0000000000345115
AUTHOR
Laura Coco
Relationships between a new slope morphometric index and calanchi erosion in northern Sicily, Italy
The Italian badlands, or “calanchi”, are common landforms in Mediterranean areas including central and southern Italy. Calanchi landforms may be compared to small hydrographic basins. These landforms are characterised by dense, hierarchical and rapidly evolving drainage systems carved into steep clayey slopes and by a sharply alternating pattern of furrows and narrow, generally sharp crests. This work presents a study of morphometric characteristics and a statistical analysis for two sites in northern Sicily (Italy), on outcrops of silty-clay deposits affected by active erosion processes, which give this area a typical calanchi landscape. In particular, factors closely linked to the charact…
INVENTORY AND CHARACTERIZATION OF SICILIAN BADLANDS
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From Slope Morphometry to Morphogenetic Processes: An Integrated Approach of Field Survey, Geographic Information System Morphometric Analysis and Statistics in Italian Badlands
Calanchi (singular: calanco) represent a typical example of badlands in the Italian peninsula, which rapidly evolve on clayey terrains such as the widespread Pliocene–Pleistocene marine clays. The present study aimed at investigating the role of the slope morphometry on the typology and distribution of morphogenetic processes in a calanchi area located in southern Italy. The research included detailed geomorphological surveying as well as morphometric and statistical analyses. The study area was first subdivided into individual hydrographic units (HUs), for which field survey allowed to identify the dominant denudation processes, their intensity and the distribution of the associated landfo…