The Crati Graben is a depression of Plio-Holocene age mainly controlled by extensional N–S striking faults and WNW–ESE transcurrent faults, in its northern and southern extremity. It is characterized by high landslide susceptibility due to the particular geo-structural pattern and seismotectonic characters. Landslides involve many villages, infrastructure and food crops, bringing serious economic and social damage. The seismotectonic and landslides Main Map of the Crati Graben, described in this paper, represents an update in detail of the framework of landslide risk areas and shows the main active and recent faults of the Crati Graben. The landslides and the faults, have been identified and classified, originally at detail scale (1:5000) and, then, represented at 1:50,000 scale. The geo-structural and geomorphological data were analysed in a geographic information system. The work has revealed a correlation between the trend of faults with respect to the distribution of landslides and of the historical and instrumental seismicity. The work presents an updated knowledge framework of risk conditions of the study zone, where risk areas related to slope instability are hierarchically classified according to the destructive potential of landslides. This document may be therefore a useful reference in planning and prioritising in the design of interventions for the safety of slopes and waterways.

This work is aimed at reconstructing the water-rock interaction processes controlling the geochemical characteristics of the shallow or relatively shallow groundwaters of the Pollino National Park, based on the data acquired for 105 water samples from local springs. Reaction path modeling of rock dissolution was carried out in a purely stoichiometric mode for the main lithotypes cropping out in the study area, that is, limestone, Mg-limestone, dolomite, serpentinite, Al-silicate fraction of calcschist, and carbonate fraction of calcschist. Reaction path modeling was carried out in a purely stoichiometric mode, considering the rocks of interest as materials of known stoichiometry and unknown thermodynamic properties. Calculations were carried out assuming a closed system for secondary solid phases whereas an open system was assumed for gases, O₂(g) and CO₂(g). Comparison of the results of geochemical modeling and the analytical data acquired for the groundwaters of the Pollino National Park shows that concentrations of major solutes, SiO₂, Li, Al, and Fe of the different chemical types of waters, are explained by the dissolution of pertinent lithotypes. Moreover, the detected concentrations of Al, Cl, F, NO₃, and SO₄ are within the threshold values recommended by WHO.

86° Congresso Nazionale della Società Geologica Italiana - Cosenza, 2012

Seismic data of earthquakes recorded during the last 40 years in southern Calabria have been compared with geological data in order to obtain a seismotectonic picture of the area. We sought for any possible correlation between the main regional tectonic structures, the distribution of earthquake hypocentres and the focal mechanism of earthquakes with magnitude (Ml)≥3. Studies of historical and recent seismicity and analysis of geological structures allowed to define the main shear strips on a regional scale. More than 2600 earthquakes with 1.5 ≤ Ml ≤ 4.5 have been considered. The focal mechanisms of earthquakes with Ml≥3 have been compared with the kinematics of known faults and used to give insight on the current active stress field. From the analysis carried out it was possible to expand the cognitive framework regarding the activity of the main tectonic structures present in the area. This study also served to identify areas of high seismicity which do not correspond to any evidence of tectonic structures on the surface, and areas where recognized tectonic structures have not shown any seismicity during the last decades. These cases could be the subject of future investigation in order to correctly assess the seismic hazard in Calabria. This task is important in the context of seismic hazard evaluation and mitigation.

The knowledge of the territory that people inhabit, the awareness of the geological heritage value and its management are aimed both at the benefit of local socio-economic sustainable development goals and at promoting geopark-inclined geotourism through actions which identify potential geosites or enhance those already assessed. The objective of this study is focused on the geoheritage exploration of the Sila massif area, in southern Italy, in order to illustrate the high “geological diversity” like first step for inherent potential geotourism. The Sila landscape exhibits a rich geodiversity to give value, but it is poorly known to the public, although it has been and is the subject of many national and international scientific works. The focus of this work is to enhance the geological, geomorphological and landscape uniqueness of a Sila area, characterized by the presence of a wide range of weathering products and morphologies as a result of geological and geomorphological events and processes, in a variety of temporal and spatial scales, which have an influence on the development and evolution of reliefs and landscape, giving rise to the three geosites: Sila Spheroidal Boulder Field Geosite, Sila Sand Geosite and Sila Paleosols Geosite. These sites of geological interest were subjected to quantitative assessment in terms of the scientific, educational, touristic values and degradation risk of geosites.