THE KARREN LANDSCAPES IN THE EVAPORITIC ROCKS OF SICILY.

The karren in the evaporitic rocks of Sicily show wide distribution and variety of shapes relating to the large extension of the rocky outcrops, to the different lithofacies and to the climate. Karren features are largely present in all kinds of evaporites: macrocrystalline selenitic gypsum, detritic gypsum with various grain size, microcrystalline gypsum and in salts such as halite and kainite. Both the origin and the evolution of the karren are controlled by the dynamics of several processes such as solution and recrystallization, granular disintegration, carbonation, and phenomena linked to biological activity. The karren features have different dimensions, ranging from the nano- and the…