Hazards in karst areas and mitigation strategies

Background

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 risks.

Purpose

Evaluation of the natural and anthropogenic hazards in karst areas, in order to define procedure useful to the mitigation of the risks in this peculiar and fragile environment.

Methods

The project is based upon the integration among the classical geological-morphological approaches with the speleological surveys of underground caves, both of natural and anthropogenic origin. Implementation of 2D and 3D numerical codes to the stability of underground spaces goes along with the litho-technical characterization of the rocks affected by karst processes.