Search results for "Geologia"

Evaluation of cliff recession in the Valle dei Templi in Agrigento (Sicily)

2015

Abstract The sacral complex of the Valle dei Templi in Agrigento, added in the UNESCO Heritage Site List, stands over the crest of a rigid calcarenite cuesta, which overlies a layer of partially saturated (S = 6–12%) carbonate sand. In turn, the sand stratum lies on a thick stratum of clays. The environment is highly prone to landslides as highlighted by several previous studies that identify the undermining of slopes and the discontinuity pattern, occurred in the late Neotectonic phase, as causes of cliff failure. For wider and less exposed areas, where the undermining local instabilities can be present because of the specific morphology of the site, a recent research has proposed a new in…

Examples of anthropogenic sinkholes in Sicily and comparison with similar phenomena in southern Italy

2013

A sinkhole, occurred in June 2011 and related to an underground quarry in the eastern sector of Marsala, is described in this paper as a case study (Figure 2). The site was selected for the availability of topographic data of the underground quarry, prior to the formation of the Abstract Anthropogenic sinkholes affect several built-up areas of Sicily (southern Italy) representing a great risk to people, buildings, and infrastructures. These phenomena are generally associated with the presence of ancient underground quarries for the extraction of calcarenite rock, used for building or ornamental materials. These quarries were poorly constructed and abandoned throughout history.

Active north-vergent thrusting in the northern Sicily continental margin in the frame of the quaternary evolution of the Sicilian collisional system

2021

Abstract A three-stage evolution has characterized the Sicilian Fold and Thrust Belt (SFTB) during the last 15 My: two main thin-skinned shortening events involving mainly Meso-Cenozoic carbonate units, followed by thick-skinned thrusting involving Plio-Pleistocene deposits in the frontal area as well as the crystalline basement in the inner and deeper sector of the chain. We investigated the northern Sicily continental margin, by using differently-penetrative seismic reflection data and new field surveys, which revealed, both offshore and onshore, north-vergent compressional structures that affected the tectonic edifice during Quaternary time. These structures, correlated with the kinemati…

Mesozoic tectono-sedimentary evolution of Rocca Busambra in western Sicily

2008

The Rocca Busambra ridge in western Sicily is a shallow to pelagic Meso-Cenozoic carbonate structural unit of the Sicilian fold and thrust belt with a variety of tectono-sedimentary features. Palaeofaults, unconformities (buttress unconformity, onlap, downlap), a network of neptunian dykes with several infilling generations, several large hiatuses, different facies and lateral facies changes, and erosional submarine and subaerial surfaces are observed. Detailed fieldwork and structural analyses have indicated the occurrence of fault planes with different orientations. These data, combined with facies studies and physical-stratigraphy analyses, allow for the distinction of different depositi…

Sedimentary basins evolution and olistoliths formation: The case of Carpathian and Sicilian regions

2012

Abstract Comparative research carried out within two different basins, one in the Carpathians of Poland (Late Jurassic to Early Miocene) and another in the Apenninic-Maghrebian mountain chain of Sicily (Triassic-Miocene), indicate significant similarity not only in their evolution but also in the sedimentary features of horizons with olistoliths. The olistolith-bearing units are genetically related to stages of tectonic evolution and are independent of the size of the basins and of duration of these stages. However, the observed differences in composition and size of olistoliths suggested, among the others relationship with the size of source areas and thickness of their sedimentary cover.

Tectono-stratigraphic evolution of a basin generated by transpression: the case of the Early Pliocene Lascari Basin (northern Sicily)

2011

Integrated stratigraphy and structural analysis carried out in the Madonie Mts. (Northern Sicily) is aimed to the description of a syn-sedimentary tectonic event, recorded in a small infra-pliocene basin restricted to the Lascari Syncline core. The onset and evolution of the basin was driven by transpressive tectonics, generating a lens-shaped, deep and narrow tectonic depression, bounded by steep and high, tectonically controlled slopes, also reflected in the present-day topography of the area. During the genesis of the basin, the tectonic control interferes with a dramatic sea level oscillation during the Messinian-Early Pliocene time interval. In this paper, the syn-tectonic deposits of …

Litostratigrafia della Sicilia

2012

Geologia e geomorfologia di Pantelleria con particolare riferimento al settore costiero di Scauri

2009

Analysis of the Rockfall Phenomena Contributing to the Evolution of a Pocket Beach Area Using Traditional and Remotely Acquired Data (Lo Zingaro Natu…

2023

The coastal domain of central western Sicily is characterized by the presence of rocky coasts, which mainly consist of pocket beaches situated between bedrock headlands that constitute ecological niches of great touristic and economic value. In this peculiar morphodynamic system, the sedimentary contributions are mainly derived from the rockfall that affects the back of nearby cliffs or the sediment supply of small streams that flow into it. In this study, we investigated the geomorphological processes and related landforms that contribute to the evolution of a pocket beach area located in a coastal sector of NW Sicily Island. The cliffs in this are affected by several rockfalls, and deposi…

Evaporite karst in Italy: A review

2017

none 16 si Although outcropping rarely in Italy, evaporite (gypsum and anhydrite) karst has been described in detail since the early 20th century. Gypsum caves are now known from almost all Italian regions, but are mainly localised along the northern border of the Apennine chain (Emilia Romagna and Marche), Calabria, and Sicily, where the major outcrops occur. Recently, important caves have also been discovered in the underground gypsum mines in Piedmont. During the late 80s and 90s several multidisciplinary studies were carried out in many gypsum areas, resulting in a comprehensive overview, promoting further research in these special karst regions. More recent and detailed studies focused…