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L’itinerario si sviluppa nella parte nord-occidentale del Cilento, partendo dalla cittadina di Agropoli e giungendo a Punta Telegrafo in prossimità dell’abitato di Marina di Ascea (Fig. 11.1). Il percorso segue per la maggior parte la SS267, passando per gli abitati di San Marco di Castellabate, Ogliastro Marina, Acciaroli, Castelnuovo Cilento e Marina di Ascea. È consigliabile suddividere il percorso in due giorni (primo giorno: stop 11.1-5 con pernottamento a Santa Maria, San Marco o Castellabate; secondo giorno: stop 11.6-11 con pernottamento ad Acciaroli o Marina di Ascea). Quasi tutti gli stop sono lungo la costa: quindi, è consigliabile conoscere sempre le previsioni meteomarine. L’abbigliamento è quello da escursionista, con scarponcini da trekking; numerosi i punti di ristoro lungo l’itinerario.

In this paper, a 1: 5000 map of the geomorphic consequences of the 14th-15th October 2015 flash flood is presented. The most severely affected area (about 13 km(2)) was located at the footslope of Mt. Camposauro (Southern Italy), between the municipalities of Solopaca and Paupisi. In this area high-intensity and very localized cloudbursts of short duration induced hillslope erosion and sediment delivery from the slopes to the Calore River, activating several alluvial fans. The rainstorm lasted 7 h with a maximum recorded rainfall peak of nearly 140 mm in 2 h. The event map resulting from a geological and geomorphological post-event field survey was supported by satellite images and unmanned aerial vehicle image interpretations, respectively taken one day and one week after the event. The flash flood resulted in no casualties but severely affected the local economy, mainly based on agriculture and wine production

Vertical cliffs are widely distributed, are characterized by peculiar environmental characteristics and are generally acclaimed for their flora rich of phylogenetic relicts and rare species. Many vertical cliffs occur along the coastline of the National Park of Cilento (Tyrrhenian coast of Southern Italy), an area highly affected by human impact. Using a multidisciplinary approach we aimed at verifying in this habitat the occurrence of a set of features repeatedly reported for vertical cliffs worldwide. The overall analysis of information available in literature and newly elaborated data showed that geological, geomorphological and structural features of coastal cliffs of Cilento and the number of endemic species, much higher than in the surrounding areas, are consistent with those reported for cliffs in other geographical region. Biological and ecological traits of one of the relict species, Primula palinuri Petagna, highlighted that not all the sites on the cliffs are equally suitable for life requirements of the species; moreover, long term survival of the populations is at risk due to large failure in generation turnover. Coastal cliffs of Cilento act as refuge of endemic species and deserve special concern for biodiversity conservation.

Questo contributo vuole essere una semplice riflessione sul lavoro svolto in ambito geomorfologico dal gruppo di ricerca del Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra dell'Università di Napoli tra gli anni '80 ed oggi. Leader indiscusso di questo gruppo è stato il Prof. Ludovico Brancaccio a cui si è poi affiancato il Prof. Aldo Cinque. La sua figura carismatica apparirà inevitabilmente tra le righe di questo articolo avendo egli sempre rappresentato la guida principale ed un importante punto di riferimento per tutti i geomorfologi che si sono formati presso l'Università di Napoli. Gli scriventi infatti sono solo alcuni (quelli rimasti in sede) tra i tantissimi allievi che egli ha formato e che hanno trovato poi la loro strada in altre sedi universitarie. Per elaborare questa riflessione abbiamo deciso di scegliere cinque temi principali, qui di seguito elencati, e per ognuno di essi abbiamo ricostruito le tappe salienti del percorso di ricerca con l'obiettivo di offrire una sintesi ed un riferimento bibliografico per lo sviluppo di studi futuri: 1) Morfotettonica nel lungo termine e nel breve termine 2) I sistemi marino-costieri 3) Analisi e distribuzione delle linee di riva quaternarie: implicazioni tettoniche ed eustatiche 4) Analisi palinologiche dei riempimenti delle conche intermontane 5) L'evoluzione della rete idrografica e il carsismo.

Geophysical Research Abstracts Vol. 15, EGU2013-8197, 2013 EGU General Assembly 2013 © Author(s) 2013. CC Attribution 3.0 License. Structuralcontrolonkarstcollapsesinkholeformation Antonio Santo (1), Alessandra Ascione (2), Stefano Mazzoli (2), and Nicoletta Santangelo (2) (1) Dipartimento di Ingegneria Idraulica, Geotecnica e Ambientale, Università Federico II, Naples, Italy (santo@unina.it), (2) Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università Federico II, Naples, Italy (alessandra.ascione@unina.it) Collapse sinkholes owing their formation to erosion and deformation phenomena caused by subsurface karstificationarewidespreadinthecarbonatemassifsofpeninsularItaly.Incontrastwithsolutiondolines,whicharedensely distributedonthesubplanartopsurfacesofthecarbonatemassifs,thecollapsesinkholes(hereinafterlabelledkarst collapse sinkholes) generally occur as isolated landforms and mostly affect the slopes and piedmont areas. In the latterinstances,thesinkholesalsoaffectalluvialfanconglomerates,orslopedebris,overlyingthecarbonaterocks. Weinvestigatedthekarstcollapsesinkholesofthesouthern-centralApenninesmountainbelt(Italy),whichisrepresentativeofayoungorogenicsystem,characterisedbyrecenttectonicactivityandstrongseismicity.Theaimofthe studyistheidentificationofthecausativefactorswhichcontroltheoccurrenceofsuchhazardousphenomena.The study was based on a regional scale analysis on sinkhole distribution in relation to the local geological-structural, geomorphological and hydrogeological contexts, and was paralleled with field analysis of some selected areas. The regional scale analysisindicates thatthe karstcollapse sinkholesare not the mere response tothe concurrence of the climatic and lithological conditions which commonly favour the development of karst processes, the occurrence of such landforms appearing strongly influenced by distinctive structural and hydrogeological conditions. In particular, a close relationship between the karst collapse sinkholes and the main extensional faults showing evidence of late Quaternary activity may be envisaged. This is inferred from the spatial distribution of the karst collapsesinkholes,whichisstrikinglyuneven,thesinkholesgenerallyoccurringinalignmentsfollowinglargelate Quaternary fault zones, or being clustered at the terminations of those faults. In addition, areas affected by the occurrence of groups of sinkholes, are also characterised by the presence of H2S and/or CO2 mineral springs, gas vents and of travertine deposits. Such co-presence points to interrelations linking dissolution phenomena, and carbonate precipitation, to the rise of aggressive fluids. In particular, this suggests enhanced deep-seated dissolution, and carbonate deposition at surface, in presence of ascending mineral waters. These evidences point to the important role played by extensional fault zones in the migration of deeply derived fluids, thus suggesting that active faults, in particular, represent preferential pathways for fluid rising and mixing with shallow groundwater. In addition, a focus on the relationships between karst collapse sinkholes and extensional fault zone properties has shown how the fault length and depth, and the dimension of the damage zone, influence the sinkhole formation and evolution.

The flooding susceptibility of alluvial fans in the Southern Apennines has long been neglected. To partly address this oversight, we focus on the region of Campania which contains highly urbanised piedmont areas particularly vulnerable to flooding. Our findings are based on stratigraphic analysis of the fans and morphometric analysis of the basin-fan systems. Using geomorphological analysis we recognised active alluvial fans while stratigraphic analysis together with statistical analysis of the morphometric variables was used to classify the fans in terms of the transport process involved. The results indicate that in the examined geological context, the best discrimination between debris flow (Df) and water flood (Wf) processes is achieved by means of two related variables, one for the basin (feeder channel inclination, Cg) and one for the fan (fan length, Fl). The probability that an unclassified fan belongs to group Wf is computed by applying a logistic function in which a p value exceeding 0.5 indicates that a basin/fan system belongs to group Wf. This important result led to the classification of the entire basin/fan system data. As regards process intensity, debris flow-dominated fans are susceptible to the occurrence of flows with high viscosity and hence subject to more severe events than water flood-dominated fans. Bearing this in mind, the data gathered in this study allow us to detect where alluvial fan flooding might occur and give information on the different degrees of susceptibility at a regional scale. Regrettably, urban development in recent decades has failed to take the presence of such alluvial fans into account due to the long recurrence time (50-100 years) between floods. This paper outlines the distribution of such susceptibility scenarios throughout the region, thereby constituting an initial step to implementing alluvial fan flooding control and mitigation.

A palaeolandscape reconstruction of the Southern Apennine chain for the Early and the Middle Pleistocene is presented with the main aim of highlighting the evolution of this sector of the chain during a key period for the diffusion of Palaeolithic men in the Italian peninsula. During the Calabrian stage Italy was an elongated peninsula, narrower than present, extended between the Tyrrhenian and the foreland seas with two big islands (Gargano and Murge) in the central part of the foredeep basin. This area started to emerge at the end of Early Pleistocene (1.2 - 0.78 Ma) when occasional communications among the islands and the Southern Apennine peninsula may have occurred, probably in concomitance with eustatic low stands. This scenario opens interesting questions on the migration pathways followed by ancient Palaeolithic men to reach the site of Pirro Nord (1.3-1.7 Ma; NW Gargano). The definitive emersion of the studied area was completed at the beginning of the Ionian stage when a lot of lakes punctuated the axial portion of the chain together with two great active volcanoes: Roccamonfina and Vulture. In the surroundings of the palaeo-lakes the Palaeolithic man started moving from 600 to 200 ka, as testified by the artefacts of Acheulean tradition recovered, among others, at Isernia La Pineta and Notarchirico.

This study focuses on karst collapse sinkholes of the southern and central Apennines region (Italy), and has the aim of outlining and discussing the factors which contribute to the occurrence of collapse phenomena. By the analysis of the morphometrical/morphological features of the about 600 initially identified sinkholes, about 50% were interpreted as collapse sinkholes related to karst phenomena, which are the object of this study. These were geo-referred and organised in a data base, in which information on the geological-structural and hydrogeological features of areas affected by the collapses was also reported. The collapse sinkhole inventory was paralleled by an analysis of the distribution of the main mineral springs (H2S- and CO2- rich waters), of travertine bodies and of extensional faults with late Quaternary activity, which were all considered significant to the study due to the interrelations linking travertines, karst solution processes, CO2- rich waters and faults. Furthermore, with the aim of investigating the role of seismic shaking in the occurrence of the collapses, the karst collapse sinkhole distribution was compared with the distribution of stronger historical earthquake epicentres. The results of this regional scale synthesis suggests a possible key to the interpretation of karst collapse phenomena. The latter, in fact, appear correlated to the combination of peculiar conditions, which may be envisaged in the presence of active faults and mineral waters. The study, in particular, suggests that karst collapse sinkholes result from enhanced dissolution phenomena related to the rising of fluids of deep origin, for which active faults represent preferred pathways, and favoured by the presence of a relatively shallow water table. In the collapse events, an important role is possibly played by seismic shaking.

A fluvio-lacustrine succession was discovered in 1995 at Saticula, near Sant’Agata de’ Goti (Benevento), below a thick volcaniclastic deposit sealed by the Campania Ignimbrite formation (39 ka). Vertebrate fossil remains and pollen were recovered in the excavated sections. Pollen analysis allowed recognition of two pollen zones, the first being characterised by a Quercus-Carya mixed deciduous forest which was probably present in the plain and on the slopes surrounding the Caudina valley basin. The transition to pollen zone 2 clearly records a drastic decrease in Carya pollen grains and the contemporary increase in herbs and Pinus. A more open environment established around the river shores due to a climate shift towards dryer conditions. Most of the vertebrate remains were found in the upper portion of the succession corresponding to pollen zone 2. The fossil mammal assemblage includes Hippopotamus antiquus, Axis eurygonos, Praemegaceros sp., Equus suessenbornensis and Stephanorhinus cf. S. hundsheimensis. In addition, a partial unerupted molar of an elephantid (tentatively attributed to Mammuthus meridionalis), two hyena coprolites and fragments of rodent teeth were identified. The high amount of Carya in pollen zone 1 represents the most peculiar feature of the Saticula floral record and was used as a reference for its chronological constrain. In fact, comparison with other Italian pollen sequences allowed the Saticula record to be tentatively ascribed to the late Early Pleistocene. After that period, Carya was never recorded in so high amounts and gradually disappeared from the Italian flora following a heterochronous latitudinal gradient. The Saticula mammal assemblage is in agreement with the chronological framework suggested by pollen data.

The post-Miocene marine succession of the «Apricena horst» is described with the purpose to verify the chronostratigraphic constraints for the type-locality of the Pirro Nord Faunal Unit. The stratigraphic succession has been subdivided in four units bounded by ubiquitous unconformities with evidence of subaerial exposure. The two basal units (dated late Zanclean to at most early Piacenzian) are formally grouped in the Lago di Varano Fm. that on the whole consists of sediments ranging from lagoonal to circalittoral environments. Within the lowermost unit, a megabreccia is interpreted as the product of a tsunami event. The third unit, Gelasian in age, is informally cited as Calcari a Briozoi Fm. The last unit, the Early Pleistocene Serracapriola Fm., consists of siliciclastic deltaic sediments and represents the closure of the marine cycle. Conspicuous lateral facies and thickness changes, and the frequency of unconformities are the consequence of an intense synsedimentary tectonic activity developed in the frame of the southern Apulia foredeep closure. In the study area, such activity is documented by two E-W trending normal faults which, during Zanclean and at least the earliest Gelasian, controlled the Pliocene horst-graben system of the Apricena-Poggio Imperiale area.