Search

The Campania Plain, southern Italy, formed as a large graben or half-graben filled with thousands of meters of Quaternary sediments. Of particular interest is the recognition of an important stratigraphic marker, the Campania Grey Tuff (CGT) deposits (39 ka B.P.) during one of the last explosive eruptions of the Campi Flegrei, a complex volcanic system along the Tyrrhenian margin of the plain. The CGT blanketed the whole area and filled morphological depressions, dipping gently towards the central region of the plain, giving origin to a thick, laterally continuous, volcaniclastic unit that covered previous marine-transitional settings, whose landforms controlled the facies distribution and post-depositional settings of the CGT deposits. Since 39 ky, most of the Campania Plain became a land area. Following the eustatic regression associated with the LGM sea-level drop, a seaward shift of the shoreline and the forced regression of paralic-shallow marine depositional systems concurrently occurred, while the rivers flowing in the inner plain likely started fluvial downcutting with formation of a major incised valley. The surface underlying the regressive phase associated to the sea level drop is clearly recognizable across the plain as it is cut in the ignimbrite deposits. The reconstruction of this surface was based on geological and geophysical data, including stratigraphic well logs and high-resolution single channel reflection profiles to image the stratigraphic pattern of the continental shelf. The 3D representation has shown the morphology of the palaeovalley developed during the LGM. The valley is characterized by a complex structure likely related to channel entrenchment and aggradation. Two main downcuttings occur in correspondence of the modern Volturno River course and the Regi Lagni Channel (formerly Clanio River). The Volturno river likely flowed almost in the present location and received the waters of the Agnena Canal (formerly the Cales River, to north) before the deepest part of the incision located close to the present-day delta area. The Clanio River came from the east, conditioned by an older volcanic dome, and created a wide bend in the plain, entering the deep incision south of the mouth of the current Volturno River. The reconstructed surface actually suggests the occurrence of a complex network of incisions that supports the reconstruction of a channel entrenchment on the plain and especially towards the coastline, which at that time was located ca. 13 km offshore. Above this surface, large remobilization of volcaniclastic material took place during the re-establishment of the fluvial system, witnessed by the abundance of reworked pyroclastic ash and clasts recognized in the alluvial deposits of the medium-upper part of the valley fill. Previous radiocarbon dating indicated that the valley started to form at ca. 37 ka B.P. The onset of the LGM renewed fluvial downcutting leaving the previously formed terraces ca. 10 m above the valley floor. These deposits occur in the subsurface below the present delta plain and have their offshore equivalent in the thick succession of upper Pleistocene prograding units deposited during the Falling Stage of the sea level (FSST), bounded at the top by the erosional surface.

Coastal areas have become increasingly vulnerable to groundwater salinization, especially in the last century, due to the combined effects of climate change and growing anthropization. In this study, a novel methodology named GALDIT-SUSI was applied in the floodplain of the Volturno River mouth for the current (2018) and future (2050) evaluation of seawater intrusion accounting for the expected subsidence and groundwater salinization rates. Several input variables such as digital surface model, land use classification, subsidence rate and drainage system have been mapped via remote sensing resources. The current assessment highlights how areas affected by salinization coincide with the semiperennial lagoons and inland depressed areas where paleosaline groundwaters are present. The future assessment (2050) shows a marked increase of salinization vulnerability in the coastal strip and in the most depressed areas. The results highlight that the main vulnerability driver is the Revelle index, while predicted subsidence and recharge rates will only slightly affect groundwater salinization. This case study indicates that GALDIT-SUSI is a reliable and easy-to-use tool for the assessment of groundwater salinization in many coastal regions of the world.

A significant rise of groundwater pollution has been registered worldwide, where nitrate has been recognized as the most widespread pollutant. In this context, the groundwater vulnerability assessment and more specifically the delineation of &ldquo, Nitrate Vulnerable Zones&rdquo, represents a reliable cost-effective tool for groundwater management. In this study, the Agricultural Nitrate Hazard Index (ANHI) method was applied to two case histories in southern Italy: the Lete River catchment and the eastern sector of the Campania Plain. The first area is characterized by agricultural activities and a low anthropic influence while the eastern part of the Campania Plain, around Caserta city, is strongly urbanized and developed on an extensive alluvial plain filled with volcaniclastic deposits. The parametric method applied suggests moderate hazard for the more natural setting highlighting how the intensive crop farming and livestock activities that characterized the area negatively influenced the results. For the eastern part of the Campania Plain, where a strong urbanization and widespread industrial crops are dominant, a low to very low hazard has been identified. The groundwater quality value, in contrast with the methodology results underlines the importance of further risk evaluations based on accurate aquifer characterization. A multiple year assessment based on land use change and climate variation could further highlights the difference between the study areas.

Deltaic coastal areas are often formed by a piecemeal of transitional wetland environments. These environments consist of wetland-aquifer systems, which commonly react rapidly to climate changes. Direct evaporation from surface water bodies like lakes, wetlands and lagoons will increase due to temperature increase leading to salt accumulation. To understand the hydrological exchanges between the transitional coastal wetlands of the Variconi oasis, the unconfined aquifer of the Volturno River Delta and the Tyrrenian Sea, the contributions of various processes were monitored and assessed. Physical-chemical parameters like salinity, pH, Eh and temperature were monitored during the hydrological year 2016-2017 on a monthly basis. Moreover, the use of groundwater and surface water equivalent freshwater heads, along with hydraulic conductivity tests and the geological architecture, permitted to connect the salinity variations in the wetlands with the degree of the hydraulic connection between the wetlands, the Volturno River, the Tyrrenian Sea and the coastal aquifer. The results show that the permanent wetlands fed by both the Volturno River and the Tyrrenian Sea, show a smoothed salinity peak during the summer season; while the ephemeral wetlands hydraulically disconnected from the aquifer show high salinity peaks during the summer season due to evapoconcentration processes. Spatial mapping of salinity and other measured parameters, highlighted an elevated heterogeneity of environments (from saline to freshwater environments) enclosed in the Variconi oasis. This in turn, induced a large biodiversity of both autochthonous and migratory species. Despite of this, the projected increase in salinity of these wetlands due to coastal erosion, augmented evapotranspiration rates and sea level rise, could be of serious concern for the above-mentioned biodiversity, thus monitoring and management strategies are urgently required to preserve this and other oasis in the Mediterranean area that are key sites employed as stop-over along migratory routes.

all’estrazione del tufo vulcanico. Nel 1999 il Comune ha realizzato un primo censimento di alcune cavità raccogliendo dati e planimetrie delle stesse. Si vuole qui presentare la realizzazione di un Sistema Informativo Territoriale che miri ad informatizzare le informazioni preesistenti implementate con nuovi rilievi speditivi 3D georeferenziati, al fine di disporre di uno strumento conoscitivo aggiornato. La necessità deriva dal fatto che negli anni la continuità del sistema caveale è stata spesso interrotta (a) da cedimenti nelle volte, soprattutto in corrispondenza di condotti verticali, per effetto delle mutate condizioni di stabilità che hanno determinato fenomeni di dissesto (anthropogenic sinkhole), (b) per occlusione con detriti o (c) da pareti divisorie erette in corrispondenza di cambi di proprietà in superficie. Un siffatto strumento di gestione dei dati oltre a migliorare la conoscenza, la documentazione e il recupero di importanti testimonianze, che, diversamente, rischierebbero di scomparire, rappresenta un sistema efficiente di prevenzione del rischio idrogeologico. In the subsoil of the historic center of Sant’Arpino, in the Campania Plain, there is a wide network of quarries and cavities linked to the extraction of volcanic tuff. In 1999 the Municipality carried out a first register concerning the occurrence of cavities, accompanied by planimetric information of the same. Aim of the present work is to design a GIS project to manage all the existing information by implementing them with georeferenced 3D surveys, in order to have an updated management tool. The need derives from the fact that over the years the continuity of the cavity system has often been interrupted (I) by collapse of the roof, above all in correspondence of vertical access point excavated in poorly lithified or loose deposits (anthropogenic sinkhole), (II) by occlusion with debris or (III) by division with walls erected to separate the property. The new dataset allowed the update of the density map of the cavities and represents an important management tool for the evaluation of the hydrogeological risks and the areas prone to the formation of anthropogenic sinkholes.

In the Mediterranean area, several alluvial coastal plains, developed after the Holocene transgression, are affected by subsidence. The Volturno alluvial-coastal plain, along the eastern Tyrrhenian Sea (southern Italy) is characterized by subsidence rates determined through InSAR data analysis and ranging between 0 and &lt, −20 mm/year in an area of about 750 kmq across the Volturno River. Inside this area, the pattern of subsidence shows sites with apparently anomalous localized subsidence. To understand the driving mechanisms of this process, a lithostratigraphic reconstruction was provided focusing on the spatial distribution of the horizons considered weak by a geotechnical point of view, then, the subsidence map was overlain spatially with geological data in a Geographic Information System (GIS) environment. The spatial analysis highlighted the major ground deformation occurring within the outer boundary of the incised paleo-valley, corresponding to the Holocene alluvial/transitional filling that overlies a compaction-free Pleistocene basement. Inside this general trend, differential compaction was detected corresponding to the thick occurrence of clay and peat deposits, suggesting that the subsidence rate registered in the plain are due in part to the consolidation of primary settlements of soft and compressible soils that characterize the subsoil of these areas, and in large part to the secondary consolidation settlements.

Coastal freshwater resources are commonly under high risk of being contaminated from seawater. The main processes that affect seawater intrusion are groundwater overexploitation, land use change, and climate change effects. In this context coastal lagoons represent the more sensitive environments prone to seawater intrusion. Numerical modelling is a useful tool to understand and predict seawater intrusion. In this study, a three-dimensional SEAWAT model is employed to simulate the seawater intrusion to coastal aquifers of Variconi Oasis (Italy). The present simulation was divided into a calibration and a validation model, then the model was used to predict the salinization trend up to 2050. Results show the role of the sea in salinizing the beach front, while the retrodunal environment is characterized by transitional environments. Future seawater intrusion scenarios considering only climate data showed no significative differences in respect to the actual situation. The same happens considering also a low sea level rise prediction. On the contrary, the worst scenario (high sea level rise prediction), depicts a quite different situation, with a saline intrusion in the Variconi oasis that will severely affect the fragile transitional ecosystem. This modelling framework can be used to quantify the effects of climate changes in similar coastal environments. Coastal freshwater resources are commonly under high risk of being contaminated from seawater. The main processes that affect seawater intrusion are groundwater overexploitation, land use change, and climate change effects. In this context coastal lagoons represent the more sensitive environments prone to seawater intrusion. Numerical modelling is a useful tool to understand and predict seawater intrusion. In this study, a three-dimensional SEAWAT model is employed to simulate the seawater intrusion to coastal aquifers of Variconi Oasis (Italy). The present simulation was divided into a calibration and a validation model, then the model was used to predict the salinization trend up to 2050. Results show the role of the sea in salinizing the beach front, while the retrodunal environment is characterized by transitional environments. Future seawater intrusion scenarios considering only climate data showed no significative differences in respect to the actual situation. The same happens considering also a low sea level rise prediction. On the contrary, the worst scenario (high sea level rise prediction), depicts a quite different situation, with a saline intrusion in the Variconi oasis that will severely affect the fragile transitional ecosystem. This modelling framework can be used to quantify the effects of climate changes in similar coastal environments.

The Late Quaternary geological evolution of the northern Campania Plain was affected by the volcanic activity of the Phle-grean Field. The geological features of the Campania Grey Tuff (CGT, ~39 Ky), deposited on the whole Campania Plain, were recon-structed along a transect from the northern boundary of the metropolitan area of Naples up to Caserta. Since the tuff has good mechani-cal properties, it was involved since historical times in an extensive mining activity, from which a very dense network of quarries and underground cavities was inherited, strongly related to the lithofacies distribution. We provided a first geological underground database of the metropolitan area of Caserta, north of Naples, and analyzed the hazard aspects related to the mining activities.

Analysis of historical cartography, wind direction data, orientation of Volturno River mouth and shoreline changes through time point out a series of morphological changes due both to natural and man-induced processes, which occurred along the Domitia coast (Litorale Domitio) since the second half of the 50s. Meteorological time series analysis showed evidence of a change in wind frequency and direction before and after the second half of the 70s, with almost complete disappearance of wind calm periods. Particularly, after 1975, the angle of wave attack had changed and intensity and frequency increased, thus accelerating coastal erosion in some areas. The morphological response to these environmental changes, likely due to global warming and short climatic crises interacting with anthropic modifications of landscape, resulted in different orientation of the Volturno River mouth which rotated from NW (between the 50s and 70s) to SW (from the mid-70s until the present). Moreover, the NW-SE littoral drift caused a clockwise rotation of the entire coastal segment with fulcrum pole close to the river mouth, since the 50s. These findings may allow the assessment of land-use scenarios tuned with evolution trends in order to properly address planning of these reactive and dynamic landscapes.

The Pinetamare Marina, located SE of the mouth of the Volturno River and the Regi Lagni Canal (southern Italy), is interested by silting phenomena due to longshore transport of fluvial sediments. To eliminate this severe problem, the design of the new Marina includes the construction of a sediment trap, placed perpendicular to the breakwater, to prevent the accumulation of the sand sediments at the marina entrance. To study the efficiency of this solution, experiments were performed through a physical model in a wave basin, with appropriate scaling of the geometric characteristics and of the hydrodynamic processes. The experimental tests highlighted that the trap is able to intercept sediments and to mitigate the port silting for about two years, after which it is necessary to dredge the accumulated sand sediments. These sediments are used to compensate the erosion of the beaches downstream the breakwater.

This paper focused on the past shoreline change rates along the coastal plain of the Volturno River, in southern Italy, western Mediterranean. A wide database comprising historical maps, aerial photographs, topographic sheets, bathymetric data was used to extract the spatial and temporal information of the coastlines at seven time points. Coastline displacement was calculated for two successive time points and relative surface variation (accretion and erosion) was estimated as well as minimum and maximum accretion/erosion linear values and rates. The surface variation analysis has revealed that the studied coast can be considered homogeneous since the 1970s, whereas it exhibits a variety of shoreline evolutionary trends after that time period. Timing and causes of trends and rates of variation were detected. Based on the estimated shoreline change rates, an appropriate morhodynamic one-line model was applied to predict evolutionary scenarios also in presence of port and defence works. The results obtained strongly emphasize that a successful coastal management requires a constant monitoring of the human-induced changes to account for the variability of rates over time.

Lake Patria is a mesoaline coastal lagoon that develops along the coastal zone of the Volturno River plain (Campania, South Italy). The lagoon is a saline to brackish water body, ca. 2.0 long, and 1.5 km wide, with an average water depth of 1.5 m, reaching a maximum of ca. 3.0 m. The freshwater input into the lagoon is provided by a series of fresh to brackish water channels and small springs, landwards, while a permanent connection with the Tyrrhenian Sea is provided by a channel, 1.5 km long and a few meters wide. Drilling data from 12 boreholes acquired in the study area indicate that Lake Patria is a man-modified remnant of a larger lagoonal area that developed during the last millennia along the Campania coastal zone within an alluvial delta system at the mouth of the paleo-Volturno River. Sedimentological and stratigraphic analyses of drill cores suggest that the lower Volturno delta plain developed in the last 6000 years. Depositional conditions during this period were dominated by flood-plain and alluvial plain settings, with transition to coastal bars and associated back-barrier coastal lagoons. Lake Patria started evolving at an early stage of the Volturno delta plain formation as a consequence of foreshore deposits damming-up by littoral drift. The first marine layers display a radiocarbon age of ca. 4.8 ka BP and overlie a substrate represented by volcaniclastic deposits, originated by the Campi Flegrei, and associated paleosols. The lagoonal succession cored at Lake Patria may be interpreted as the result of a dynamic equilibrium between marine influence and riverine input into the lagoonal system through time, and has been tentatively correlated with the major climatic changes that occurred during Mid–Late Holocene. Insights into the recentmost evolution of the coastal lagoon of Lake Patria are provided by the GIS-based analysis of the physiographic changes of the region conducted on a series of historical topographic maps dating back to the early XVII century. Particularly, the superposition of historical cartography reveals the secular trends in the change of coastal environments and the role of human modification of natural habitats over the last 400 years.

This study attempts to assess the aquifer vulnerability in the northeastern sector of the Campania Plain (southern Italy). The area is a highly populated region with anthropic impacts caused by rapid urban growth, quarrying, agricultural and industrial activities and uncontrolled waste storage. The main geologic feature of this plain is the alternation of alluvial/transitional and volcaniclastic deposits of Late Pleistocene-Holocene age. The study was performed integrating different sets of geologic and environmental data to restore the stratigraphic architecture and to assess anthropic impacts on subsoil. The reconstruction of stratigraphic subsurface architecture was based on remarkable geodatabase, concerning well log stratigraphies. Specific insights have been delineated on the volcaniclastic lithofacies heteropies across the entire area of study to highlight the differences in lithification degree and permeability. The contribution of pedogenesis on the reconstruction of the stratigraphic setting was also considered for the relative implications on groundwater quality concerns, as paleosols are usually regarded as aquitards. All of this information has been managed into a GIS project to produce a detailed 3D geological reconstruction, integrated with hydrogeological information to provide a model of the aquifer under study, highlighting sites of greater vulnerability to pollution. The anthropic impacts on subsoil were assessed by evaluating land-uses and overlaying the ANHI (Agricultural Nitrate Hazard Index) Map. The integration of the above datasets has allowed to check the reliability of the previsional empirical model with respect to the hydrostratigraphic model based on a thorough stratigraphic model and to verify the real potential of contamination. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Article history:Received 30 January 2012Received in revised form 1 August 2012Accepted 5 October 2012Available online 17 October 2012Editor: G.J. WeltjeKeywords:Incised valleySequence stratigraphyForaminifer and ostracod analysisVolturno RiverQuaternary Extensive illustration of depositional facies, ostracod and foraminiferal assemblages, and Late Quaternarystratigraphic architecture is offered for the first time from beneath the modern coastal plain of VolturnoRiver, the longest river in southern Italy. Proximity to an active volcanic district, including quiescent VesuviusVolcano, provides an easily identifiable stratigraphic marker (Campania Grey Tuff or CGT), up to 55 m thick,emplaced39 ky cal BPbyalarge-volumeexplosivepyroclasticeruption.IdentificationoftopCGTtoamaximumdepthof30 mallowstracingouttheshapeofa15–20 kmwideLateQuaternarypalaeovalleyincisedbyVolturnoRiver into the thick ignimbritic unit immediately after its deposition. A terraced palaeotopography of the valleyflanksisreconstructedonthebasisofcoredata.Abovethebasalfluvialdeposits,theearlyHolocenetransgressivefacies consist of asuite of estuarine (freshwater to brackish) deposits. These are separated from overlyingtransgressive barrier sands by a distinctive wave ravinement surface. Upwards, a distinctive shallowing-upward succession of middle–late Holocene age is interpreted to reflect initiation and subsequent progradationof a wave-dominated delta system, with flanking strandplains, in response to reduced rate of sea-level rise. Theturnaround from transgressive to highstand conditions is identified on the basis of subtle changes in themeiofauna.Theseenabletrackingofthemaximumfloodingsurfaceintoitsupdip(lagoonal/estuarine)counterpart,thus highlighting the role of refined palaeontological criteria as a powerf ul tool for high-resolution sequence-stratigraphic studies.© 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Volturno Plain is one of the largest alluvial plains of peninsular Italy, which is one of the most susceptible plains to coastal hazards. This area is characterized by both natural and human-induced subsidence. This present study is based on the post-processing, analysis and mapping of the available Persistent Scatterer interferometry datasets. The latter were derived from the combination of both ascending and descending orbits of three different radar satellite systems during an observation period of almost two decades (June 1992–September 2010). The main output of this study is a map of vertical deformation, which provides new insights into the areal variability of the ground deformation processes (subsidence/uplift) of Volturno plain over the last few decades. The vertical displacement values obtained by the post-processing of the interferometric data show that the Volturno river plain is characterized by significant subsidence in the central axial sectors and in the river mouth area. Moderate uplift is detected in the eastern part of the plain, whereas other sectors of the study area are characterized by moderate subsidence and/or stability. On the basis of the analyzed subsoil stratigraphy, we inferred that the subsidence recorded in the Volturno plain is mainly a consequence of a natural process related to the compaction of the fluvial and palustrine deposits that form the alluvial plain. The anthropic influences (e.g., water exploitation, urbanization) are substantially considered to be an additional factor that may enhance subsidence only locally. The uplift mapped in the eastern sector of the plain is related to the tectonic activity. The study of the subsidence in the Volturno plain is a valuable tool for river flood analyses and the assessment of the coastal inundation hazards and related risk mitigation.

The Late Cretaceous shallow-water depositional areas of southern Tethys were complexes of unprotected shelves occupied by foramol assemblages that produced loose, diagenetically stable bioclastic debris not involved in significant in situ cementation processes. Both storm- and wind-induced currents and waves exercised a strong control on the distribution of the shifting biogenic sediments which covered the open sea-floor, constituting large coalescing sheets of winnowed fine to coarse skeletal sands. Rudists spread over all shelf sectors, from more open and external areas to more internal ones, occupying different substrata and furnishing the bulk of the skeletal component by means of bioerosion processes. They colonised mobile sediments giving rise to complex bodies with peculiar characteristics related to environmental parameters of the different sectors of the shelf. On the basis of detailed sedimentological, taphonomic and palaeontological data, we recognised two main rudist-rich depositional settings ('end members') in the southern Italy Senonian rudist-bearing successions. In successions pertaining to hypothesised marginal shelf sectors, characterised by high-energy regime deposits, rudist lithosomes are metric in thickness and lateral extent and lens-like in morphology.. rich in bioerosion-derived skeletal sand and silt. Rudists are highly diversified. Large elongated cylindro-conical hippuritids (mostly pertaining to the genera Hippurites and Vaccinites), thick-shelled radiolitids and plagioptychids largely dominate. Rudists clustered in life position are subordinate; they often form small bouquets. More commonly these organisms appear fallen but only barely reworked. The rudist-rich bodies laterally pass into clean bioclastic grainstone in which sedimentary structures, related to current and/or storm erosional action, are common. No evidence of significant original relief of the rudist bodies in respect of the neighbouring sediment can be recognised. The submarine erosion and/or the high-energy processes operating presumably inhibited the aggradation of the tidal sediments above the marginal ones. As a consequence the vertical facies organisation shows widespread subtidal cycles, as commonly recognised in open shelves with ramp-like morphologies. In successions pertaining to more internal and/or low-energy sectors, rudist-rich beds rhythmically alternate with finer-grained foraminiferal limestones. Small elevator radiolitids with oligospecific diversity are dominant, mostly concentrated in clumps. Rudists in growth position are abundant, although a large quantity of shells appear toppled with little reworking. They may form laterally continuous biostromal shell beds. Sedimentary structures such as cross-lamination and gradation are only occasionally present. The resulting facies are commonly arranged in peritidal/shallow subtidal cycles in which evidence of subaerial (up to pedogenic modifications on a large and small scale) and, less frequently, submarine exposure is common. Intermediate successions have been recognised, characterised by deposits of silty-sand plains, which present intercalations of graded, bioclastic, storm-related beds. Sedimentological characteristics seem to document more open conditions in which submarine erosion was intermittently prevalent. In these successions rudist species that are commonly found both in high-energy and low-energy assemblages coexist. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Upper Cretaceous limestones of the Sorrento Peninsula are primarily characterized by wackestone/packstone with benthic foraminifers, thaumatoporellaceans and Aeolisaccus sp. and by rudist floatstones. Rudists in growth position are rare; most of them appear toppled and locally oriented but not reworked. In some cases they form small bouquets no more than 30 cm thick, The successions analyzed in the Sorrento Peninsula encompass a variety of facies representative of inner shelf environments in a ramp-like depositional setting. On the basis of lithologic and sedimentologic characteristics and on a qualitative analysis of the biofacies, three major facies associations have been recognized corresponding to: (a) intertidal silty-sand flats and shallow lagoons; (b) subtidal mobile foraminiferal sand sheets; (c) subtidal rudist dwelt sand plain. In the lower part of the successions periodic (more or less prolonged) emersions (subaqueous with fresh/brackish waters or subaerial exposure) are documented. The upper part of each succession lacks any emersion evidence; submarine exposure surfaces are testified by firmground-related features. The periodic influence of high-energy regimes (some storm-related events) is documented by wave- and cross-laminations, HCS and the lack of fine: sediments. Lithofacies are arranged in depositional cycles that may correspond to individual beds. The boundaries of the depositional cycles show evidence of subaerial or submarine exposures. The nature and position of these discontinuity surfaces in the successions provide an important clue to interpretation in terms of both depositional environment and vertical evolution. The increase in thickness of the depositional cycles and the gradual change from peritidal/shallow-subtidal cycles to dominantly subtidal cycles, document an increase in the amount of accommodation space which resulted from a long-term rise in relative sea-level. A detailed study of benthic associations (micro- and macrofauna) has been carried out in order to identify accurately further signs of periodicity contained within the successions as a whole. These Upper Cretaceous limestones are abundantly fossiliferous with only a moderately diverse fauna. There are no significant differences in terms of species, the assemblages simply reflecting differences in abundance of the same species. Taphonomic studies of rudist-rich beds permit seven major shell-bed types to be distinguished. Six main foraminiferal assemblages have been detected, and the distribution and relative abundance of the species have been examined within the environments inferred through facies analysis. The taphonomic data and the foraminiferal assemblage abundance and diversity, have been compared with lithologic and sedimentologic data in order to elucidate their distribution within depositional cycles and throughout the successions. The successions show little up-section changes in lithology and in taxonomic composition of the foraminiferal assemblages, It is therefore difficult to establish a paleoenvironmental trend independent of the rudist shell concentrations, which do change up-section. We noticed an overall increase in thickness and abundance of the shell beds and a shift in types of shell concentration and in taxonomic composition. These characteristics. associated with the upward disappearance of emersion surfaces, the higher frequency of storm and/or wave intercalations, the increase in thickness of the depositional sequences and the gradual change from peritidal/shallow-subtidal cycles to dominantly subtidal cycles, document a general deepening-upward trend.More open water conditions with a depth between fairweather and storm wave-base became established as a result of relative sea-level rise and to a consequent increase in the available accommodation space. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Senonian carbonate sediments rich in rudists are widespread throughout central-southern Italy. TheConiacian-Santonian series, analyzed in the Lattari Mountains (Sorrento Peninsula), are almost completely composed of limestones, with very subordinate dolomitic beds. On a field scale we can distinguish rudist-rich beds rhythmically alternating with finer-grained foraminiferal beds. The studied series testify to a deposition in shallow-sea environments. In the lower part of the series periodical, more or less prolonged emersions (subaqueous with fresh/brackish waters or subaerial exposure) are documented. The upper part of the series lacks emersion evidence; submarine exposure surfaces are testified by firmgrounds or hardgrounds. Wave- and cross-laminations, HCS and the lack of fine sediments document an overall deposition under influence of occasional high-energy water regimes with some storm-related events. The sedimentology and taphonomic signature of the rudist shell beds have been described in order to get a better understanding of depositional environment and the physical processes that controlled the Senonian sedimentation. Monospecific tabular beds mainly characterize the lower part of the series; more complex rudist concentrations, characterized by moderate species diversity, increase up-section. The recognized lithofacies are organized in shallowing-upward depositional cycles that show a gradual change from peritidal/shallow-subtidal cycles to dominantly subtidal cycles up-section; this change records a general deepening-upward trend as a possible result of an increase of the accommodation space provided by a relative sea-level rise, according to what is suggested for other coeval Apennine and Sardinia series.

The coastal region of Southern Italy’s Caserta province, known as the Litorale Domitio (Domitia coast) has been subjected to increasing pressure from unsustainably fast economic and urban growth in the last century, that resulted in a induced serious land degradation. To obtain a comprehensive picture of the ecological status of the Domitia coastal zone (Campania, Southern Italy), a holistic methodology has been applied. Sedimentological, geochemical, and biological analyses of the surface sediments and water samples were performed along the submerged beach. The data were integrated using a geographical information system, together with information on past and present land use and human activities along the coast and in inland regions. Heavy metal concentrations in sediments plus As and Se (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, V, Zn) and their enrichment factors, which are important for identifying polluted areas in countries like Italy (where environmental legislation has not yet established intervention limits), indicate excesses Cd, Cr, Pb, and V of probable anthropogenic origin. A microbiological contamination of marine waters has been detected by the Regional Environmental Protection Agency of Campania. The Bacteriological Quality Index map shows that bathing areas must be classified as “contaminated” and “highly contaminated”. High levels of chemical and biological contamination are particularly common in both bathing seawater and sediments along the coastal zone south of the Volturno River, where the existing wastewater treatment plant is not properly working, to date. Factory farming, which is widespread in the area, is likely to be an additional important source of contamination. In accordance with these conclusions, analyses of the benthic diatom community revealed dominance of eutrophic species.

The Cretaceous peri-Tethyan carbonate systems record alternating phases of vigourous development and rapid decay of the shallow-water carbonate factories. After reaching their maximum palaeogeographic extent during the early Bedoulian time, the carbonate factories underwent unhealt episodes in relation to well-known crisis events (OAE1). These events resulted in drowning episodes, as experienced in the northern Tethyan carbonate platforms, or in signals of water stress in the carbonate factories, evidenced by drastic changes in the floro-faunistic assemblages, as experienced in the carbonate platforms of the central-southern Tethyan belt. In interpreting the inception and decay of different carbonate depositional systems, climatic-oceanographic variations together with sea-level oscillations are commonly considered key elements. However, local tectonic controls cannot be ruled out. In attempts to discriminate among the main factors controlling the evolution of the southern Apennine mid-Cretaceous carbonate system, detailed analyses have been performed on Aptian-Albiano carbonate successions in the Matese Group (southern Apennines). Since the middle Aptian, the analysed successions suggest a scenario characterised by a complex, tectonically driven topography, replacing the previous large tropical shallow-water domain. From the Bedulian-Gargasian transition onwards, the analysed area evolved into subdomains characterised by diversified sedimentological trends. A tectonic control influenced the Gargasian evolution of the considered area with local evolution into small intraplatform basins bordered by channelised margins. Nevertheless, since the latest Bedulian onward, the studied successions register palaeoecological signals that cannot be linked exclusively with tectonic disturbance episodes because of the coeval appearance of analogous signals at a global scale, including a significant shift in the biological assemblages and an outbreak of organisms indicative of stress conditions in the water mass. The analysed Gargasian strata show impoverished biota: caprinids totally disappear, both as in situ and storm-related layer components, and hermatypic corals are drastically reduced. Muddy lithofacies prevail in intertidal metric cycles in which cyanobacterial consortia, both in the form of dense laminae and coalescent oncoids, orbitolinids and small gastropods (cerithiids) suggest restricted, nutrient-rich water. Large oncoids of Bacinella irregularis/Lithocodium aggregatus and mollusk (mostly oyster and gastropod) shell fragments significantly contribute to storm-related coarse skeletal intercalations, in which oligotrophic condition-adapted forms are reduced or absent. This pattern suggests generalised conditions of stress in the water mass and in more marginal open areas. Following the mid-Aptian unproductive episode, characterised by the flourishing of assemblages adapted to mesotrophic-eutrophic conditions, the studied southern Apennines shallow-water domain changed again, with a progressive reduction of the previous mainly aragonite-dominated chlorozoan assemblages and an increase of calcite-dominated skeletal components, including rudists with calcitic outer shell layers. Pioneer biota (e.g., cyanobacteria and polychetes) characteristically marked the first phases of recovery in the still-deteriorated shallow-water domains, rapidly evolving into more complex and differentiated assemblages. The outbreak of nerineid and acteonid gastropods seems to be related to a flourishing of cyanobacterial mats and related microphytae and also to the presence of polychetes. Moreover, the grazing activity of the nerineids favoured the flourishing of oysters and oyster-like condrodonta. Among the rudists, the persistence/radiation of rudist species adapted to a wide range of temperatures and that adopted functional strategies that allowed them to thrive in unstable, open, unsuitable sea bottoms such as Requieniidae and Monopleuridae as well as the first elevator Radiolitidae; this suggests some kind of oceanographic change (e.g., seawater chemistry and/or temperature changes). To date, the rudist ecological constraints have yet to be defined. Nevertheless, on the basis of the associated benthic floro-faunistic assemblage, we can infer the complex environmental parameters in which mesotrophic/eutrophic conditions, presumably coupled with cooler and locally oligophotic conditions, cooperatively modified carbonate factory characteristics.

Sulla base dello schema proposto da Di Stefano e Ruberti (2000) per i calcari cenomaniani affioranti in Sicilia, è qui proposto uno schema di facies per i calcari cenomaniani dell’Appennino centro-meridionale. L’architettura delle litofacies riconosciute suggerisce complesse relazioni tra aree marginali di alta energia su cui si instauravano patches a rudiste con i relativi detriti bioclastici, ed aree semiristrette e tidal flats. In più sono stati riconosciuti corpi sabbiosi variamente distribuiti. Una tettonica sinsedimentaria interessò, con intensità differenti, i substrati pre-cenomaniani delle successioni studiate. La risultante topografia, variabile in funzione del controllo tettonico, controllò a sua volta l’assetto deposizionale nel Cenomaniano.

This paper characterizes a low-energy, open-shelf setting by focusing on the sedimentary processes and biofacies of a Late Cretaceous, temperate-type open shelf in the southern Apennine nappes of Italy. The facies evolution of the related rudist-rich limestones takes into account the macrofossil characteristics and the microfaunal assemblages.The open-shelf depositional setting is interpreted by facies analysis. The facies are gradually transitional and the facies belts are broad, but wave-resistant biogenic frameworks are absent. Presumably the sea floor was characterized by a low bathymetric slope on which the wave energy was dissipated across a wide shelf, resulting in low-energy environments. Storm waves were damped by the wide, shallow bottom, and the fine fraction was not winnowed. Many rudists are in growth position, and those reworked are well preserved and commonly articulated. Different bathymetries and hydrodynamic conditions in two study areas, the Sorrento Peninsula and the northern Cilento, resulted in different biofacies and stratal geometries. In the Cilento area, high-energy currents such as tidal currents created a network of small channel-like depressions. Different rudist species colonized these channels and their margins. Rudists in growth position are rare, although reworked bivalves are commonly conjoined and the shells are pristine. In this subtidal facies key foraminifer species vary in abundance. The presence of marine open-shelf agglutinate forms supports the interpretation of a marine, high-energy shelf.In the Sorrento area, ephemeral subaerial exposure surfaces and pedogenic deposits indicate intertidal conditions and rudist facies indicate subtidal sandy shelf. The rudists formed monospecific to paucispecific assemblages. The foraminiferal assemblages are much more diversified than those in the Cilento successions, indicating small but meaningful oscillations in sub-environments.The rudist shell beds exhibit great taphonomic variability. The foraminiferal assemblages are characterized by distinct taxa such as abundant conical and discoidal agglutinate forms (Cuneolina and Dicyclina), thick-shelled evoluted Soritidae (Murgella, Scandonea, and Pseudorhapydionina), and larger, thicker ovoidal or subspherical Rotaliidae that indicate well-lit depositional environments with open water circulation and normal salinity, characterized by medium values of the hydrodynamic energy with scarce or no evidence of traction currents.

Shallow-water foramol limestones have been studied from a locality in the southern Apennines in which outcrop conditions show an excellent overview of the lateral and vertical evolution of rudist bodies and allow their geometry and the dynamic aspects to be reconstructed. The lithofacies suggest open depositional settings characterized by peloidal siltymuddy sediments. Rudists inhabited well-defined sectors of these shelves, giving rise to wide biostromal bodies, and supplied most of the skeletal debris via bioerosion and minor physical breakdown. In particular, the characteristics of rudist lithosomes document the existence of a complex network of channel-like depressions. In such a depositional context, the evolution of rudist lithosomes was controlled by the environmental hydrodynamic conditions. The resulting composite rudist assemblages are characterized by often-toppled individuals, suggesting continuous sediment removal between the organisms. The good preservation of the shells and the common articulation of the valves, however, point to an absence of sustained transport but rather a slight sediment destabilization. The gross lenticular geometry of the shell beds could be related to the above-mentioned patterns of weak, perhaps channelized, pathways. In such a depositional context, rudist colonization on channel margins assumes particular importance as it documents the rudist ability to exploit a wide array of environments, comparable to that of oysters in Recent seas, and reflecting the probable opportunistic nature of rudists. In the last few decades, several studies carried out on the Upper Cretaceous rudist-bearing carbonate sequences of the central-southern Apennines and northwestern Sardinia, Italy, have shown the inadequacy of the tropical, chlorozoan model applied to the depositional environment of these sequences: a ‘temperate-type’, foramol model was suggested by Carannante & Simone (1987) and Carannante et al. (1995, 1997, 1999) based on the nature of the skeletal grains, biological assemblages, lithofacies organization, sedimentary body geometries and responses to sea-level changes. Similar characteristics have been recognized, on a very large scale, in many other Upper Cretaceous rudist-bearing limestones cropping out in the periMediterranean region (cf. Gili et al. 1995; Moro 1997; Moro et al. 2002; Stossel & Bernoulli 2000; among others). Many complex factors controlled the inception, growth and demise of the carbonate factories and the sedimentary bodies they produced were related to the interplay between eustasy and tectonics in the sedimentation basin, plus ecological factors, which determined the delicate biological balance of the primary sediment producer assemblages (see Carannante et al. 1995, 1997; James & Clarke 1997; Weissert et al. 1998). The temperate-type carbonate depositional model led to critical reinvestigation of many Cretaceous carbonate sequences, characterized by the flourishing of opportunistic rudist-dominated communities. Previous studies allowed a possible sedimentary scenario to be reconstructed for the Upper Cretaceous shallow-water depositional areas, pertaining to the southern Tethys belt. According to recent papers, these depositional areas were complexes of unprotected shelves occupied by foramol assemblages that produced loose, diagenetically stable bioclastic debris not involved in significant in situ cementation processes. Both stormand wind-induced currents and waves exercised strong control on the distribution of the shifting biogenic sediments which covered the open seafloor, constituting large coalescing sheets of winnowed fine to coarse skeletal sands (cf. Simone et al. 2003). Rudists spread over all shelf sectors, from more open and external areas to more internal ones, occupying different substrata and providing the bulk of the skeletal component by means of bioerosion processes. They colonized mobile sediments giving rise to complex bodies with peculiar characteristics related to environmental conditions of the different sectors of the shelf. On the basis of detailed sedimentological, taphonomic and palaeontological data, two main rudist-rich depositional settings (‘end-members’) have been recognized in the central-southern Italy Senonian rudist-bearing successions (Carannante et al. 1993, 2001; Simone et al. 2003). The latter were characterized by contrasting current regimes (high energy vs. low energy; cf. Burchette & Wright 1992) which controlled development and growth of the rudist lithosomes (see also analogous observations in Stossel & Bernoulli 2000). The taphonomic and palaeoecological features of the rudist-dominated benthic communities have been analysed in limestones, showing that they were deposited in very different hydrodynamic conditions. Investigations have pointed out the differences in terms of anatomy of the rudist bodies and their relationship with the availability of accommodation space (cf. Simone et al. 2003, for a review). Several papers deal with the rudist-bearing marginal depositional settings (cf. Simone et al. 2003 and references therein) in which more or less frequent episodes of high energy (storm-related events) resulted in a complete reorganization of the depositional bodies and in which only a few of the organisms were able to keep their original position. Moreover, few papers deal with successions pertaining to more internal and/or lowenergy sectors, in which rudist-rich beds rhythmically alternate with finer-grained foraminiferal limestones (cf. Simone et al. 2003 and references therein). In these sequences, dominated by silt/ mud-rich lithotypes, small elevator radiolitids with oligospecific diversity are dominant. In the related depositional settings, the preservation of the original rudist congregations was associated with the in situ maintenance of the bioerosion-derived finer skeletal debris. Rudists in growth position are abundant, although also a large quantity of shells appears toppled with little reworking. They may form laterally continuous biostromal shell beds. Sedimentary structures such as cross-lamination and grading are present only occasionally. The resulting facies are arranged commonly in peritidal/ shallow subtidal cycles in which evidence of subaerial (up to pedogenic modifications on a large and small scale) and, less frequently, submarine exposure is common. Based on detailed observations, in such sedimentary contexts, peculiar areas have been identified corresponding to current pathways in a persistently subtidal setting (Carannante et al. 2003) which cannot be likened to well-described tide channels in tropical contexts. Several papers deal with temperate, high-energy, recent and ancient depositional systems (cf. James & Clarke 1997 for a review). Low-energy or protected, temperate, shallow-water systems have been described poorly and have come to international attention only recently (cf. Choi & Simo 1998; Gomez-Perez et al. 1998; Lukasik et al. 2000; Carannante et al. 2003; Pufahl et al. 2004). This paper sets out to describe such a peculiar shallow-water environment from late Cretaceous (post-Cenomanian) shallow-water foramol open shelves. A locality was selected in the southern Apennines in which outcrop conditions show an excellent overview of the lateral and vertical evolution of rudist bodies and allow the geometry and the dynamic aspect to be reconstructed.

Il presente lavoro rappresenta un contributo preliminare per la ricostruzione delle dinamiche territoriali avvenute in un settore della Piana Campana attraversata dal fiume Volturno nei dintorni di Capua tramite l’uso dei sistemi informativi geografici e il confronto dei risultati di indagini parallele su tematiche storico-letterarie, cartografiche, geologico-geomorfologiche e botaniche. Rappresentazioni cartografiche di tipo pre-geodetico, riferibili all’intervallo compreso tra la fine del 500 e la fine del 1700, e carte di tipo geodetico, che coprono il periodo che va dal 1800 al 1998, sono state acquisite, analizzate ed elaborate in ambiente GIS. Dalla sovrapposizione di tutte le carte sono stati evidenziati i maggiori cambiamenti della morfologia fluviale. Per un’ulteriore verifica di queste variazioni è stato realizzato un modello digitale del terreno derivato dai rilievi aereofotogrammetrici alla scala 1:2000. Tali analisi hanno evidenziato come, a macroscala, l’attuale configurazione di questo tratto del fiume sia stato condizionato dalle attività antropiche di regimentazione e di edificazione, cui si sono sovrapposti gli effetti delle variazioni naturali connesse a fattori climatici (Piccola Età Glaciale Arcaica; Piccola Età Glaciale Alto-medievale). Le grosse modificazioni indotte al corso fluviale principale, infatti, trovano plausibile spiegazione in eventi alluvionali rapidi e catastrofici che si sono susseguiti nella piana, come dimostrato dal record stratigrafico locale. Rilievi fisionomici-strutturali della vegetazione ripariale hanno inoltre permesso di caratterizzare le comunità vegetali presenti, fornendo utili indicazioni che sono state interpretate insieme ai dati di tipo gelogico, ottenendo una migliore comprensione della qualità ambientale dell’area indagata.

Studies carried out on Upper Cretaceous rudist-bearing carbonate sequences in the central-southern Apennines highlighted two main depositional settings characterized by different hydrodynamic behaviour: high-energy vs. low-energy settings. The purpose of the present paper is to provide an overview of the lithofacies and of the depositional geometries of Upper Cretaceous rudist-bearing limestones pertaining to the centralsouthern Apenninic carbonate successions, in which low-energy to intermittently perturbed conditions can be recognized. The depositional sites were characterized by a large-scale facies polarity. Under closer examination, a patchy distribution of the latter appears, often related to channelized systems or current pathways through rudist settlement areas. The resulting depositional successions are characterized by peloidal silty-muddy sediments with periodical intercalations of fundamentally porous, coarse bioclastic deposits, in a generally tabular stacking. These geometries appear of great interest in relation to the prediction of geometries and porosities of the coarse-grained sedimentary bodies that intercalate and/or laterally pass to fine-grained deposits.

Rudist bed type and distribution has been investigated in Upper Cretaceous limestones cropping out in the northern Cilento area (southern Italy). These limestones are dominated by fine-grained, peloidal, silty packstone in which rudist-rich beds are intercalated. An inner shelf environment may be inferred on the basis of the recognized sedimentary and taphonomic features. The rudist shell beds are characterized by low species diversity, with slight differences in abundance of a few species belonging to the Durania, Bournonia, Sauvagesia, Gorjanovicia and Biradiolites genera, which usually form oligo- or monospecific congregations. The internal fabric of these levels (i.e. orientation, arrangement, packing and sorting of the skeletal elements; internal microstratigraphy) has permitted us to distinguish two broad shell bed categories: (a) shell beds considered as “Primary Shell Concentration”, in which the shell concentration is essentially created by the behaviour of local shell producers, preserved in situ and in growth position; (b) shell beds considered as “Hydraulic Shell Concentration”, which were deposited under the influence of hydraulic processes and/or input of surrounding bioclastic sediments. The taphonomic analyses allowed us to highlight the role of some of the biotic and abiotic factors that controlled the distribution of the rudists in the various habitats. The increase of physical disturbance (especially hydrodynamism) is the primary difference between these shell bed categories. The establishment and development of the densest rudist congregations appear to be related to the accommodation space made available by means of relative sea level rise. The lowering of the sea level was often accompanied by the increased influence of waves and/or currents on the seabed and the consequent sediment disturbance and demise of the rudist lithosome, although other factors cannot be excluded.

Sedimentological, paleontological and sequence analyses of Cenomanian limestones in Sicily reveal thc facies architecture and dynamics of a Mid Cretaceous rudistdominated platform margin from Western Tethys. The studied deposits outcrop near Palermo, as part of a large structural unit of the Sicilian Maghrebids. They belong to the Panormide carbonate platform, a Mesocenozoic paleogeographic domain of the African margin. The lateral continuity of the beds along three nearly parallel E-W outcrop sections allowed the recording of cm/dm thick lithological and faunal variations. Nine main lithofacies associations have been recognised along about 200 m of subvertical strata. Their vertical and lateral organisation points to a transition from highenergy shelf-margin rudist patches and shoals to more internal lagoonal-tidal environments over a short distance. The lithofacies evolution and stacking pattern along the three sections made it possible to define elementary cycles, composite cycles and larger-scale sequences with a dominant shallowing-upward trend. Their hierarchical organisation implies that sea-level fluctuations were an important factor in their formation. The cycles are characterised by a great variation in facies as a result of transgressive-regressive events in different sectors of the interred Cenomanian shelf. Subtidal cycles typical of the shelf margin (4-10 m-thick) are particularly well identifiable. They are madc of large Caprinidae and Sauvagesiac rudstonc-to-floatstone (about 2/3 of the total thickness), capped by rudist-conglomerates, often organised into 3-5 fining-upward amalgamated beds and showing, in places, effects of surfacerelated diagenesis, in more internal shelf areas the cycles consist of Caprinidae-Radiolitidae floatstonc grading up into amalgamated beds of angular bioclastic rudstone/ grainstone. Alternations of foraminifer/ostracod mudstone/wackestone and bioclastic grainstone/finc-rudstonc, capped by lofcritcs and/or by other emersion-related overprintings, characterise the cycles formed in the peritidal zones. These cycles arc stacked into three incomplete depositional sequences. The sequence boundaries have been identified by the abrupt interposition of peritidal cycles in subtidal rudist-rich cycles, with evidence of brief subaerial exposure.

The Sardinia and southern Apennines-Apulia carbonate platforms were respectively parts of the northern and southern continental margins of the Mesozoic Tethys. The Upper Cretaceous limestones studied in several areas of these regions accumulated on temperate-type, ramp-like open shelves. Sediments are mostly bioerosion-derived bioclasts essentially made up of rudists with a variable contribution of benthic foraminifers, bryozoans and red algae. Non-skeletal grains are absent and the skeletal components are indicative of the foramol sensu lato association, assuming clear rhodalgal characteristics in the Sardinia sequences. The lithofacies of the studied successions are dominated by skeletal fine to coarse grainstones and rudstones. They show evidence of storm and current winnowing. Rudists are rarely preserved in growth position. They dwelled in loose sediments giving rise to limited and scattered rudist-rich bodies whose relief on the surrounding sea bed was slight and limited to the last generation of individuals which grew with constratal pattern. No rigid frameworks characterized these rudist accumulations that did not develop into true reefs. No rimming marginal bodies were present and from the resulting open shelves the bioerosion-derived finer fractions were swept off to the deeper areas, where the coarser skeletal debris basically accumulated by means of granular flows. In the Recent, similar foramol deposits are largely spread over wide sectors of the continental shelves of temperate seas. Nevertheless, similar situations may also develop in tropical/subtropical regions if characterized by conditions of ecological stress. In the Senonian the peri-Tethyan platforms evolved from "warm-water" types to relatively "cooler" types. In the latter, complex interplaying factors may have been effective in controlling different environmental and depositional conditions, resulting in modified lithofacies features in the opposing margins of the Mediterranean Tethys.

Ruberti D. Late Cretaceous open shelf to slope facies in the Matese Mounts (Central Apennines, Italy). Aggradation and progradation sequences. In: Géologie Méditerranéenne. Tome 21, numéro 3-4, 1994. Perimediterranean carbonate platforms. First International Meeting. Marseille – France (5-8 septembre 1994) sous la direction de Jean-Pierre Masse. pp. 159-161.

Le successioni carbonatiche tardo-cretaciche affioranti in Italia centro-meridionale e in Istria furono depositate su piattaforme aperte con morfologie di tipo rampa, dominate da associazioni bentoniche foramol. Le rudiste colonizzarono tutti gli ambienti fornendo, per bioerosione, la maggior parte del detrito scheletrico, prevalentemente calcitico e pertanto non coinvolto in significativi processi di cementazione precoce. L’arrangiamento sedimentario dei risultanti fondali mobili fu controllato da onde e correnti indotte da venti e tempeste. Differenti associazioni bentoniche, geometrie deposizionali e attributi tafonomici dei litosomi a rudiste caratterizzarono contesti idrodinamici di bassa e alta energia. Per meglio verificare queste caratteristiche su tutte le successioni studiate, è stato importato in MS ACCESS il database sulle rudiste proposto da STEUBER AND LÖSER (2000) e STEUBER (2003), aggiornato con dati inediti e implementato con dati relativi alla stratigrafia delle concentrazioni a rudiste, secondo gli schemi di KIDWELL (1991), e alle caratteristiche distintive dei due settori idrodinamici. La gestione dei dati in un progetto GIS può consentire anche considerazioni paleogeografiche e regionali.

The aim of this paper is to provide detailed reconstruction of facies architecture for the latest Pleistocene-Holocene succession of Volturno River Delta (Fig. 1) through an integrated study based upon facies analysis, microfossil investigations and dating from cores. A peculiar feature of Volturno coastal plain is its proximity to volcanic complexes. In particular, quiescent Vesuvius Volcano is less than away, and other volcanic centres nearby (Roccamonfina volcano, Phlegrean Fields) are just 30-40 km away. Owing to this particular location, the Volturno coastal plain experienced several eruptions in its recent geological history. This is documented by the presence, within the Late Quaternary record, of two ignimbrite layers dated to about 39 and 15 ky BP, respectively. These pyroclastic layers represent unequivocal stratigraphic markers that can be physically tracked across the whole basin.

A brief summarization of general geological and stratigraphical setting and genetical characteristics of bauxite deposits and related paleokarst in Peninsular Italy, Sicily and Sardinia is presented. The most important features and data are demonstrated in maps, diagrams and tables. -Authors