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In the Mediterranean Sea, there are two critical issues affecting marine benthic biocenosis: the sedimentation process and the increasing trend in marine biodiversity loss. These processes are very marked along the western side of Calabria coastline where siltation is one of the main reasons for the regression of Posidonia beds in the regional coastal waters. This research aims to investigate the relationships between the geomorphological features of the debris source areas, represented by fluvial basins, and the distribution of Posidonia meadows. So, a geomorphological study of the Tyrrhenian fluvial basins with area greater than 200 km2 and its correlation with the mapping of the meadows in the Calabria Tyrrhenian waters was carried out. Furthermore, in order to assess the increased level of burial in a Posidonia oceanica meadow and its health state over time, a program of Posidonia monitoring was undertaken between 2000 and 2010, in a test area located in the Marine Regional Park of Isca (Calabria, Southern Italy). The results of this survey highlighted that, at the beginning of the study period, for a silting rate of 4 - 5 cm/year, the meadow suffered a reduction of its photosynthetic ratio with a rate of mortality of 50%. In the following years, the siltation rate reach 12 cm/year in 2010 and the meadow began to disappear. Therefore, the marine pollution by sedimentation represents a serious factor for the regression of Posidonia oceanica meadows, enhancing the risk of a gradual loss in marine biodiversity.

Coastal regions are exposed to natural phenomena such as sea waves, sea level rise, climate change, and flooding events. These factors, along with human pressures, lead to an increase in coastal erosion. In response, hard engineering measures were realized as breakwaters and groins, to oppose erosion processes along the sandy beaches of the Italian coastline. These types of defense systems showed negative impacts on landscapes, ecosystems, and expected results. Additionally, the use of coastal revetments, submerged sandbars, soil bioengineering, and beach nourishment projects were used to defend seaboard areas from the risk of a growing shore withdrawal. Among these soft solutions, beach nourishment is becoming an environmentally friendly method to control shoreline erosion, increasing the width of sandy beaches to guarantee a better tourist use of coastal regions and to add a greater buffer between the shoreline and existing infrastructure. In recent times, nourishment projects have been combined with other protective measures, such as submerged sandbars and underwater detached breakwaters, limiting the loss of sediments from sandy beaches and allowing better protection from stormy events. These mixed solutions ensure effective coastal protection by maintaining the width of sandy beaches for tourist use, guaranteeing the environmental safeguard of the coastal ecosystems. In order to achieve the best result with these types of projects, a close collaboration between coastal engineers, geologists, biologists, and policymakers toward integrated coastal zone management is necessary. The study described in this paper has taken the form of a literature review regarding both the negative environmental impacts and the benefits associated with the use of old and new coastal defense systems.

In this paper, we aim to define a procedure of flood hazard assessment applicable to large river basins in which flood events can be induced/sustained by the full basin area or by fractions of the total area as functions of the extent of the triggering precipitation event. The proposed procedure is based on a combined approach accounting for (1) the reconstruction of intensity–duration–frequency curves expressing the magnitude in terms of intensity for multiple return periods; (2) the application of the soil conservation service method for runoff estimation from a selected rainfall scenario considering some characteristics of the basin (i.e. soil type, land use/treatment, surface condition, and antecedent moisture conditions); (3) 2D hydrodynamic modelling conducted by the HEC-RAS model using runoff hydrographs as hydrological input data; (4) the reconstruction of flood hazard maps by overlaying multiple inundation maps depicting flood extent for different return periods. To account for the variability in the extent of the triggering precipitation event and the resulting input hydrograph, multiple contributing areas are considered. The procedure is tested at the archaeological site of Sybaris in southern Italy, which is periodically involved in flood events of variable magnitude. The obtained results highlight that the variable extent of the floodable area is strongly conditioned by the extent of the contributing area and return period, as expected. The archaeological site is always involved in the simulated flooding process, except for the smallest contributing area for which only a 300-year event involves this part of the site. Our findings may be useful for developing and supporting flood risk management plans in the area. The developed procedure might be easily exported and tested in other fluvial contexts in which evaluations of multiple flood hazard scenarios, due to the basin geometry and extent, are needed.

Porous and permeable crystalline rocks have the potential of being hydrocarbon reservoirs. In many cases, reservoir properties are created by rock-altering physico-chemical processes occurring in the near-surface environment. Hydrocarbon reservoirs in altered granitoids may comprise both arenaceous (clay-poor) and argillaceous (clay-rich) palaeoregoliths, and hence outcrop analogues from various environments are required. In the Sila Massif, southern Italy, the arenaceous weathering of medium to coarse grained granodioritic rocks has been studied. The pore system, dominated by microfractures, was described and quantified at each stage in the weathering process (altered coherent rock facies → saprock facies→ lower and upper saprolite facies → soil) in relation to changes in chemical and physical properties. The transformation of rock to saprolite was close to an isochemical process, as demonstrated by the low variations in the bulk mass transfer coefficient (τbulk). At the same time, trans-, intra- and intermineral microfractures increased in frequency and aperture upwards through the regolith profile. It was the main reason for the reduction of bulk densities (ρb) from 2.66 g/cm3 in the altered coherent rock to 1.88 g/cm3 in the saprolite, corresponding to the formation of up to 30% porosity (φc). The results suggest that a volume increase of >50%, represented by the volumetric strain factor (ε), was the main cause for the transformation of solid crystalline rock to porous saprolite. Anisovolumetric arenaceous regoliths with minimal mass loss, are the result of one of the major weathering processes, notwithstanding that they are much less understood than isovolumetric, anisochemical, argillaceous regoliths. Arenaceous saprolites potentially can have excellent porosity and permeability properties, with open and well-connected microfractures. Reservoir quality of arenaceous saprolites is in stark contrast to the poor permeability observed in some argillaceous saprolites where porosity is dominated by isolated dissolution voids within a clay-rich matrix.

Identifying the instability areas provides useful information about the recognition of the vulnerable zones and, thus, helps to potentially decrease the harm to the infrastructure and the hazard conditions in inhabited areas. In this regard, morphometric parameters and tectonic setting are widely employed in mapping, modelling and understanding of instability processes. The present study is aimed to analyse the combined effects of slope morphometry (slope gradient, slope curvature, local relief), of lithology, of drainage density and of tectonic setting on the distribution of landslides. The study area is located in the Mesima Basin that lies in the central part of the Calabria region (southern Italy). The morphometric analysis was carried out by geographic information system (GIS) techniques, whereas the geomorphic attributes were computed by a digital elevation model (DEM). The recognized landslides and faults were digitized and stored in a GIS geo-database that allowed the construction of relative density maps. A total of 1 991 landslides and 231 tectonic lineaments were recognized and mapped. The distribution of the collected data suggests that the occurrence of landslides is not random. Indeed, the research highlights as the lithology, the fault density, the slope gradient and the local relief play an important role in determining the landslide occurrence. The used approach is aimed to reinforce the knowledge about the validity of the application of morphometric analysis to the landslide susceptibility. The Mesima Basin is a poorly studied area of the Calabria from a geomorphological viewpoint. Indeed, previous researches focused mainly on geological and on tectonic aspects, as well as on instability phenomena in the Mesima surroundings. Thus, this paper takes a step forward with respect to previous studies because it augments the knowledge about the relationship between faults, morphometric features and the occurrence of landslide.

This article illustrates the results of a multidisciplinary study carried out in the ancient centre of Tropea in Calabria, southern Italy. The study has two main aspects: the inventory of v...

This article focuses on an area located at the northern border of the Monte Poro plateau along the Tyrrhenian coast of Calabria (southern Italy). The area is characterized by weathered gneissic rocks involved in widespread landslides. This research employed an integrated approach concerning the relationships between the geological and geomorphological setting and landslides triggered during the construction of a road. The data were obtained by geological, geomorphological, structural, and geomechanical field surveys, coupled with a geomorphological analysis carried out through a combination of aerial photographs, satellite images, and digital elevation models (DEMs). Rock mass classifications of the weathered gneissic materials were applied to evaluate the quality of the rock masses and to define the potential stability conditions of the slopes. Furthermore, a DEMs analysis of pre- and post-road construction was also performed to define a detailed evolution of the instability conditions affecting the studied escarpment. A total of 32 landslides were recognized before the road construction, while 27 landslides were collected after the road construction. Rotations are the most frequent type of mass movements and involved the more weathered rocks or eluvial/colluvial deposits. Complex landslides are less widespread than the previous ones involving different weathering grades. The results showed that the roadworks had a great impact on the geomorphological scenario in terms of landslide trigger in an area already characterized by a high landslide susceptibility. The approach used can provide a reliable tool to evaluate the hazard conditions in other regions with similar geological features.

Littoral plains are exposed to natural phenomena, such as sea-waves, tides, rainfalls and sea-level rise, but also to human pressure, determining a growing exposure of the natural and man-made environments to hazard conditions. Through this work, a new kind of multiple approach is proposed to evaluate the coastal risk due to erosion processes, which was first tested on the Calabria Tyrrhenian coast. The resulting data show that 35% of the coastal stretches are classified into very high risk category, 30% into high risk, 28% into medium risk and only 7% into low risk. The coastal areas, characterized by high and very high levels of risk, are formed by sandy beaches and are distributed mainly at the northern side of the regional coastline while the southern part, distinguished mainly by rocky outlines, shows lower risk levels. The comparison between the calculated risk values and the real conditions of the damage state shows a good correspondence, testifying the pertinence of the new methodology. The latter is based on indices with data easily available, making the procedure fast and simple to use and applicable mainly in large scale surveys. The achieved good results suggest that the new methodology used to evaluate the coastal risk condition may be also extended to other Mediterranean beaches.

This work focuses on developing multidisciplinary researches concerning weathering profiles related to landscape evolution of the Capo Vaticano promontory on the Calabria Tyrrhenian side (southern Italy). In this area, the tectonic uplift, occurred at least since Pleistocene, together with the Mediterranean climatic conditions, is the main cause of deep weathering and denudation processes. The latter occurred on the outcropping rocks of the crystalline-metamorphic basement, made up of weathered granitoids, in turn belonging to the Monte Poro granitoid complex (intermediate to felsic plutonic rocks covered by Cenozoic sedimentary successions). Field observations coupled to borehole explorations, geophysical surveys, and minero-petrographical analyses allowed the characterization of the granitoid outcrops typical of the studied area in terms of kind and degree of slope instability. This characterization was based on suitable correlations verified between several factors as weathering degree, elastic properties of rocks, and discontinuity features. Weathering profiles are mainly composed by rock masses varying from completely weathered rock with corestones of highly weathered rock (classes IV–V) to slightly weathered rocks (class II). The weathered rocks are involved in several landslide typologies such as debris flow (frequency 48.5%), translational slide (frequency 33.3%), and minor rock fall and rotational slide (frequency 9%). The achieved data allowed the establishment of a general correlation between weathering degree and type of slope instability. Debris flow-type instabilities are predominant on the steeper slopes, involving very poor rock masses ascribed to the shallowest portions of the weathering class IV. Translational slides are less widespread than the previous ones and often involve a mixture of soil and highly weathered rocks. Rotational slides are more frequently close to the top of the slopes, where the thicknesses of more weathered rocks increase, and involve mainly rock masses belonging to the weathering classes IV and V. Rock falls mostly occur on the vertical escarpments of the road cuts and are controlled by the characteristics of the main discontinuities. The assessment of rock mass rating and slope mass rating, based on the application of the discontinuity data, allowed respectively an evaluation of the quality of rock masses and of the susceptibility of rock slopes to failure. The comparison between the last one and the real stability conditions along the cut slopes shows a good correspondence. Finally, the geological strength index system was also applied for the estimation of rock mass properties. The achieved results give a worthy support for a better understanding of the relationship between the distribution of landslides and the geological features related to different weathering degrees. Therefore, they can provide a reliable tool to evaluate the potential stability conditions of the rock slopes in the studied area and a general reference framework for the study of weathering processes in other regions with similar geological features.

The Tropea cliff (southern Calabria, Italy), affected by fast weathering processes and landslides, has needed various interventions of slope consolidation aimed at reducing hazard conditions. These interventions were performed with low environmental impact techniques in order to preserve the architecture and the landscape of the area. In 1998, a consolidant resin was tested on a limited portion of the Tropea sandstone cliff. The purpose of this test was checking the resin behavior against erosion processes. Previous researches showed a good resistance to erosion with only a slight opacification of the treated sandstone portion. This paper aims at studying the behavior of the consolidant resin after 17 years from its application. The research was performed by several laboratory tests. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis has indicated that the consolidant product was an epoxy resin. The scanning electron microscopy analysis has shown that the resin has penetrated into the rock up to 2 mm. The chemical analysis further testified that the tested surface is characterized by higher content of soluble salts than the non-treated surface. The salt content is mainly related to the infiltration of water enriched in soluble salts, due to the marine aerosol. The soluble salts, crystallizing in the rock pores and between the mica sheets, produce an increase of physical stress that is responsible of the exfoliation processes of the resin. Therefore, the use of epoxy resin on the tested sandstone rocks increases the strength on the outer rock surface, with a consequent good resistance to erosion processes just in a restricted period. Overtime, water infiltration introduces dangerous soluble salts below the treated surface, causing salt crystallization with important exfoliation processes of the treated rock surface.

Coastal regions and river basins hold a great variety of geological, ecological, social and economic roles mutually dependent and interacting. So, a global approach of these sensitive and transitional areas should include their seaward and landward sides. By this way, the Organization of United Nations has suggested a new management pattern of littoral zones named Integrated Coastal Area and River basin Management, able to merge, into the same landscape unit, marine, coastal and riverine systems. However, in italian seaboard areas, there is a total lack of an overall strategy to carry out national and/or regional plans for a sustainable development of coastal regions. In this regard, also in the Calabria region (Southern Italy) the suggested new kind of holistic approach is totally neglected although its coastline shows a broad extent of 715 km and the hydrographic network is made up by 1003 catchments forming a complex drainage system. This new kind of coastal management was verified through the application of a Coastal Sustainability Standard method applied, for the first time in Italy, in a study area in the western seaside of Calabria. The results of the field survey highlight a total failure of an inclusive coastal management process capable to realize a comprehensive landscape planning of marine, coastal and riverine systems. Instead, Calabria could be the leader coastal region in Italy where landward and seaward sides could be connected along the ecological corridors of their river basins.

The weathering processes produce important chemical and physical transformations in rock masses producing a decay of their strength and then stability. In this study different methodologies were employed to define the physical-mechanical properties and the minero-petrographical changes at each grade of weathering, useful to determine a geological model of the weathered granitoids involved in mass movements. The paper focuses on a multidisciplinary research on the weathering profiles of the Paleozoic granitoid rocks surrounding the village of Fabrizia located in the Serre Massif (southern Calabria, Italy). Fabrizia lies on an old erosion surface composed of basement rocks made up of weathered granitoids, belonging to the Serre Massif granitoid complex, and overlain by thin eluvial-colluvial deposits. The tectonic uplift of the area combined with Mediterranean climatic conditions, both active at least since the Quaternary, are the main causes of the deep weathering of the plutonic rocks. The weathered profiles of the granitoid complex have been studied through field observations, borehole explorations with geotechnical tests and seismic surveys coupled to minero-petrographical analysis and laboratory tests. Weathered profiles are mainly composed by rock masses varying from completely weathered and residual soil (classes V–VI) to moderately weathered rocks (class III), characterized by a progressive increase of geotechnical properties (e.g., seismic wave velocity, rock quality designation, internal friction angle, uniaxial compressive strength) with a decrease of weathering. The weathered rocks display a wide variety of mass movement. Landslide types are rockfalls for the fresher rocks (class III); translational slides occur between different weathering degrees (classes IV and V) and rotational slides dominate at the top of the slopes and generally involve the weathering grades from class IV to classes V–VI. The shallow horizons are composed of thin eluvial-colluvial deposits and more weathered granitoids (classes V–VI) that may generate dangerous debris flows or debris avalanches during intense and prolonged rainfall. The landslide surface is usually at a depth lower than 2 m in the debris flow type, while deeper landslides (depth > 2 m) are rotational and translational types with sliding surfaces occurring mainly in the transition between the classes IV and V. The field survey coupled to geotechnical, geophysical and minero-petrographical data allowed the recognition of the different weathered horizons and relative geotechnical properties useful to the reconstruction of the reliable geological model. The model represents an important support for the study of the landslide processes and for a sustainable management of the territory. The used approach provided results to set a general reference framework for establishing more precise correlations between mass movement phenomena and weathering processes.

This work shows the preliminary data on the weathered granitoids and related landslide phenomena in the area surrounding Fabrizia, Serre Massif (southern Calabria). Fabrizia lies on an old erosion surface composed of basement rocks made up of weathered granitoids, in turn belonging to the Serre Massif granitoid complex, and overlain by thin eluvial-colluvial deposits. The weathered profiles of the granitoid complex have been studied through a visual description, following both qualitative and quantitative criteria. Weathered profiles are mainly composed by rocky masses varying from completely weathered to highly or moderately weathered terms, characterized by Schmidt Hammer values ranging from 0-20 (class V) to 21-43 (class IV-III). The slopes of the Fabrizia surroundings are characterized by widespread mass movements. Typical landslide typologies are rockfalls for the fresher rocks (class III) and translational slides for the more weathered rocks (classes IV and V). The shallow horizons composed both by thin eluvial-colluvial deposits and by more weathered granitoids (class V-VI), may generate dangerous earth flows, debris flow or debris avalanches under intense and extensive rainfalls.

The present work aims to study the behaviour of the protective resin tested on a small portion of sandstone rock along the Rupe di Tropea. The Rupe di Tropea, located on the northern coastal edge of the Capo Vaticano promontory (Southern Calabria, Italy), is characterized by frequent landslide phenomena involving large amounts of detritus related to the weathering processes of arenitic sediments. An experimental resin was used in a small portion (the tested surface) of the arenitic sediments of the Rupe di Tropea, in order to check its behaviour against fast erosion processes during the intervention of slope consolidation in 1998. The study of resin was performed trough laboratory tests and petrographic analysis. The results of analysis shown that the resin type was epoxy resin and it has penetrated the rock to a depth of about 2 mm. The tested surface of the arenitic sediments has shown during the last 17 years a good resistance to erosion with only a slight opacization of the applied resin. However, the tested surface is characterized by higher content of soluble salts then the non-treated surface due to the infiltration of water enriched in soluble salts related to the marine aerosol. In these conditions the soluble salts crystallize in the rock pores and between the prismatic cleavage of the micas producing an increase of physical stress and consequent exfoliation processes of the resin surface layer. After a long period, this produces a rock breakdown when these soluble salts evaporate, leaving salt crystals behind. Thus, the epoxy resin improves the resistance to erosion only in a restricted period and without infiltration of water. Over time the infiltration of moisture may introduce dangerous soluble salts. Thus, if the treated surface is not well isolated from the water infiltration, the resin produces after a long period an increase of the crystallization of the soluble salts with consequent important exfoliation processes of the treated area.

The present work aims to study the Pleistocene landslides located on the eastern side of the Vibo Valentia hill (southern Calabria, Italy). The Vibo Valentia hill, situated on the Tyrrhenian side of the Calabria-Peloritani Arc, is constituted by basement rocks made up of granulitic gneiss crossed by a network of marine sediment veins. Recent excavations for a new road have made possible seeing some indication of old landslide morphologies. The landslides are fully integrated into the existing topography and little indications of the former landslide morphologies remain. The principal evidences of the landslide morphologies are represented by presence of breccias and heterometric conglomerates made up of gneiss embedded in a fossiliferous carbonatic matrix. Furthermore, failure surfaces are marked by a thin calcareous micritic layer enriched in pelagic foraminifera. The fossil assemblage allowed to date the landslides at the Lower Pleistocene and classify them as fossil landslides. The geomorphologic and sedimentary context suggested that the Vibo Valentia hill was a coastal cliff developed in an active fault zone during the Lower Pleistocene and characterized by a rapid uplift. This geological context created favorable conditions for the trigger of landslides along the cliff made up of gneissic rocks.

This work aims to describe the flash flood event occurred between 18 and 19 October 2010 in the Zinzolo basin. The Zinzolo basin is located on the Tyrrhenian side, along the northern edge of the Capo Vaticano promontory (Calabria, southern Italy), close to the Tropea village. The drainage area is mainly made up of granitoids, often strongly altered and therefore easily erodible. The geomorphic condition of the drainage network shows low hierarchy degree and downward concavity of the hypsometric curve. These features suggest that the Zinzolo basin is in a juvenile stage and subject to significant modifications, favouring abundance of detritic material in the drainage network. Therefore, small-scale basin, steep slopes, steep bed gradient, widespread instability and high solid loads in the drainage basin, are the main causes of a high predisposition to events of flash-flood type in the Zinzolo basin. The rainfall analysis between 18 and 19 October 2010, shows that in these two days has been recorded (in 6 hours) the highest historical rain event for that area. As a result, the abundant water mixed to detritus have overflowed the banks of the stream in the buried part of the river bed, producing significant damage and hydrogeological hazard in the inhabited riverside areas.

The present work shows the preliminary data on the erosion rate estimation and weathering forms on the outcrop of the Neapolitan Yellow Tuff along the Rupe di Coroglio (Naples, southern Italy). This pyroclastic complex shows abundant alveolar and tafoni forms mostly related to salty seawater and salt spray processes that affect the western portion of the Posillipo hill. In this coastal environment, weathering forms such as alveolar, honeycombs or tafoni are very common producing from small to large deep cavities, development of which produces landslide phenomena. This area has been protected by consolidation interventions such as barrings, retaining walls and anchored structures. After 30 years from first interventions of consolidation, has been observed that some cables of the anchored structures protrude from rock escarpment with values between 5 and 12 cm. Based on these values an average erosion rate of 1.6÷4 mm/year was estimated.

This work focuses on developing multidisciplinary research on weathering profiles of granitoid rocks related to the tectonic and landscape evolution of the Capo Vaticano area, Calabria, southern Italy. During the Pleistocene, the Mediterranean climate plays, on the already decomposed plutonic rocks, important processes of alteration, on both the highest and inland areas and the coastal areas of the Calabrian region, such as the studied area. Field observations coupled to chemical, minero-petrographical features and geochemical modelling are used to characterize the weathering processes affecting the granitoid complex. The granitoid cut slopes show a generally simple weathering profile characterized by a progressive increase in weathering towards the top of the slopes. The completely weathered rocks (class V) and residual soil (class VI) contain a high percentage of altered minerals, microfractures, and voids. The main mineralogical changes are the partial transformation of biotite and the partial destruction of feldspars (mainly plagioclase) that are associated with the neoformation of secondary clay minerals and ferruginous products during the most advanced stage of weathering. These transformations produce a substitution of the original rock fabric. Geochemical modelling showing the precipitation of kaolinite, illite, vermiculite, ferrihydrite and calcite. These secondary solid phases are similar to those found in this natural system. Thus, the final results of the weathering process is a soil-like material mainly characterized by mostly a sand to gravel grain-size fractions related to microfabric changes and mineralogical and chemical variations. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This paper introduces the need, in Italian countries, of a real integration of scientific knowledge into coastal policy. Actually, in Italy, still exists a gap between Science and Policy, interfering the implementation of an Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) process, while there is no coordination between local, regional and national authorities. This lack of an overall strategy has induced some regions to adopt regional plans for the sustainable development of their coastal areas, to compensate the shortcomings of a national planning. Besides, along Italian coasts, there is a heavy landscape urbanization producing conditions of environmental decay and highlighting the risk of erosions in littoral areas. In this critical context, it is necessary to adopt an effective Integrated Coastal Zone Management policy, to connect ecosystem and environmental approaches with the social and economic development of coastal areas. So, in Italian landscape, it is necessary to integrate the national cultural heritage into coastal management, joining scientific and cultural issues. In this framework, ICZM process could play an important role connecting scientists and policy makers towards an effective integration for the social and economic growth of local people.

For centuries the promontory of Capo Colonna in Calabria region, southern Italy, experienced land subsidence and coastline retreat to an extent that the archaeological ruins of the ancient Greek sanctuary are currently under threat of cliff failure, toppling and irreversible loss. Gas extraction in nearby wells is a further anthropogenic element to account for at the regional scale. Exploiting an unprecedented satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) time series including ERS-1/2, ENVISAT, TerraSAR-X, COSMO-SkyMed and Sentinel-1A data stacks acquired between 1992 and 2016, this paper presents the first and most complete Interferometric SAR (InSAR) baseline assessment of land subsidence and coastal processes affecting Capo Colonna. We analyse the regional displacement trends, the correlation between vertical displacements with gas extraction volumes, the impact on stability of the archaeological heritage, and the coastal geohazard susceptibility. In the last 25 years, the land has subsided uninterruptedly, with highest annual line-of-sight deformation rates ranging between -15 and -20 mm/year in 2011-2014. The installation of 40 pairs of corner reflectors along the northern coastline and within the archaeological park resulted in an improved imaging capability and higher density of measurement points. This proved to be beneficial for the ground stability assessment of recent archaeological excavations, in an area where field surveying in November 2015 highlighted new events of cliff failure. The conceptual model developed suggests that combining InSAR results, geomorphological assessments and inventorying of wave-storms will contribute to unveil the complexity of coastal geohazards in Capo Colonna.

It is rarely possible to identify reverse faults that bring portions of substratum solid rock to lie above decomposed rock. Only where the differences between the fresh rock and weathered rock are very clear is it possible to recognise such faults. A “reverse profile” is defined as a slope profile in which fresh rock (granitoids) overlaps rocks which have been greatly altered by mature weathering (saprolite of granitoids). Such a profile occurs along the slopes of Molini Valley to the south of the village of Fabrizia (Calabria, southern Italy) and we interpret the morphological, mechanical and structural evidence as typical of a reverse fault. The mineral-petrographic analysis of the grus on the bed of the fault and of the cover of relatively fresh rock (Schmidt hammer 18–35) confirms that the granular framework can be attributed to subaerial alteration and not to mechanical deformation. The study area is located at the centre of the largest kinematic body of southern Calabria (the Serre massif-exclusively granitoids) until now considered to be only affected by extensional tectonics, creating high angle normal faults. In this area the tectonic processes, the thickness and spread of granitoid weathering mantles and the depth of the valleys, give rise to several landslides. These are generally translational slides with ample cut surfaces between the weathered body and the underlying fresh rock; as a consequence, very large deposits in the valleys can be found, mostly produced by debris flow processes. At the foot of the slopes around Fabrizia, coarse debris avalanches (with cobbles having a volume of over 0.3–0.4 m 3 ) are occasionally observed, unless there is widespread development of a “reverse weathering profile” on the slopes above.

The increasing landscape urbanization, through goods and services production, as required by people needs, is often cause of environmental decay producing a sharp decrease in quality life for resident population. This paper aims to study some negative environmental feedbacks and the increase of geomorphological hazards in the coastal area, roughly urbanized, of Bivona country (Vibo Valentia, Calabria, Southern Italy). The analysis shows how the wrong and chaotic urban development, without any appropriate town planning scheme, has produced growing conditions of environmental decay with time. Consequently, it has been detected a decrease of prices in market estate commonly used as a marker of Human Quality Life. For this purpose, it has been applied the Hedonic model able to supply useful information about the gained or the reduced values of building industry caused by the improvement or by the worsening of environmental health conditions. The results highlight, with quantitative data, how the sustainable development of landscape must be realized through goods and services production respecting the environmental limits, in order to avoid negative territorial feedbacks able to decrease Human Quality Life. It has also been proposed a graphical representation about the trend of Human Quality Life in function of goods and services production.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of heavy metal pollution on life cycle traits and physiological responses of Carabus ( Chaetocarabus ) lefebvrei Dejean 1826. The bioaccumulation factor revealed that As and Hg were bioaccumulated in adults collected in the field close to an urban solid waste site, a source of heavy metal pollution. The ultrastructure of Malpighian tubules was investigated as a marker of adult detoxification capability. The metal contents recorded in adults emerging from laboratory rearing indicate that the uptake of metals or their transfer along the food chain is related to the concentrations in soil and food. The levels of elements such as B, Cr and Cu in the beetle body are closely related to their amounts in the soil. Some elements are accumulated with respect to the levels in food, in the following rank order: Hg > Cr > B > Be > Pb > V = Zn = As. Larval growth and survival do not vary significantly with the metal concentrations recorded in soil and food. The immune response, indicated by phenoloxidase enzyme activity, is highly sensitive to environmental pollution in the preimaginal stages and thus can be used as an early warning parameter to assess the sublethal effects of heavy metal pollution.

The aim of this work is the physical and chemical water characterization of seven spontaneous springs, used for drinking purposes by local people in the municipal area of Chiaravalle Centrale (CZ, Calabria, Italy). The study of these sources, within the upstream area of Beltrame catchment, has been conducted from September 2007 to August 2008 through analyses of the main physical parameters (hydraulic discharge, pH, conductivity and temperature) on a weekly basis and through collection of water samples performed on site on a monthly basis.