Terreni collassabili e processi di instabilità nella Valle dei Templi

The sacral complex of the Valle dei Templi in Agrigento, included in the UNESCO Heritage Site List, stands over the crest of a rigid calcarenite cuesta, which overlies a layer of partially saturated carbonate sand. The environment is highly prone to landslides and the calcarenite stratum is often in limit equilibrium conditions. Toppling phenomena threaten some of the more relevant archaeological structures such as the Giunone's Temple, the Vulcano's Temple, the Santuario rupestre and the palaeochristian Necropolis. As highlighted by several previous studies, the instabilities and the recession of slopes have been caused by the undermining of slopes combined with the discontinuity pattern. …