Theme: Karst

How much Mar Piccolo peculiarities are due to groundwater outflow

The Mar Piccolo basin is an internal sea basin located along the Ionian coast (Southern Italy), and it is surrounded primarily by fractured carbonate karstic environment. In primarily karstic environments, infiltration is greater than runoff; in the karstic coastal Apulian aquifers, the groundwater discharge to the sea is more than two-fold greater than the surface discharge, notwithstanding the high discharges by wells. In such ...

Chronological database of sinkholes in Italy

Sinkholes occurrence is related to the presence of an underground cavity, from which instability starts and propagate upwards until causing the collapse of the surface soil layer. The cavity may have a natural or artificial origin. Natural caves are due to presence of soluble rocks, and are typical of karst settings, where most of the sinkholes occur for dissolution processes. Man has excavated Anthropogenic cavities, for different purposes and ...

Instability problems related to man-made cavities in the Municipality of Ginosa

Ginosa_crollo- The territory of Ginosa was severely affected by flood and instability problems in October and in December 2013, as many other municipalities at the boundary between Apulia and Basilicata. In particular, on October 7, 2013, four fatalities and serious damage had to be registered. Following these events, other instabilities have occurred, including the collapse of a stretch of Via Matrice, above artificial cavities, on January 21, ...

Analysis of instabilities in the historical centre of Mesagne

Mesagne_edificio The instabilities that affected the historical part of Mesagne (Brindisi province, Apulia) since January 21, 2014, induced the local Authority to issue evacuation decrees for 18 families, corresponding to a total of 26 people. CNR IRPI was asked to provide scientific support for the identification of the processes at the origin of the ...

Sinkholes in the Marina di Lesina area

Lesina_gabbionate- Sinkholes are in Apulia among the main geohazards, and are at the origin of severe interactions with the anthropogenic environment, and heavy losses to society. Since several years the territory of Marina di Lesina is diffusely affected by development of sinkholes (that have caused an emergency state to be declared), mostly concentrated near the Acquarotta Channel, linking the Lesina Lake to the Adriatic ...

The Via Firenze Sinkhole of in the Municipality of Gallipoli

Among the most recent sinkhole events, registered in Apulia region, that occurred in Via Firenze at Gallipoli on March 29, 2007, greatly raised the attention by public opinion, having affected (likely, without causing any fatalities) the built-up areas of one of the largest towns in Salento. The event pointed out to the need to carry out detailed studies on the sinkholes related to artificial ...

Register of the caves and artificial cavities of Apulia

FSP_sfondata- Within the framework of the project “Register of the Caves and Artificial Cavities of Apulia Region” (PO FESR 2007-2016), committed by the Ecology Service to the Apulian Speleological Federation (FSP), this latter involved CNR-IRPI to guarantee high scientific value to the documents to be produced, and to work with the cavers in the different phases of the ...

DInSAR techniques for the assessment of sinkhole hazard

Sinkholes occur as sudden collapses of the ground, related to natural cavities produced by karst processes in soluble rocks, or to man-made cavities deriving from different types of human activities in different historical ages. Sinkholes are widespread all over the world, and the related hazard is extremely high, with very severe damage to built-up areas and human infrastructures, and heavy losses to the ...

GIS technologies for managing sinkhole hazard

GIS_sinkhole- The widespread sinkholes that involve large sectors of the Apulian territory are related to natural cavities produced by karst processes in soluble rocks, or to man-made cavities deriving from different types of human activities in different historical ages. The related hazard is extremely high, with very severe damage to built-up areas and human infrastructures, and heavy losses to the ...

Hazards in karst areas and mitigation strategies

The high fragility of karst terrains, and the deriving vulnerability to a number of possible events, together with the presence of significant natural (first and foremost, groundwater), landscape and historical resources, are at the origin of the project activities, aimed at the safeguard of karst environments and the mitigation of the related ...

Updating the list of Apulian municipalities with presence of man-made cavities

AdBPuglia_sinkhole- The widespread occurrence of sinkholes related to man-made cavities in Apulia highlights the need to perform a careful reconnaissance of the artificial caves over the whole region, and of their stability conditions. Knowledge of the presence and typology of artificial cavity, and of its main features, is a mandatory step for the mitigation of the sinkhole ...

Monitoring of the Castellana Caves

Evolution of cave and karst system occurs also by means of successive detachments of blocks from both the vault and the walls of the underground spaces. In show caves, this poses problems for the safety of visitors, and the issue must be carefully ...

Karst sinkholes in urban areas in Florida

Florida_spring- Sinkholes are among the main features of karst areas, and are extremely widespread in Florida, one of the sites most known for their occurrence and the likely interaction with the built-up environment. The Tampa area, in turn, shows an high frequency of events, which origin derives from different types of ...

Preliminary analysis of the stability conditions in some sectors of the Castellana Caves

Evolution of cave and karst system occurs also by means of successive detachments of blocks from both the vault and the walls of the underground spaces. In show caves, this poses problems for the safety of visitors, and the issue must be carefully ...

Karst ecosystems in Albania

About 25% of Albania is interested by karst landscapes in both carbonates and evaporite rocks, with a variety of surface and subsurface landforms worth to be exploited. Despite their high value in terms of natural heritage, in the past years these areas suffered from degradation and pollution problems, that were further exacerbated by the difficult social and economical situation of the Balkans in the ...