United States

The “Tevere alla Magliana” urban Park extends for one kilometre in the floodplain area on the right bank of the river, upstream of Ponte della Magliana, behind an area of recent and heavy urbanization, identified as a marginal area of Rome. Here a well-managed green space, inaugurated in 2014, that still keeps the signature of the natural environment, represents a laboratory for cultural and naturalistic exploration that can greatly benefit the wellbeing of the citizens of the district and the city. In spring 2021, Roma Tre University students attending the Course “Agenda 2030 for sustainable development for Life and Earth Sciences” developed in the Park their practical stage to study specific features of this natural environment in the urban context such as the endemic vs exotic plant distribution, the rocks from Latium used for urban decoration (statues, fountain, etc.), the river dynamics, the effectiveness of a phytodepurative system, underlying the area resources and vulnerabilities. The scientific contents were then syntethised and simplified for Natural Science dissemination with reference to some of the Goals of the Agenda 2030. The presentation will illustrate the steps and outcomes of this teaching and dissemination experience. 

SGI 2021

The Urban Park “Tevere alla Magliana” (Rome) as a natural laboratory for the teaching and dissemination of Natural Sciences in the context of the Agenda2030 for Sustainable Development

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L'Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e Geofisica Sperimentale - OGS e il Dipartimento di Matematica e Geoscienze dell'Università di Trieste sono orgogliosi di ospitare il 90° Congresso della Società Geologica Italiana a Trieste dal 14 al 16 settembre 2021. La modalità del congresso è interamente online.

Con il motto "Geologia senza frontiere" questo evento mira a promuovere le Scienze della Terra come disciplina scientifica proiettata nel futuro, oltre i confini geografici, politici e disciplinari, per comprendere meglio l'interno del Pianeta Terra e la struttura del sottosuolo, difendere la società da pericolosi eventi geologici, comprendere meglio la variabilità climatica, pianificare l'utilizzo delle georisorse in modo etico e nel rispetto dell'ambiente.


**Please note, times listed in the SCHEDULE tab (calendar icon) reflect YOUR LOCAL TIME ZONE. The main timezone for this conference will be Central European Summer Time.**

The National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics - OGS and the Department of Mathematics and Geosciences of the University of Trieste are proud to host the 90th Congress of the Italian Geological Society in Trieste on 14-16 September 2021.  The Congress will be held entirely online.

With the motto "Geology Without Borders" this event aims to promote Earth Sciences as a scientific discipline projected into the future, beyond geographical, political and disciplinary boundaries, to better understand the interior of Planet Earth and the structure of the subsurface, defend society from dangerous geological events, better understand climatic variability, plan the use of geo-resources in an ethical way and respecting the environment.


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Earth Sciences should be understood not only as necessary for a better understanding of the interior of the planet Earth, but also as a defense of society from dangerous geological events, for the understanding of climatic variations, for the planning and use of georesources in a ethical and respecting and protecting the environment.

technical paper

The “Ceppo Lombardo Formation” (Riva, 1957) is a collection of Quaternary clastic conglomeratic units outcropping and sub-outcropping in an area of the Po Plain, North to the city of Milan (Italy). Due to the shallow depth and the areal extension of this formation, the geophysical characterization assume a great importance for geotechnical engineering, territory use and local seismic hazard studies. The geophysical characterization of such clastic units shows several and not negligible issues, starting from its great areal extension to the great variability in the cementation and alteration parameters. The main geological, geophysical and geotechnical information about this formation, derive from a great amount of data and studies available from local administration and professional studies, these datasets were not ever integrated to have a more robust geotechnical knowledge. With the aim of a more consistent characterization, we gathered and analysed all available geophysical and geological datasets, resulting from well stratigraphies and geophysical soundings. Additional geophysical surveys were conducted, using the single station passive seismic (HVSR) technique; one single site investigation and two 10-km-long perpendicular transects. New and old geophysical data was integrated with the information from geognostic tests (e.g. core drilling and cutting from well drilling) for an efficient validation, then a statistics study was performed. We present the geophysical methods, the statistical analysis results of vs parameter and several depth maps of its distribution in all study area. The main final results show that Ceppo Lombardo Formation show a well detectable impedance contrast where it overlies units with poor geotechnical characteristics. This formation has also been classified as overconsolidated soil (Vs < 500 m s-1) with the exception of the Brembo unit that show Vs values of a seismic bedrock (Vs > 800 m s-1). Additionally, the great variability output of the HVSR tests, indicate that the top surface has irregular geometry with variable impedance contrasts up to about 30 m depth.

Geophysical characterization of Ceppo Lombardo Formation (Po Plain NE of Milan, Italy): new data from passive seismic surveys

Sinkholes are widespread phenomena on the Earth. Consisting of vertical depressions with chiefly circular shape and a three-dimensional funnel shape (Waltham et al., 2005), their triggering is often associated to dissolution or erosion of geological materials, which leads to underground instability and subsequent formation of the depression. When a sinkhole is generated in an urban area, it can be defined as “anthropogenic” sinkhole (Guarino & Nisio, 2012). Because of the presence of a widespread network of artificial cavities, the city of Naples is one of the urban areas most affected by sinkholes in Italy (Basso et al., 2013). To emphasize and recognize the most prone areas, a sinkhole susceptibility analysis has been carried out. The sinkholes susceptibility map has been produced by using a Machine Learning technique, namely Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt). MaxEnt is a presence-only method that relies on the assumption that the best model to represent the true distribution of an event is the one maximizing the entropy. Maximizing the system entropy means that the best model I 965ew32s the one with the maximum uncertainty about event’s probability of occurrence. This, in turn, implies that the best model has no starting hypothesis and all the combinations of predictor variables can trigger the investigated event (Phillips & Dudik, 2008). To apply such algorithm, a sinkhole inventory is required, and twelve environmental variables have been employed to obtain a more realistic susceptibility map. The results highlight that the most susceptible zones coincide with the historical city center due to the higher presence of cavities and secondary aqueduct and sewer networks. In addition, the highest susceptibility class presents a relatively important extension (4.93%) which consolidates the necessity of studying these phenomena in metropolitan cities like Naples in an effort to help the local administration in finding eventual susceptible areas. The produced map is a first attempt to evaluate the sinkhole susceptibility in the study area by using a Machine Learning technique that takes in consideration the whole Naples municipality.

Evaluation of anthropogenic sinkhole susceptibility in the city of Naples (Italy) through a presence-only algorithm

In Urban Geomorphology one of the most relevant aims is the use of historical sources for the definition of urban transformations as a function of historical geomorphological and hydrogeological processes. The superficial and underground water resources are one of the main parameters which influenced the first settlement of cities. For this reason, tracking the ancient “waterways” can underline the geological and geomorphological parameters of a site location (Melelli et al., 2021). Rivers, springs, historic fountains and washrooms, suggest the links between the urban layout and the superficial arrangement of the hydrographic network. In addition, ancient wells, tanks, aqueducts and the water presence in historical underground artificial cavities are precious parameters for the knowledge of the geological arrangement. In this study the medieval aqueduct placed in Perugia city (Umbria, central Italy) is proposed as an emblematic example of ancient “waterways”. The aqueduct, realized between 1254 and 1280 has a length of about 4 km and, starting from the mountain reliefs present in the northern part of Perugia, reaches the downtown in the heart of the historical center, ending in the wonderful Fontana Maggiore. After several changes occurred in the XIV century, in 1835 the aqueduct was casted off because of numerous operating problems. In the first half of the XIX century the last section, close to the city center, was turned in a characteristic pensile path, being one of the most particular streets in Perugia. In this paper the entire track has been traced into a digital path, through a GIS system. Along this line the points of interest related to superficial and underground waters have been included. This information highlights the geological aspects of underground waters. The path is a potential geotouristic route where the cultural and scientific aspects merge for didactic and touristic purposes (Bizzarri et al., 2018; Melelli, 2019). Bizzarri R., Melelli L. & Cencetti C. (2018) - Archaeo-geosites in urban areas: A case study of the etruscan Palazzone Necropolis (Perugia, central Italy). Alp. Mediterr. Quat, 31, 1-12. Melelli L. (2019). “Perugia Upside-Down”: A Multimedia Exhibition in Umbria (Central Italy) for Improving Geoheritage and Geotourism in Urban Areas. Resources, 8(3), 148. Melelli L., Silvani F., Ercoli M., Pauselli C., Tosi G. & Radicioni F. (2021) - Urban Geology for the Enhancement of the Hypogean Geosites: the Perugia Underground (Central Italy). Geoheritage, 13(1), 1-20.

Ancient waters in historical city centers: collectors of multidisciplinary knowledge

The geomorphological analysis of town areas is one of the most powerful scientific tools to understand how geomorphological factors might have influenced urbanization. The towns of Rimini, Pesaro, Fano and Senigallia have been studied as examples. Those towns, which are urbanized historical sites on the Adriatic coast of Italy, have been modified over the centuries from the Roman age to the present day in strong relationship with peculiar geomorphological conditions. This analysis is focused on how geographic factors could influence their urban evolutions. The shoreline changes, with consequent coastal variations, are similar for the four towns, whereas the difference of altitude and evolution of the rivers created the main differences among them. The results of the geomorphological analysis can be a strong tool to urban planification and risk management, and can provide a support to the valorization of the sites, by contextualizing urban variations within the natural conditions that have influenced the towns’ evolution through time.

Urban geomorphology as a tool to evaluate coastal variations in historical times. An example from the Italian adriatic coastal cities

Riverbed morphological dynamics are the result of the complex interaction between natural and human factors, at both local and regional scale. The study of these dynamics is essential to better understand the mechanisms that rule the functioning of fluvial systems, allowing predictions of their future evolution to be made and appropriate management measures to be taken, remediating the risks related to them. This work presents the geomorphological features related to the anthropic morphogenesis of the Peiros River catchment, NW Peloponnese, Greece, combined with the geo-hydrological hazards associated with bank retreats and floods. During Holocene, human groups almost continuously occupied the area. The archaeological finds consist of pottery and other traces of human activity (temples, baths, houses, etc.) that date from the Early Helladic to the Late Roman period (c. 3000 BC- 600 AD). The material was discovered over the floodplain superficially or at depths ranging from 1.5 to 3.2 m. The deepest buried finds were found under alluvial sediments, indicating that some floods potentially tied to paleoenvironmental and climatic variations occurred in the area. The study revealed that restriction of fluvial sediment supply, shoreline retreat, bank erosion and related riverbed migration took place over the last decade, that complies with the local tectonics of the area. The morphological changes are mainly attributed to human intervention, such as the construction of a dam and consolidation weirs that altered sediment and water fluxes. These factors combined with the climate change resulted in a dramatic alteration of the morphology in the area. These morphological changes, resulted in loss of property and boundary issues, and made the area vulnerable to flash flood events. Structures close to the coast are exposed to higher risk because of the shoreline retreat. No remediation measures have been taken so far, except for the installation of riprap of limited length and one groin, in an attempt to contrast the ongoing retreat process and reduce wave action. Other severe morphological changes were due to anthropogenic interventions related to urban sprawl and agriculture. Thus, anthropogenic modifications of the former landscape have been particularly widespread and pervasive over the coastline, the floodplain, and the slopes. They included a general alteration of the landforms, channelization of riverbeds, and slopes terracing. The output of this research is a large-scale map, which allowed us to assess the existing relationships among structures and infrastructures, anthropogenic landforms, erosion processes and flood-prone areas. Thus, this tool provided relevant information for land-use planning and land management, in particular under the perspective of geo-hydrological hazards reduction.

Peri-urban geomorphology in Western Patraikos Gulf area associated with Peiros River evolution (NW Peloponnese, Hellas)

Despite the variety of cultural approaches, delineating the geographical boundaries of urban areas is a complex task. The simplest solution is using administrative boundaries instead of using criteria based on presence/absence of population, or of alternative proxies of human presence. Administrative boundaries, though, do not necessarily represent human presence, nor geomorphological settings. This work analyzes the urban boundaries, proposed by Alvioli (2020) for the whole of Italy, with the geological and geomorphological features in Umbria, Central Italy. Urban areas – namely, “natural cities” - were delineated with a parameter-free method based the head/tail breaks of areas related to human mobility, using open data for settlements and road networks. Umbria is an excellent example of the geomorphological evolution resulting from the compressive and successive tectonic phases occurred in central Italy, showing a strong correlation between human settlements and morphological setting (Della Seta et al., 2017). We found that the factors showing the most relevant correlations with urban areas are the geological and geomorphological settings. A weighted spatial analysis in GIS, and comparison of the geological and geomorphological features with existing urban areas, identified “geomorphological corridors” as promising geographical areas for development of mobility infrastructures. In addition, the resulting areas may be analyzed considering both natural risks and natural resources. The susceptibility to earthquake, flooding and landslide events may be measured as well as areas characterized by a high value of geoheritage resources. These negative and positive characteristics of a geographic area can decrease or increase their attitude to human presence. Therefore, the geomorphological units can suggest not only the best location and the best position for new urban areas but also the landscape management for a sustainable and environmentally friendly future. In the post-Covid19 era, finding new ways of living beyond urban sprawl seems a mandatory task, and the approach presented here may relevant to single out new areas for urban development.

Urban areas and geological and geomorphological setting in Central Italy

This century is the “century of the cities”, where rapid urbanization and greater global connection present unprecedented urban challenges and concentrates risk in urban areas making them increasingly vulnerable (Coaffee & Lee, 2016). The need arises for urban planning must be asked to fully incorporate an understanding of the sub-surface into the deliberation/decision-making process (Howard, 1997). The Urban Geo Footprint (UGF) is classification tool being developed by a sub-group of the Urban Geology Expert Group of EuroGeoSurvey (UGEG) and it is based on a multidisciplinary effort in which different skills and expertise come into play. The main objective of this project is to set up a classification method to identify the main geological and anthropic features that influence city's resilience related to its geological setting. A tool is being developed in order to clustering cities according to their geological and climatic features and to understand why target urban contexts have different issues (e.g. climate change, floods), and thus to assess the cities’ geo-resilience. The UGF will help cities to understand what ‘economic’ and ‘social well-being’ benefits (i.e. in terms of ‘geological resilience’) could derive from urban planning associated with subsoil knowledge. The salient features required for this tool are: - It must be user-friendly and easy to use by scientists and non-scientists - It must be available at European level (and maybe, once is tested in Europe, it could be extended worldwide). The following main 5 drivers are defined in the tool: Geology, Climate, Geohazards, Geomorphology, Subsoil anthropic pressure. The assessment method of UGF tool will consist in testing it with data of different EU pilot-cities. The work in progress is developing a complex worksheet (which can be defined as the UGF framework ) with several quantitative parameters related to the 5 drivers mentioned above. All these parameters are going to be indexed (using scores) and weighted based on two levels of investigation: “basic” and “advanced”. The final result for each city is a general UGF score that will be the combination of all the drivers specific scores. Each tested city will be classified also by the weight of each driver in the calculation. Other objectives of the project are: - Contributing to develop a method for the comparison of data from different cities and update all existing database. - Improving the European collaboration and, therefore, the exchange of ideas on good practices to increase cities’ resilience. - Improving citizens' awareness of both the resources and the threats associated with geology.

Preliminary activities aimed to cluster EU cities by a geological point of view: The Urban Geo Footprint tool

The present work describes SecureGeoStreet (SGS), a cyberinfrastructure entirely built in a GIS environment and accessible from many platforms such as pc, tablet, and smartphones. SGS provides a geological risk value to all segments of a road network of an area, through a semi-automated procedure.  Focused on the case study of Giarre municipality (eastern Sicily - Italy), this work is based on the calculation of several types of geo-hazard and their interaction with exposure. About geo-hazards, the analysis of geological and hydrological issues, geomorphological instability, and tectonic evidence have been performed; the identification of critical areas was done through the collection of bibliographic data from online databases, such as the IFFI project, the PAI cartography, and the Civil Protection Department database, and also through the creation of derived ancillary maps like TIN model, hillshade, slope and aspect charts.  The geo-hazard evaluation has been enriched by the interpretation of Persistent Scatterers (PSInSAR), obtained through the Rheticus® Displacement service by processing the Sentinel-1 images (from October 2014 to June 2018). The average velocity along the line-of-sight (LOS) and the displacements time-series were considered in order to identify the ground instability phenomena. The exposure corresponds here to the vehicle flow density per road. This value was calculated starting from two models: the first one, based on a source-destination matrix, derived from a demographic map and all points of interest, weighted according to their level of attractiveness; the second one, based on Google Traffic data, takes into account the traffic variability at different times in each day of the week. The workflow automation leads to the risk maps as well as to their web-interactive deployment, allowing at the same time, to select those road segments most susceptible to vulnerability monitoring.  The geoprocessing steps have been significantly automated creating 32 toolboxes through the use of ArcGIS Model Builder and the integration of some original Python scripts, guaranteeing the replicability in other areas and the possibility to update the risk-maps continuously over time.  Finally, the exploitation of the final risk maps has been made available online through a series of WebGIS solutions such as OGC (WMS and WFS) and KML services, cartographic previews through OpenLayers scripts, an ArcGIS Online geoportal, three Android apps, and a website with interactive maps. SGS end-users are private companies and public administrations, which can receive immediate support for the monitoring and territorial planning phases as well as mitigate the risk in the road network.

SecureGeoStreet: a semi-automatic approach of risk assessment for road network

In 2018, ISPRA, Geological Survey of Italy, with the intent to coordinate all geological institutions, created the Italian Net of Geological Surveys. This is a connecting structure between the Geological Survey of Italy and all Regional technical institutions, Autonomous Provinces and ARPA. The operative structure dictates the establishing of round-table discussions, namely Tables, dealing with geological themes. The Table concerned with geological heritage compares the experiences of 18 Italian Regions and one Autonomous Province in the field of the knowledge and protection of regional geological heritage. Currently, the advancement of different regions is distinctly disparate. This is especially in the inventory of geosites, which is the basic instrument for the study of geoheritage. Hence, the Table, based on the experience of each region in safeguarding geosites, designated a small group to redact guidelines, both technical and practical. These guidelines are to be used in local inventory and to safeguard and promote regional geosites. The debate considered geosites as geological assets to be safeguarded, as they are representative of “geodiversity” rather than “cultural heritage,” as designated in the Urbani Code. Moreover, it offered the opportunity to separate the term “landscape” and the term "geosite". In the past, when there was a lack of specific laws, the term allowed to safeguard geosites using the planning and legislation that regulated cultural and environmental heritage (Urbani Code, territorial and landscape planning). Today however, this term appears limiting. In the National Inventory of Geosites (ISPRA), geosites are currently considered of international, national, regional and local interest. This classification is based on scientific criteria and it is then combined with the distinction based on the prevalent geological characteristics of each site. This distinction determines that a geosite can be categorised as geomorphological, paleontological, etc. This framework determines that the sole term “geosite” should be used, defining said geosite afterwards, using its prevalent scientific characteristic (i.e. geomorphological geosite, palaeontological geosite, etc). Other terms present in literature, such as “geomorphosites,” “archeogeosites” and “geological emergencies,” should be abandoned. In accordance with the European Tables, it is necessary to examine the identification and classification criteria of the Global Geosites Project, so as to verify its applicability to the Italian situation. The method defines the categories of geosites of international, national and regional level and dictates the identification of geological frameworks. The geosites are recognised in the light of such frameworks through the field work of specialists. Still recognising the validity of the method, in hindsight it becomes comparatively difficult to apply. An initial version of these guidelines for the identification and characterization of Italian geosites has also been drawn.

Sharing of the criteria and methodology for the management of the national geological heritage

The Taburno-Camposauro Regional Park extends for almost 137 km2 in the internal areas of Campania. The park includes the mountain ranges that give it its name, which are located in the southern segment of the Apennine chain, as well as their foothills. Belonging to this segment is evident from the geological history, which can be read in the outcrops of the rocks, in the form of the landscape and in the surface and underground waters present in this area. The same history of man, who has frequented these places from very long times, seems to be embedded in these characteristics, indeed over the centuries man has appreciated the advantages of using these assets. In fact, as it was not possible to detect in the eastern Camposauro, the beauty of the shallow marine limestone outcrops of the middle Cretaceous. In that period these limestones were found suddenly emerged and therefore subject to phenomena of atmospheric degradation, so they were altered and corroded. The filling of the cracks and cavities with residual deposits has caused these rocks to assume polychrome colours mostly of various shades of red. Soon they became the object of mining, and today these worked stones, called "marbles", adorn the monumental buildings not only in Italy (Caserta, Naples, Rome), but also abroad (France, England and even Russia). But how can we forget among the geological assets, the richness of the widespread karst forms of the Taburno and Camposauro. Those present on the highest plateaus are represented by sinkholes and polje, which are still frequented today by flocks and herds of one of the oldest activities in these territories: the breeding. While, the numerous caves that open on their slopes, not always entirely attributable to karst phenomena, were places of worship and devotion, or a refuge for shepherds, brigands and hermits. Today in some of them we recognize the "footprints" they left behind (eg the 12th century rock paintings). Another aspect that should not be underestimated is water. In addition to the numerous small springs scattered almost everywhere in the Park area and the hydrographic network that diverges from the reliefs to extend to the surrounding plains to feed the precious crops of the territory, the water spring of the south-eastern side Taburno known since Roman times. They were once so abundant that they fed the western coastal areas with monumental aqueducts, also recognized by UNESCO. These geological assets, mentioned above, are just some of those present in the Park heritage, which could be enhanced to ensure not only their protection, but the development of economic and tourist activities in an internal area. In fact, the position of this area places it in constant marginalization. Such enhancement integrated by the variety of ecosystems as well as other cultural, gastronomic and intangible heritages in the Taburno-Camposauro Regional Park could represent a real development opportunity for the present and for future generations.

The Urban Park “Tevere alla Magliana” (Rome) as a natural laboratory for the teaching and dissemination of Natural Sciences in the context of the Agenda2030 for Sustainable Development

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