Search

This paper describes the results of the activities performed during the project PONa3_00363 I-AMICA (High Technology Infrastructure for Climate and Environment Monitoring; www.i-amica.it), as part of the activities of Development Objective 4.4 (Processes of the biosphere-hydrosphere interface and features of coastal ecosystems). Through the strengthening of scientific-technological infrastructure and equipment, I-AMICA was planned to increase the observational capacity of the monitoring of marine coastal ecosystems, particularly vulnerable in the sensitive Mediterranean area and strictly connected to the natural and anthropic continental system. For this reason research activities were mainly focused on the neritic environment adjacent to the shelf area of the Volturno River mouth (Gulf of Gaeta - central part of the Tyrrhenian Sea). Advanced knowledge on the dynamics in time of marine coastal ecosystems, in relation to the physical, chemical and biological processes that characterize their habitat, were acquired while new methods of integrated monitoring, in relation to the specific characteristics of the study area, were tested. Particular attention was given to the identification of bio-indicators in water column and sediment at sea floor. The monitoring was also integrated by studies on the shoreline changes, seismic stratigraphy of deltaic deposits and by sedimentology and morpho-bathymetry of the seabed., Vengono presentati i risultati dell’attività di monitoraggio svolta nel corso del progetto PONa3_00363 I-AMICA (Infrastruttura di Alta tecnologia per il Monitoraggio Integrato Climatico-Ambientale; www.i-amica.it/i-amica/), nell’ambito delle attività relative all’Obiettivo Realizzativo 4.4 (Processi di interfaccia biosfera-idrosfera e funzionalità degli ecosistemi costieri). L’attività, che ha avuto come scopo l’acquisizione di conoscenze avanzate sulle dinamiche e/o variazioni nel tempo degli ecosistemi marino-costieri in relazione ai processi fisici, chimici e biologici che caratterizzano il loro habitat, si è sviluppata attraverso la sperimentazione di nuove metodologie di monitoraggio in relazione alle specifiche caratteristiche dell’area marino-costiera prospiciente la foce del fiume Volturno (Golfo di Gaeta). In particolare, oltre che sulle tecniche di monitoraggio classiche, lo studio si è principalmente focalizzato sulla acquisizione ed interpretazione di dati ambientali sia in colonna d’acqua che nei sedimenti a fondo mare e sulla identificazione di specie e/o associazioni di specie significative (bio-indicatori) da un punto di vista ambientale ed indicative dello stato di salute del sistema costiero. Poiché il sistema costiero rappresenta una struttura naturale complessa e delicata, la cui evoluzione è il risultato di delicati equilibri fisici, chimici e biologici, fortemente condizionabili dagli interventi antropici, l’attività di monitoraggio è stata integrata da studi sulla variazione della linea di costa, da studi sismostratigrafici della piana deltizia, sedimentologici e morfo-batimetrici dei fondali.

The Apennines chain is an active Neogene fold-and-thrust belt resulting from the westward subduction of the Adriatic microplate. Starting from the end of the Early Pleistocene, the chain was affected by an increase in regional uplift. Recent GPS data resolved uplift rates of 1–2 mm/yr for the whole Apennines, whereas, in the Adriatic flank, several studies estimated rates between 0.3 and 0.5 mm/yr over the last 1 Myr. A number of works investigated the evolution of the drainage systems along the Periadriatic margin of the Apennines providing long-term incision rates. Studies from the northern part of this sector reported uplift rates varying from 0.2 to 1.1 mm/yr, whereas only few studies concentrated on the central sector of the Adriatic flank of the Apennines, focusing mainly on the evolution of the lower reach of major rivers. This work aims to quantify the long-term rock uplift and incision rates of the eastern portion of the central Apennines through the analysis of the Tronto River basin. Because of its geologic and geomorphological configurations, this basin is an ideal test site to investigate the influence of tectonics and climate on the recent topographic evolution of the central Apennines. The basin extends, with a roughly WSW-ENE direction, from the inner sector of the chain to the Adriatic coast, crossing several tectonic structures such as the Amatrice extensional basin and the Acquasanta and Montagna dei Fiori anticlines. In particular, in the Acquasanta Terme area, the right flank of the Tronto River valley is characterized by fluvial and travertine deposits organized and exposed in several levels. In this work, we investigated the hydrography (river longitudinal profiles) and topography (swath profile, slope, and local relief) of the Tronto River basin coupling these data with field observations and geochronological analysis on the continental sediments (fluvial deposits and travertines) outcropping in the Acquasanta Terme area. To better characterize the nature of travertines, we performed geochemical characterization of three travertine-forming thermal springs obtaining their physico-chemical parameters, the percentage of dissolved gases, and the isotopes content. Finally, we applied a knickpoint celerity model to chronologically constrain the geomorphological evolution of the whole drainage system. The results show the occurrence of a continuous tectonic uplift (~0.5 mm/yr) across the study area since Middle Pleistocene. The uplift, together with climate fluctuations, drove the incision (~0.6 mm/yr) of the landscape and the delineation of the present drainage network. These data are consistent with previous estimates of uplift and incision rates in adjacent areas and provide new constraints on the Quaternary evolution of the central Apennines. This study highlights how the coupling of field surveys with morphometric and topographic analyses of a drainage system is crucial to understand and quantify the influence of tectonic and climate changes in shaping the landscape.

Concerning the article by De Filippis et al. (2013), the authorswould like to replace Fig. 11 in the article with the figure below. Main corrections with respect to the original figure (De Filippis et al., 2013) concern travertine erosion and soil development in the Tivoli case, central Italy, during low stands of the water table (bottom panel in the left column), as also known from Faccenna et al. (2008).

An enigmatic, c. 2 km-long and 15 m-high travertine ridge, the Colle Fiorito ridge, occurs in the northwestern sector of the Tivoli travertine plateau, central Italy. The main questions addressed in this paper concern the origin and mode of growth of this prominent ridge. The presence of active structures beneath the studied ridge is inferred by recent and past earthquakes located at shallow depths immediately beneath Colle Fiorito. To understand the surficial structure of the Colle Fiorito ridge and the travertine depositional environment, we constructed a 10 m-resolution DEM, analyzed recent and past aerial photographs, and conducted field surveys and meso- to micro-scale sedimentological analyses. To understand the ridge subsurface structure, we studied a set of 32 stratigraphic well logs available from previous works and from the local decorative stone industry, and realized a 2D electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) across the ridge. Results show a gentle antiformal structure affected by subvertical zones of strata discontinuity. The Colle Fiorito structure is interpreted as a previously-unknown fissure ridge travertine grown at the edge of the Tivoli travertine plateau, perhaps when the volumetric deposition rate reached its climax in the plateau for the abundance of fluid discharge and the rise of the water table. Such a fluid pressure may have activated the faults and fractures beneath Colle Fiorito, thus opening new pathways for the ascension of geothermal fluids toward the surface.