Storm Energy Flux Characterization along the Mediterranean Coast of Andalusia (Spain)

This paper investigates wave climate and storm characteristics along the Mediterranean coast of Andalusia, for the period 1979&ndash

Caracterización y evolución del sistema playa-duna de la costa mediterránea de Andalucía (España): influencia de procesos naturales y actuaciones antrópicas

En las últimas décadas, los impactos relacionados con la erosión costera en las costas del mundo han aumentado significativamente debido al actual desarrollo costero y a la ocupación turística, así como a los eventos naturales de erosión/inundación acelerados por el cambio climático. Las costas oceánicas son entornos muy dinámicos y cambiantes, ya que muestran una gran variabilidad temporal y espacial en respuesta a la acción de diferentes y complejos procesos costeros. Esta variabilidad a escala temporal interanual está relacionada con las variaciones climáticas estacionales del oleaje, debido a distribuciones temporales y espaciales de tormentas de alta latitud y tormentas/huracanes tropi…

Dinamica costiera: individuazione della linea di riva e stima della sue incertezze

La linea di riva, ha natura dinamica, ovvero è sottoposta a continui cambiamenti, a breve e lungo termine, causati da processi geomorfologici, idrodinamici e da fattori improvvisi e rapidi. La ricerca esamina le problematiche legate all’incertezza nell’individuazione della posizione della linea di riva, al variare del tempo, considerando sia aspetti geologico - geomorfologici che aspetti idraulico marittimi. Il caso studio è un tratto di costa marsalese (Trapani). Tale settore è caratterizzato da una costa bassa con sedimenti sabbiosi d'età olocenica. L’analisi diacronica è stata basata su ortofoto e cartografie per il periodo di tempo compreso tra il 1994 e il 2006. È da precisare che la m…

A regional approach for exploring the relation between sediment transport and coastal erosion in Sicily

To study on a regional basis, the relation between fluvial sediment delivery and coastal erosion, the historical record of coastline migration of Sicily was analyzed with respect to the estimated sediment delivery to the coast obtained from the spatially distributed sediment delivery WaTEM/SEDEM model. The latter was directly acquired from the ESDAC database as a 25 m pixel layers, being based on the combination between the RUSLE model and a transport capacity routing algorithm. At the same time, the coastline-evolution (accretion/retreatment) data for 1960/1994 and 1994/2012 intervals were processed. This dataset, provided by ISPRA (Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Resear…

The San Leone (Agrigento) dunes: geomorphological environment and managment

The marble field of Custonaci (Sicily-Italy)

Morphodinamic evolution: assessment of the shoreline position

Evaporite karst in Sicily

Karst areas are distributed over most of Sicily. The most widespread karst rocks are carbonates, particularly limestones, but karst phenomena can also be seen in evaporites and particularly in salt mines. This report provides an overview of evaporite karst in Sicily, along with a “case history” that shows some of the evaporite karst risks to the environment. In the centre and south of Sicily, a thick sequence of Messinian evaporite rocks are subject to dissolution from meteoric and formation waters. In areas where potassium salts and rock salts are being mined, some geomorphologic changes result from the drilling of boreholes and the collapse of underground mines, thus lowering or collapsin…

Efficiency of Wave Energy Converters off the Sicilian Channel

This paper presents a preliminary analysis on efficiency of wave energy converters off the Sicilian Channel (Italy) carried out using the SNL-SWAN spectral model (”Sandia National Laboratories – Simulating WAves Nearshore”). This open source numerical code makes possible to calculate the power extracted from wave energy converter (WEC) devices, arranged in arrays. The WEC arrays were located parallel to the coastline, near the 20 m bathymetric isoline. Three devices were tested: Pelamis, Wave Dragon and Oyster 2; one of the input data of the numerical model is the WEC power matrix, expressed as a function of the wave height and period. This matrix was determined experimentally by the protot…

SINKHOLES IN GESSOSO SOLFIFERA FORMATION (CENTRAL SICILY): HISTORICAL RESEARCH

Assessment of Coastal Vulnerability in South Sicily

A Methodological Approach to Determine Sound Response Modalities to Coastal Erosion Processes in Mediterranean Andalusia (Spain)

Human occupation along coastal areas has been greatly increasing in recent decades and, in many places, human activities and infrastructures are threatened by erosion processes that can produce relevant economic and human losses. In order to reduce such impacts and design sound management strategies, which can range from the &ldquo

The quarry waste "Ravaneti" in Sicily: geomorphologic aspect

Mine sinkhole in Sicily: geomorphologic and environment hazard

Uncertainties in shoreline position analysis: the role of run-up and tide in a gentle slope beach

Abstract. In the last decades in the Mediterranean sea, high anthropic pressure from increasing economic and touristic development has affected several coastal areas. Today the erosion phenomena threaten human activities and existing structures, and interdisciplinary studies are needed to better understand actual coastal dynamics. Beach evolution analysis can be conducted using GIS methodologies, such as the well-known Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS), in which error assessment based on shoreline positioning plays a significant role. In this study, we propose a new approach to estimate the positioning errors due to tide and wave run-up influence. To improve the assessment of the wav…

Shoreline detection in gentle slope Mediterranean beach

Monitoring and management of the Ustica coasts (Sicily-Italy)

Rischi nelle aree carsiche in Sicilia: "case history" in aree carbonatiche ed evaporitiche

Marbles of Sicily (Italy)

Rischio nelle aree carsiche in Sicilia: "Case History" nella Piana di Cinisi (Palermo)

Tecniche di monitoraggio delle spiagge

Vulnerability assessment of a coastal sector in south sicily (Italy)

Coastal erosion in Sicily: geomorphologic impact and mitigation (Italy)

Uncertainties in shoreline position analysis: the role of run-up and tide in a gentle slope beach

Abstract. In recent decades in the Mediterranean Sea, high anthropic pressure from increasing economic and touristic development has affected several coastal areas. Today the erosion phenomena threaten human activities and existing structures, and interdisciplinary studies are needed to better understand actual coastal dynamics. Beach evolution analysis can be conducted using GIS methodologies, such as the well-known Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS), in which error assessment based on shoreline positioning plays a significant role. In this study, a new approach is proposed to estimate the positioning errors due to tide and wave run-up influence. To improve the assessment of the wave…

Susceptibility analysis for seismically-induced landslides: application to the 2001 earthquakes in El Salvador (C.A.)

<p>The geodynamic context in which El Salvador is located, made of a convergent structure characterized by the interaction among six different plates, together with the lithological characteristics of the outcropping rocks and soils (mainly corresponding to deeply weathered acid pyroclastites, basic effusive rocks and volcanic ashes), are responsible for the very high seismically-induced landslide susceptibility of the country. These predisposing factors were decisive on the occurrence of thousands of seismically-induced landslides caused by two huge earthquakes on 13<sup>th</sup> January and 13<sup>th</sup> February 2001…

Coastal dynamics: shoreline detection in a Sicilian beach

The opportunity of using wave energy converters in a Mediterranean hot spot

The opportunity of using wave energy converter arrays in a hot spot area of the Mediterranean sea was investigated. For this purpose, numerical simulations of wave energy converters together with a simple cost-effective analysis were carried out. The selected study area is one of the most energetic inside the Sicilian channel (Italy). The numerical simulations were performed using the SNL-SWAN (“Sandia National Laboratories – Simulating WAves Nearshore”) spectral model with an unstructured mesh. The power absorbed from thirteen Wave Energy Converter (WEC) devices was computed. In particular, Pelamis, Wave Dragon, Oyster 2, Wavestar, B-HBA, B-OF, Bref-HB, Bref-SHB, F–2HB, F–3OF, F-HBA and F-…

A new shoreline change assessment approach for erosion management strategies

Shoreline evolution studies are fundamental to assess the rate of beach accretion or retreatment. In the last years, researchers developed many methods with several techniques belonging to different disciplines and backgrounds. Nowadays, the Shoreline Change Analysis (SCA) is the most widespread method to assess shoreline evolution. In fact, the SCA is needed to perform management strategies able to respond to current erosion or potential future erosion problems. This paper presents a new approach using an automatic method for SCA with accuracy and speed improvements. Indeed, in the framework of the management of coastal erosion and to develop an adaptation plan to coastal hazards it is nec…

Influenza del clima ondoso e delle mareee sulla posizione della linea di riva: Lido Signorino (Marsala)

La conoscenza della posizione della linea di riva nel tempo è indispensabile per verificare la necessità di opere di difesa e per lo sviluppo di piani di gestione costiera. Essa rappresenta l’intersezione tra la superficie marina e quella terrestre, non è un’entità geometrica fissa, ma varia continuamente a causa del moto ondoso e delle fluttuazioni del livello marino ed è in continuo movimento a causa dei fenomeni di trasporto solido. La maggior difficoltà riscontrata nelle operazioni di rilievo è la determinazione esatta della sua posizione. Risulta pertanto necessaria la comprensione delle caratteristiche del moto ondoso (conoscenza delle mareggiate), dei livelli marini e del profilo tra…

Wave Energy Assessment around the Aegadian Islands (Sicily)

This paper presents the estimation of the wave energy potential around the Aegadian islands (Italy), carried out on the basis of high resolution wave hindcast. This reanalysis was developed employing Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) and WAVEWATCH III ® models for the modelling of the atmosphere and the waves, respectively. Wave climate has been determined using the above-mentioned 32-year dataset covering the years from 1979 to 2010. To improve the information about wave characteristics regarding spatial details, i.e., increasing wave model resolution, especially in the nearshore region around the islands, a SWAN (Simulating WAves Nearshore) wave propagation model was used. Results obtai…

Medium-term shoreline evolution of the mediterranean coast of Andalusia (SW Spain)

Coastal environment is a dynamic system in which numerous natural processes are continuously actuating and interacting among them. As a result, geomorphologic, physical and biological characteristics of coastal environments are constantly changing. Such dynamic balance is nowadays seriously threatened by the strong and increasing anthropic pressure that favors erosion processes, and the associated loss of environmental, ecologic and economic aspects. Sandy beaches are the most vulnerable environments in coastal areas. The aim of this work was to reconstruct the historical evolution of the Mediterranean coastline of Andalusia, Spain. The investigated area is about 500 km in length and includ…

Mine sinkhole in Siciliy: geomorphologic and environment hazard

Slope instability in a historical and architectural interest site: the Agrigento hill (Sicily-Italy)

Field run-up measurements: Calibration of a physically based lagrangian shoreline model

In the present contribution a measurement technique based on video imaging has been selected for the assessment of the maximum run-up. Such measurements have been used for the calibration of a numerical model and of an empirical formulation. The on-site run-up measurements have been carried out at “Lido Signorino” beach, near Marsala, Italy. The positions of the swash have been localized on a transect, normal to the shore, constituted by stakes placed at 0.5 m intervals each other. The video camera was placed orthogonally to the line of the stakes. For the numerical simulations a 1DH Boussinesq-type of model for breaking waves has been applied which takes into account the wave run-up by a L…

Tsunami Propagation and Flooding in Sicilian Coastal Areas by Means of a Weakly Dispersive Boussinesq Model

This paper addresses the tsunami propagation and subsequent coastal areas flooding by means of a depth-integrated numerical model. Such an approach is fundamental in order to assess the inundation hazard in coastal areas generated by seismogenic tsunami. In this study we adopted, an interdisciplinary approach, in order to consider the tsunami propagation, relates both to geomorphological characteristics of the coast and the bathymetry. In order to validate the numerical model, comparisons with results of other studies were performed. This manuscript presents first applicative results achieved using the weakly dispersive Boussinesq model in the field of tsunami propagation and coastal inunda…

Masonry structures subjected to tsunami loads: Modeling issues and application to a case study

Abstract Tsunamis are among the most dangerous natural disasters for coastal areas experiencing tsunami hazard. One of the major concerns in the assessment of strategies for the risk mitigation is to estimate vulnerability of structures and infrastructures. However, reliable approaches for the evaluation of the structural capacity under tsunami loads are nowadays not always available for all the types of structures, especially masonry. On this aim, the paper deals with the modeling issues of 3D masonry structures subjected to tsunami loads and the effect on the structural behavior of different modeling approaches. First, a brief state of the art on the available studies is presented regardi…

Sinkholes: dissoluzione delle evaporiti in Sicilia centromeridionale

Environmental hazard and water quality: the River Platani basin

The River Platani, situated in the western side of Sicily, is one of the greatest rivers of the island. It runs for about 103 Km and the basin extends to about 1,784.9 Km. It rises near Santo Stefano Quisquina (Ag); the river flows to Capo Bianco (Ag) ends in the Mediterranean Sea. The morphology of the basin is predominantly characterized by rises of modest entities with slopes sweet or calanques. In the containing gypsum and carbonatic stony heaps are diffused the karst phenomena. In the Platani basin some mines are located of rock salt and potassium salts; today the mines are closed after a long activity and they interact with the geomorphology of the territory and on the water quality o…

Natural and Anthropogenic Hazard: mine sinkholes in Sicily (Italy)

Shoreline Evolution and Environmental Changes at the NW Area of the Gulf of Gela (Sicily, Italy)

Coastal areas are among the most biologically productive, dynamic and valued ecosystems on Earth. They are subject to changes that greatly vary in scale, time and duration and to additional pressures resulting from anthropogenic activities. The aim of this work was to investigate the shoreline evolution and the main environmental changes of the coastal stretch between the towns of Licata and Gela (in the Gulf of Gela, Sicily, Italy). The methodology used in this work included the analysis of: (i) shoreline changes over the long- and medium-term periods (1955–2019 and 1989–2019, respectively), (ii) dune system fragmentation and (iii) the impact of coastal structures (harbours and breakwaters…

Diachronic analysis of the shoreline in San Leone beach (Agrigento-Sicily)

In the last century the Italian coasts and the Sicilian ones, suffered of a radical transformation due to a large population increase. The coastal areas settlements is related to the growth of the industrial activities, the development of tourism and the associated expansion of the road network. The development of these activities, have encouraged the rapid growth of populated areas without adequate urban planning and environmental criteria. In many cases, private houses, hotels, roads or railways covered or occupied entire coastal areas, such as destroying several kilometers of backshore dune systems. In addition, the construction or expansion of ports and fishing marinas effected the natu…

The San Leone (Agrigento) dunes: coastal geomorphology

Analisi statistica della velocità del vento nel Canale di Sicilia

Coupling a hydro-maritime model and remotely sensed techniques to assess the shoreline positioning uncertainty: the Marsala coast study case

The severe erosion phenomena affecting the Mediterranean coasts are strictly related to geophysical characteristics and socio-economic pressures. This suggests the need of monitoring and modelling the phenomenon in order to quantify its strength. In fact, the shoreline position, as well as its temporal evolution, provides important information for designing defence structures and for the development of a coastal management plan. The shoreline has a dynamic nature as it changes both in the short and long period. Those changes are caused by geo-morphological (e.g. bars and barrier island development etc.) and hydrodynamic (wave motion, tides and flows) processes, as well as by sudden and fast…

Karst Landscape: Sinkholes in Sicily

Detection and monitoring of ground deformation in urban areas with advanced multi-interferogram techniques

Dune systems' characterization and evolution in the andalusia mediterranean coast (Spain)

This paper deals with the characterization and evolution of dune systems along the Mediterranean coast of Andalusia, in the South of Spain, a first step to assess their relevant value in coastal flood protection and in the determination of sound management strategies to protect such valuable ecological systems. Different dune types were mapped as well as dune toe position and fragmentation, which favors dune sensitivity to storms&rsquo

Rischio nelle aree carsiche in Sicilia "case History" nella Piana di Cinisi

Evaporitic karst in Sicily

Field observations of an earth flow event in the valley of Platani River (Sicily-Italy)

Geological and geomorphological aspects of the landslide of the Cathedral of Agrigento (Sicily-Italy)

Geomorphological environment: dunes in Agrigento coast

[ITA] La fascia costiera di San Leone (Agrigento-Siclia). è costituita da una spiaggia sabbiosa delimítala verso terra da un complesso dunale di particolare pregio. L'assetto geomorfologico di questo litorale è stato inlluenzato dal forte grado di antropizzazione del luogo. La fascia costiera nel tempo ha súbito degli avanzamenti e arreiramenti. Sono stati quindi analizzati e proposti alcuni rimedi. mirali alia ricostruzione. al mantenimenlo e alia diíesa della duna.

Decadal evolution of coastline armouring along the Mediterranean Andalusia littoral (South of Spain)

Abstract Emplacement of hard coastal defence structures, such as seawalls, revetments, groins and breakwaters, or even ports, harbours and marinas, is commonly known as coastline armouring. This paper deals with coastal armouring evolution along the 546 km Mediterranean coast of Andalusia (Spain). It is based on photo interpretation and GIS tools, which have been employed to map coastal structure emplacement and evolution by analysis of 1956, 1977, 2001 and 2010 aerial photos. Additionally the coefficient of infrastructural impact K , which represented the relation between the total length of maritime structures and the length of the study coastal section, was obtained - i.e. minimal at 0.0…

An Approach for the Validation of a Coastal Erosion Vulnerability Index: An Application in Sicily

In recent decades, coastal erosion phenomena have increased due to climate change. The increased frequency and intensity of extreme events and the poor sediment supply by anthropized river basins (dams, river weirs, culverts, etc.) have a crucial role in coastal erosion. Therefore, an integrated analysis of coastal erosion is crucial to produce detailed and accurate coastal erosion vulnerability information to support mitigation strategies. This research aimed to assess the erosion vulnerability of the Sicilian coast, also including a validation procedure of the obtained scenario. The coastal vulnerability was computed by means of the CeVI (Coastal Erosion Vulnerability Index) approach, whi…

The Muti Coffari mine: natural and antrhopogenic hazard in evaporitic area (Sicily)

LOCALIZZAZIONE DELLA LINEA DI RIVA, IN SPIAGGE SABBIOSE STABILI,CONSIDERANDO LE FLUTTUAZIONI DA ONDE E MAREE

La linea di riva è definita come la linea di contatto tra la superficie del mare e la terra. La posizione della linea di riva muta continuamente nel tempo a causa della natura dinamica dei livelli idrici presenti in prossimità del litorale, come onde e maree. La variabilità della linea di riva e le tendenze evolutive dei litorali, sono state e sono tuttora oggetto di numerose ricerche, svolte sia a breve sia a lungo termine. Le continue modifiche dei litorali dipendono da diverse cause: i cambiamenti dovuti alle variazioni del livello idrico (per es. onde, tsunami, maree, innalzamento del livello del mare) e le modifiche geomorfologiche (es. la formazione di barre, cuspidi, ecc.). Per tali …

Sinkholes risk analysis: case history of Marsala (Sicily, Italy)

Given the increasing phenomenon of Sinkholes all over Italy, the Gruppo Nazionale per la Difesa dalle Catastrofi Idrogeologiche (G.N.D.C.I) and the Dipartimento della Protezione Civile (D.P.C.), during 2004, started a plan called Sinkholes dedicated to the phenomena in Italy. The plan provides the publication of the database realized by the D.P.C. by means of the census of beyond 1000 cases scattered across the nation. The city of Marsala is strongly characterized by the presence of a great number of Calcarenite cavities. The material object of extraction is the Calcarenite di Marsala of the Pleistocene, frequently used in the construction of buildings. The presence of the underground cavit…

The Mediterranean Coast of Andalusia (Spain): Medium-Term Evolution and Impacts of Coastal Structures

This paper shows coastal evolution along the Andalusia Region (Spain) and the impacts on it of coastal structures. The study area was divided into 47 units to calculate the erosion/accretion/stability (or evolution) rates by using the DSAS extension of ArcGIS software. Evolution rates were divided into different classes from &ldquo

Tsunami Vulnerability Evaluation for a Small Ancient Village on Eastern Sicily Coast

The Ionian sea is prone to tsunamis due to its proximity to the Calabrian subduction zone, which is one of the major tsunamigenic areas of the Mediterranean. The tsunami disaster risk is, nowadays, significantly higher due to the increased exposure of buildings as a result of the economic and touristic growth of the Mediterranean coastal areas. This study focuses on Marzamemi, a small village in the western coast of Sicily, since its morphology and human presence amplify the need to assess its buildings’ vulnerability. The main objective of this research is to quantify the building vulnerability to tsunami hazards using a physical and realistic tsunami scenario. For this purpose, the relati…

Integrated Managment of Marsala Coast (Sicily-Italy)

Integrated Managment of Marsala coast (Sicily): application of a new evaluation method

CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF SHORELINE LOCALIZATION METHODS BY MEANS OF AERIAL OR SATELLITE IMAGERY ON MEDITERRANEAN SANDY BEACHES

Shoreline localization is fundamental for designing and planning shore protection works as well as for managing and monitoring various anthropic activities along the coast. The sea-land boundary, however, changes continually with time because of waves and tides, which makes the shoreline detection complex and dubious and the boundary line finally assumed can only be conventional. In the last few decades the use of several geomorphologic indicators has been proposed, such as the berm above sea level, the groundwater exit point, historic high tide levels, etc., but the aim has not been achieved yet. Among the methods used, analysis of aerial and satellite imagery is common, in particular when…

The mediterranean coast of Andalusia (sw spain): the impacts of human coastal structures

Spanish coasts, especially the Andalusia Mediterranean one, were affected over time by progressive urbanization and associated construction of defense structures. Such structures protected small coastal sectors but at places triggered processes of coastal erosion and associated degradation of habitats and ecosystems. A correct management of coastal areas must be based on the monitoring of coastal evolution and human pressure. A useful tool to evaluate the level of human anthropization is the estimation of the "Coastal Armouring", e.g. the quantification of coastal defense structures, infrastructures, ports, etc. In this study, available aerial photographs and satellite images from 1956 to 2…

Bacino Idrografico del Fiume Imera Meridionale: valutazione del rischio frana

Environmental analysis of the sediments in the beaches of the Gulf of Palermo (Italy)

Confronto fra valutazioni del run-up fatte con un modello matematico e una formula empirica con misure di campo

La posizione planimetrica della linea di riva, soli tamente, viene determinata attraverso l’uso di immagini aeree ed utilizzata pe r la ricostruzione dell’evoluzione storica dei litorali. Tuttavia, le informazioni est ratte da tali immagini, descrivendo il confine istantaneo acqua-terra, consentono l’indivi duazione della linea di riva esclusivamente come limite asciutto-bagnato proprio nel momento della ripresa. Per una più corretta localizzazione della linea di riva , è quindi necessario quantificare, oltre agli effetti di marea e di trasporto solido, gli effetti prodotti dal moto ondoso su tale posizione e in particolare il cosiddetto ru n-up. Nel presente lavoro si studia il run-up in u…

Coastal dynamics in western Sicily

Localizzazione della linea di riva, in spiagge sabbiose stabili, considerando le fluttuazioni da onde e maree.

The shoreline is defined as the contact line between the land and sea surface. Due to the dynamic nature of water levels at the coastal boundary, such as waves and tides, the shoreline position incessantly changes in time. The shoreline variability and coastal trends have been the main object of several researches and it is the main target of this thesis. The continuous changing of shoreline positi on depends on several causes: that due to the hydrodynamic (e.g. waves, tsunami, tides , sea level rise, storm surge) and geomorphological change (e.g. barrier island formation, spit development). Consequently, the exact understanding of shoreline dynamic is important for a wide range of coastal …