After the 1st May 2004, when new countries joined the European Union, the need was felt to link these states through an infrastructure network of motorway and railway links (high speed—HS/high ...capacity—HC) easily able to transport all possible goods throughout Europe. Within this framework, 14 different projects were developed with the aim of linking important cities. One of these links is the Corridor V connecting Lisbon (Portugal) to Kiev (Ukraine) and assigning a strategic role to Italy with respect to the integration process of these countries. In detail, part of the Corridor V is expected to start from Venice, reaching Trieste and from here on to Ljubljana (Slovenia) before proceeding to Budapest and finally reaching Kiev in Ukraine. The whole development (from Portugal to Ukraine) is approximately 4,000 km long of which, about 30 km (less than 1 % of the entire route), falls within the Italian Classical Karst area, a highly karstified zone, renowned worldwide as one of the best karst landscapes on the planet. The present paper regards the GIS statistical methodological approach used to identify the degree of karstification of the Italian Classical Karst providing the stakeholders all the necessary information while planning possible railway HS/HC solutions.
In 2007, we installed seven micro-erosion meter stations on a vertical limestone slab located in the intertidal zone in the Gulf of Trieste (Italy) in order to observe rock surface changes at ...elevations ranging between −0.75m and +0.75mm.s.l. (Furlani et al., 2010). In this paper, we present the micro-erosion metre (MEM) data for most months between February 2008 and May 2013 and the traversing micro-erosion metre (TMEM) data collected twice a year since 2007. The MEM and TMEM data were consistent and indicated that the mean lowering rate ranged between 0.007mm/yr and 0.205mm/yr and −0.001mm/yr and 0.260mm/yr, according to the elevation of the stations. Maximum downwearing rates were observed in the mid-lower intertidal zone and decreased upward and downward. The natural trend of erosion started in 2010, after 2years of exposure, when the slab, formerly smoothed and not colonized by marine organisms, started to be acclimated to the local environment. After 2010, the erosion rate increased to a maximum of 0.31mm/yr. This value can be more representative for long-term studies and is similar to the downwearing rates locally collected on natural limestone surfaces.
This dataset represents the first collection of downwearing rates mainly measured using MEMs, but also TMEMs on vertical limestone surfaces in an intertidal zone and provides interesting new information for addressing the debate on notch genesis and development. The shape of a tidal notch has been found to be consistent with the distribution of erosion rates along the slab, even if the present-day notch was not surveyed in the Gulf of Trieste due to the local tectonic subsidence.
•The δ18O, δ2H and d-excess analyzed in 36 sites across NE Italy (1984–2015).•The isotopic composition exhibits evident gradients of δ18O and δ2H.•The relationships with geographical and weather ...variables was investigated.•Significant increasing interannual trends detected in 11 sites for d-excess.•Multiple linear regression models applied to reconstruct the isotopic composition.
NE Italy presents high-quantity, high-quality and easily exploitable groundwater resources that are seriously threatened by anthropogenic pressures. This study analyzes the oxygen and hydrogen isotopic composition of 2250 precipitation samples collected in 36 sites across the north-easternmost region of Italy, Friuli Venezia Giulia, between 1984 and 2015. This is an unprecedented dataset for North Italy with a high density of sampling sites and a decadal temporal extension. A series of both routine and original chemometric approaches were applied to investigate the temporal and spatial variability of the isotopic composition through relationships with geographical and weather variables. New statistical approaches were presented to model the seasonal and spatial patterns of isotopic composition as well as to summarize the large amount of isotopic data. Significant gradients of δ18O and δ2H were detected in the area due to the peculiar orography and climate of the region; the amplitude of the monthly patterns also presented similar gradients. The deuterium excess did not present a clear seasonality, but higher values were found in autumn. The deuterium excess-to-δ18O ratio exhibited typical patterns throughout the region when grouping the sites for altitude and continentality; in winter, large differences of δ18O were detected among groups, but deuterium excess remained almost unchanged. The inter-site correlations were moderately high across all the territory even for deseasonalized data. The local meteoric water line (using all the single samples δ2H=7.8·δ18O+8.9) was also estimated at annual and seasonal basis, evidencing the presence of spatial gradients according to the orographic and weather characteristics of the region. Statistically significant increasing interannual trends (0.23–0.87‰/y) were detected in 11 sites for deuterium excess; the presence of these trends was linked to local processes. Two multiple linear regression models were applied to reconstruct the isotopic composition of precipitation at a regional scale. The stepwise approach returned the best results with root mean square errors in the 0.5-1‰, 3.5–8.2‰ and 0.9–1.5‰ intervals for δ18O, δ2H, and deuterium excess, respectively. The deuterium excess was not modelled in winter, where no relationships were found with geographic variables.
A comparison among lowering rates collected in the limestones of the northeastern Adriatic Region (Italy and Croatia) gives a picture of the erosion patterns in the inland and coastal Classical Karst ...and Istrian Karst. Erosion rates were measured using either a micro-erosion meter or a traversing micro-erosion meter. Beginning from a large dataset spread over a maximum of 26 years, significant differences in limestone lowering rates have been recognized in the surveyed area: the mean lowering rate for the inland Classical Karst area is 0.018 mm/yr whereas in the inland Istrian Karst it is 0.009 mm/yr. In the coastal sectors, the mean erosion rate varies between 0.14 mm/yr in the Gulf of Trieste and 0.04 mm/yr in the sites located along the Istrian shoreline. These differences are probably due to the climatic setting of the Classical Karst area (Mediterranean Continental to Sub-alpine climate) and Istrian Peninsula (Mediterranean climate). Moreover, along the coasts of the Gulf of Trieste there are many submarine springs which are absent along the Istrian coast. It is hypothesized that these underwater springs stress the effect of rainfall along the coast, which is both direct (rain on the measurement site) and mainly indirect (freshwater outflow from submarine springs). Higher lowering rates were surveyed during autumn; rainfall, therefore also freshwater outflow from submarine springs, is particularly high at the end of the summer and in autumn.
In a quickly changing environment where drinking water appears ever more scarce and polluted, it is vitally important to study the quantity and quality of the available resources. With this in mind, ...the Verzegnis mountain group (Western Carnian Prealps, NE Italy) represents an important karst aquifer system upon which to draw water to supply inhabitants and industrial activities. The aim of this study is to highlight the state of the art of the resources present in the hydrostructure, understanding the recharge areas and characterizing the flow dynamics with a view to a sustainable exploitation. To complete this study, classical field surveys were conducted during which the main geochemical characteristics were analyzed. Measurements of water temperature (T), Electrical Conductivity (EC), Total Dissolved Solid (TDS), groundwater discharge (Q) and precipitation amount were performed monthly for a period of two years. The geochemical characteristics were defined using water sample analyses of the major ions and δ
18
O values. The analyses performed and the resulting hydrogeological map allowed for a preliminary characterization of the hydrogeological behavior of the entire hydrostructure where the presence of tectonic structures and different lithological units represent a physical threshold for the waters. In fact, the groundwaters are mainly contained between the tectonic structure Douf—Auda thrust in the E, NE and a permeability threshold on the W created by the presence of the Dolomia di Forni Formation. In the southern side of the massif, a transcurrent fault creates a water divide between Mt. Verzegnis and Mt. Piombada.
Instrumenti, ki zvezno merijo nivo, temperaturo in prevodnost vode so bili postavljeni na 10 točkah. Opazovalna mesta so postavljena na dnu, kjer jama doseže vode Reke (Timave), ki zbira podzemne ...vode klasičnega Krasa. Predhodne analize velikega števila podatkov, ki smo jih zbrali do sedaj, pomagajo bolje določiti način pretakanja vode v globinah. Ugotovili smo tri različne vodne valove, vpliv črpanja na nekaterih delih in mešanje različnih voda na drugih. Some instruments that continuously measure height, temperature and conductivity of waters have been placed in 10 stations. The stations are located on the bottom of the cavities that reach the waters of the Timavo, the underground river that collects the hypogean waters of the Classical Karst. The preliminary analysis of the remarkable amount of data that has been collected up to now helps define the modalities of water circulation in depth better. There are three different types of flood wave, pumping effects in some tracts and mixing of different waters in other tracts.
Ob geoloških raziskavah vzdolž reke Karkheh, ki prereže gorsko verigo Zagrosa v zahodnem Iranu, je pritegnila pozornost avtorjev morfologija na evaporitih. V evaporitni formaciji Gachsaran so ločili ...tri tipe krasa, glede na njihovo lego vzdolž sinklinalne osi ali vzdolž krila gube. Vzdolž sinklinalne osi so vrtače, sufozijske vrtače, jame in udorne vrtače ter zmerno se spuščajoči jamski rovi na stiku apnenca in sadre, ki sledijo največjemu vpadu. Evaporite morphologies have attracted our attention during geological surveys on the Karkheh River, a water course that intersect the chain of the Mountains Zagros in the western Iran. We recognised three types of karst in the evaporitic Gachsaran Formation as a function of the localisation along the syncline axis or along a fold side. There are sinkholes and suffosion dolines or caves and collapse dolines along the syncline axis, gently dipping galleries at the contact between limestone and gypsum following maximum dip.
Fascinating and fragile environments as are the underground estuaries, need to be studied, understood and protected for present and future generations. Even if wide and abundant bibliography related ...to tides and their behaviour with respect to the external estuaries is available, none dealed with the estuary caves and the related hydrogeology. This paper aims to partially fill this gap presenting a preliminary study done at the Puerto Princesa Underground River (PPUR), in the Palawan Island (Philippines). The data was collected during the last expedition (November 2016) organised by La Venta, in which some of the authors took part. During the survey, the cave has been instrumented with in continuous diver data-logger devices (CTD) recording temperature (T), electrical conductivity (EC) and water level fluctuations. Longitudinal and vertical water hydrogeological profiles of the cave were realised with the aim of understanding the dynamics of the waters during different hydrogeological regimes in combination with salt water intrusion. In addition, a bathymetric profile was done to better identify the point where to realise the vertical logs. A significant rainstorm occurred during the expedition, lasting for approximately 12 hours resulting in 80 mm of rain, and its effects gave the researchers the opportunity to analyse the hydrodynamics of the flowing waters during a flood. In normal flow conditions, the longitudinal logs highlighted the presence of freshwater inlets and the vertical logs testified to a clear stratification of the waters (freshwaters at the surface and brackish waters at the bottom). During floods, the EC and T data showed evidence of a fast substitution of the resident waters. Key words: anchialine caves, sea water intrusion, hydrodynamics, karst springs, PPUR, Philippines. Učinek močnega naliva na hidrodinamiko podzemske reke Puerto princese (Palawan, Filipini) Očarljivo in občutljivo okolje, kot so podzemni estuariji, je treba preučevati, razumeti in zaščititi za sedanje in prihodnje generacije. Četudi imamo na voljo široko in bogato bibliografijo o plimovanju in delovanju plimovanja v zunanjih estuarijih, nobeno delo ne obravnava estuarskih jam in s tem povezane hidrogeologije. Namen tega članka je delno zapolniti to vrzel in predstaviti predhodno študijo na podzemni reki Puerto Princesa (PPUR) na otoku Palawan (Filipini). Podatki so bili zbrani med zadnjo ekspedicijo (novembra 2016), ki jo je organizirala La Venta, v kateri so sodelovali tudi nekateri avtorji. V raziskavi je bila jama opremljena z zveznimi merilci (CTD) temperature (T), električne prevodnosti (EC) in nihanja nivojev vode. Vzdolžni in navpični hidrogeološki vodni profili jame so bili izmerjeni, da bi razumeli dinamiko voda med različnimi hidrogeološkimi nivoji in med vdori morske vode. Poleg tega je bil opravljen tudi batimetrični profil, da bi lažje določili, kje izvesti navpične meritve. Med ekspedicijo se je zgodil močan naliv, ki je trajal približno 12 ur, padlo je 80 mm dežja, njegov učinek pa je raziskovalcem omogočil analizo hidrodinamike tekočih voda med poplavo. V običajnih vodostajih so vzdolžne meritve pokazale na dotoke sveže vode, vertikalne meritve pa so pokazale jasno stratifikacijo lastnosti vode (sveža voda na površini in brakična voda na dnu). Med poplavami so podatki EC in T potrdili hitro zamenjavo vode. Ključne besede: anhialine jame, vdor morske vode, hidrodinamika, kraški izviri, PPUR, Filipini.
The paper presents the map of intrinsic groundwater vulnerability of the Isonzo/Soča High Plain, which is located between the Collio Hills and the Classical Karst Region and holds an aquifer shared ...between Italy and Slovenia. The map, produced at a scale of 1:25,000 and printed in A0 format, was obtained by means of the SINTACS method and shows the intrinsic vulnerability of the aquifer in terms of seven vulnerability classes, from extremely high to low. It is accompanied by four supplementary sketches that illustrate the geological framework, the bedrock top surface, the groundwater flow paths, the Hazard Index map and three diagrams that summarize the percentages of vulnerability classes and of Hazard Index classes of the study area.
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