≥75 years. Such increased risk warrants further analytical investigations.

International audience; This paper is about the relationship among the roads network, the agglomerated settlements, and the epigraphic documentation in ancient North Eastern Italy (Histria excluded). A general map tries to give an overview of the road network: its backbone is made by the main imperial roads together with a dense mesh of roads of different ages and importance, which layout is updated thanks to new techniques and methodologies image based. The road is associated to the agglomerate settlements (about sixty sites): they’re still little known, but different research methods allow to identify in a more precise way. The exploitation of a rich epigraphic documentation (about one hundred of stone inscriptions and ten graffiti) gives an image of their population under the Romanization and the division between the indigenous and the halogenous component, but also of the characterization of social groups and of their relationship with the aristocracy.

International audience

A group of Bronze Age whetstones from Protohistoric hill forts, locally called Castellieri, of eastern Friuli Venezia Giulia (north eastern Italy) has been studied using different techniques, including non destructive methods such as X-ray computed micro-tomography and portable X-ray fluorescence, in order to characterize the raw material and define its origin. The obtained results suggest that small pebbles of reddish subarkose and quartz arenites collected from the gravel deposits of river Isonzo, perhaps deriving from Val Gardena Formation outcrops, were exploited for the production of the studied artefacts during the Bronze Age. These data complement our knowledge about the lithic raw materials exploitation strategies during the ancient phase of Castellieri culture, almost exclusively based on local rock types

© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. In this study, the strontium, neodymium and oxygen isotopic composition of Roman (1st-3rd century AD) and late-Roman glass (4th-6th century AD) from Adria and Aquileia, two of the most important archaeological sites of north-eastern Italy, is discussed. The majority of glass analysed, independent from age, shows values of strontium isotope ratios close to that of modern seawater, indicating that the source of lime in the glass was marine shell, and likely coastal sands were used in its production. The Nd signature of all late-Roman glasses from Aquileia and of the majority of the Roman ones from Adria, independent from their chemical composition, is homogeneous and higher than-6 εNd, supporting the hypothesis of an eastern Mediterranean origin, probably located on Syro-Palestinian coast. However, the composition of late-Roman samples with HIMT signature, with lower 87Sr/86Sr values correlated to higher contents in Fe2O3, TiO2, MgO and lower contents in CaO, suggests an area of origin for this glass on the Egyptian coast. In addition, the different Nd signatures of two Adria Roman glasses (εNd

Downstream hydraulic geometry relationships describe the shape of alluvial channels in terms of bankfull width, flow depth, flow velocity, and channel slope. Recent investigations have stressed the difference in spatial scales associated with these variables and thus the time span required for their adjustment after a disturbance. The aim of this study is to explore the consequences in regime models considering the hypothesis that while channel width and depth adjust quickly to changes in water and sediment supply, reach slope requires a longer time span. Three theoretical models were applied. One model incorporates an extremal hypothesis (Millar RG. 2005. Theoretical regime equations for mobile gravel-bed rivers with stable banks. Geomorphology 64: 207–220), and the other two are fully physically based (Ikeda S, Parker G, Kimura Y. 1988. Stable width and depth of straight gravel rivers with heterogeneous bed materials. Water Resources Research 24: 713–722; Parker G, Wilcock PR, Paola C, Dietrich W, Pitlick J. 2007. Physical basis for quasi universal relations describing bankfull hydraulic geometry of single-thread gravel-bed rivers. Journal of Geophysical Research 112, DOI: 10.1029/2006JF000549). In order to evaluate the performance of models introducing the slope as an independent variable, we propose two modifications to previous models. The performance of regime models was tested against published data from 142 river reaches and new hydraulic geometry data from gravel-bed rivers in Patagonia (Argentina) and north-eastern Italy. Models that assume slope as a control (Ikeda et al., 1988; or Millar, 2005) predict channel depth and width reasonably well. Parker et al.’s (2007) model improved predictions because it filters the scatter in slope data with a relation slope–discharge. The extremal hypothesis model of Millar (2005) predicts comparably to the other physically based models. Millar’s model was chosen to describe the recent changes in the Piave and Brenta rivers due to human intervention – mainly in-channel gravel mining. The change in sediment supply and recovery was estimated for these rivers. This study supports the interpretation that sediment supply is the key factor guiding morphological changes in these rivers.

The aim of this work is to characterize the deformation of a natural cave induced by temperature varia-tions and by the underground water flow. We consider the tilt recorded by two horizontal pendulums installed in the largest cave of the Italian Karst, the Grotta Gigante. The environmental factors we consider are temperature, rainfall and level and flow rate of the river Reka that feeds the underground Karstic waters. The tilt and temperature have a regular annual cycle, with period of 365 days, which is caused primarily by the thermo-elastic deformation. Semiannual periods are present but more than 10 times smaller. For rainfall and river level the semi-annual and annual oscillation have comparable am-plitudes. The effect induced by the underground water flow consists in a tilting towards SW, that has a linear relation between maximum tilting and the integrated amount of water entering the Karst during the flood, with tilting coefficient a = 10.7 10-6 nrad/m3. The minimum amount of water giving a tilt signal is V0 = 5.2 106 m3.

From 2004 to 2006, a parasitological survey aimed at the detection of the microsporidian parasite Thelohania contejeani Henneguy was carried out on 177 wild white-clawed crayfish (Austropotamobius pallipes complex) captured in six streams and rivers of the province of Belluno in north-eastern Italy. Microscopical examination of the skeletal muscles, and histological analysis applying different histochemical stains to full transverse and sagittal sections of the cephalothorax and abdomen were carried out. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was also conducted on the parasites recovered during the survey. Out of 177 crayfish examined, Thelohania contejeani (Microsporidia, Thelohaniidae) was present in only one crayfish from the Vena d’oro creek. The parasite was detected in the skeletal muscles in several developmental stages, including mature spores, which represented the most common stage recovered. Sporophorous vesicles were also present. Histological examination revealed that the fibres of the skeletal, cardiac and intestinal muscles were filled with spores. Melanin infiltrations were focally present in the infected striated muscles. The gill phagocytic nephrocytes were engulfed by small masses of spores. Among the staining techniques applied, Crossman’s trichrome stain represented the most effective method of detecting T. contejeani.

International audience; We investigate detection probabilities and recording completeness of the seismic network in northeastern Italy, operated by the OGS (Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e Geofisica Sperimentale) during the years 1977-2007, using the Probability-based Magnitude of Completeness (PMC) method by Schorlemmer & Woessner (2008). Completeness of the dataset is varying in space and time due to the evolution of network geometry, instrumental characteristics, and monitoring and processing strategies over time: this is a common feature for all the regional and national instrumental catalogues that should be properly accounted for in seismicity rates evaluations. For the first time, we quantify with the new PMC method detection probabilities of a regional network operating since the late 70's, also including paper records. PMC is based on empirical data and requires the earthquake catalog containing phase picks, the station locations and on-/off-times, and the attenuation relation used to compute local magnitudes. In the 30-year period, we identified four time windows, roughly corresponding to the main changes in the acquisition system. We reconstructed on-/off-times by merging the available information on instruments with the analysis of inter-pick times at each station. We revised the relationship between duration and local magnitudes as the calibration of duration magnitude demonstrated to be not homogeneous among the different acquisition systems. Moreover, we introduced some constraints on the application of the PMC method to improve its performance for networks with sparse data and show the role of missing events and of temporary networks on regional completeness maps. The results demonstrate that the OGS network is detecting earthquakes completely down to magnitude 1.5 for a large part of the Friuli-Venezia-Giulia region since the earliest stages of its functionality; the OGS instrumental catalogue is therefore the most precise and complete dataset available for this area. Our analysis shows that the change from analog to digital systems does not necessarily correspond to an improvement in detection capabilities. The computed time series of completeness maps are available and should be considered for any seismicity study involving data from the OGS network.

The recent excavation of the tumulus of Mereto di Tomba, near Udine in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, offers fresh data to the research of the prehistoric monumental landscape. Some proposed connections between the tumuli of north eastern Italy and those diffused in a wider area including the Balkan-Adriatic regions, on the one hand, and the Aegean, on the other hand, seem to be strengthened. Furthermore, according to recent trends in the field of research on mounds and barrows, the recent evidence sheds new light on the emergence of tumuli in the northern Adriatic area by suggesting that these monuments do not constitute a homogeneous and monolithic phenomenon; both chronologically and functionally they are part of a palimpsestic landscape, provided with monumental signs dating to different period and focusing on different ritual occasions, which involved individual funerals as well as communal ritual ceremonies., Borgna Elisabetta. Individual Burial and Communal Rites: the Manifold Uses of Monumental Architecture in the North Adriatic Bronze Age. In: Ancestral Landscape. Burial mounds in the Copper and Bronze Ages (Central and Eastern Europe – Balkans – Adriatic – Aegean, 4th-2nd millennium B.C.) Proceedings of the International Conference held in Udine, May 15th-18th 2008. Lyon : Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée Jean Pouilloux, 2012. pp. 279-289. (Travaux de la Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée. Série recherches archéologiques, 58)

The nothosauroid sauropterygian Simosaurus is reported for the first time both from Italy and from the early Carnian (earliest Late Triassic). Diagnostic dorsal neural arches and clavicles as well dorsal ribs have been collected in the Rio dal Lago Formation near Dogna (Friuli). Purported Simosaurus remains from the Ladinian of Austria cannot be attributed to this genus with certainty and the presence of additional articular structures in the dorsal neural arch ("infraprezygapophyses" and infrapostzygapophyses) cannot distinguish Simosaurus from Bobosaurus if the craniocaudal polarity or other vertebral features are unknown., Rivista italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia, Vol 114, No 2

THE WOOD COENOSES OF COLLI SERICI (VICENZA, NE lTALY). The syntaxonomical, chorological and ecological features of the wood coenoses occurring in the hilly area of Colli Berici (Vicenza, North-Eastern Italy) are described. Three associations are recognized: the suboceanic Omithogalo pyrenaici-Carpinetum Marincek et al. 1983, Buglossoido-Ostryetum Gerdol et al. 1982 em. Poldini 1988, which prefers more marked thermic excursions, and the synanthropical Lamio orvalae-Sambucetum nigrae Poldini 1980. The first association includes two coenoses: the gorge woods, characterized by species of Tilio-Acerion Klika 1955 and Lamio Acerenion Marincek I 990, and the subass. caricetosum pilosae Marincek et al. 1983. The Buglossoido Ostryetum is subdivided into two subassociations: typicum and pistacietosum terebinthi Poldini 1988. The latter is characterized by the presence of taxa of Quercetea ilicis Sr.-Sl. 1947 and by a higher incidence of species belonging to the the Mediterranean s.l. chorological type; its differential species are proposed. The marginal presence of two further associations (Melampyro vulgati-Quercetum petraeae s.lat. Puncer et Zupancic 1979 em. Zupancic 1994 and Carici umbrosae-Quercetum petraeae Poldini 1982) is hypothesized.