The last sinkhole at Marsala: the 21 November, 2013,event

Marsala area, in the western end of Sicily, has been historically interested by quarry activities, both at surface and underground. The carved rocks are Lower Pleistocene calcarenites, defined as “Calcarenite di Marsala” and referred to the Marsala syntheme. These calcarenites are composed of three main lithofacies with vertical and lateral passages: a)coarse to fine yellow bio- and lithoclastic calcarenites, rich in macrofossils; b) sands; and c) gray sandy clays. According to previous authors, the calcarenitic lithofacies can be divided into three lithotypes: i) coarse calcarenites and calcirudites strata, from 10 to 100 cm thick; ii) fine to coarse calcarenites with thickened grains; iii…

3D numerical modeling of an anthropogenic sinkhole in the Marsala area of western Sicily

Le cave sotterranee di Marsala (Sicilia occidentale) e i fenomeni di sprofondamento connessi