Paolo Sansò

The rising sea level is considered one of the most evident consequences of ongoing climate warming. Similarly, the spatial distribution of weather and paroxysmal events in coastal areas, as well as their temporal occurrence, are being modified by climate change. Low-lying coastal areas and related mobile coastal systems (e.g., alluvial coastal plains, sandy beaches, delta river mouths) are particularly prone to be affected by sea level variations (SLVs), both temporary (i.e., storm surge and tsunami – SS and Ts) and permanent (i.e., sea level rise - SLR), especially when combined with negative vertical land movements (VLMs). In recent years, the number of studies focusing on the analysis of potential coastal vulnerability to SLVs that consider the local geomorphological settings coupled with the expected SLR has constantly increased. In this study, an analysis of the peer-reviewed papers addressing the sea level rise issues is performed through the evaluation of documents included in a database implemented by searching in Scopus through specific research queries. Special focus is given to the methodological aspects proposed to evaluate SLR impacts on coastal systems of the Mediterranean region. Then, a sub-set of papers published in the last five years was selected, reviewed, and categorized according to the methods applied for the sea level impact evaluation. Finally, the evaluation of the suitability level of the methods applied in the select papers is also proposed, expressing the level of applicability of each method in relation to specific aspects of analysis.The results allowed to state that on a global scale, since 2008 the number of peer-reviewed papers dealing with current sea level rise issues is constantly increasing, with the maximum published number reached in 2021 and 2023. Furthermore, a high number of papers are focused on the “tsunami” analysis and impact evaluation and, among the collected papers, more than 50% of them included in the title the words “SLR” and “Vulnerability”. Concerning the Mediterranean scale, the analysis has highlighted that a higher percentage of research papers (87%) was published in the period 2008-2023 and that the highest number of papers per year (14) was published in 2016 and 2021. Furthermore, Italy, Egypt, and Spain are the countries with the highest number of published papers. Finally, for what concerns the analysis of the methodological approaches, the GIS-based static method is still the most used in the papers published over the last 5 years, followed by model-based approaches. Nevertheless, the accuracy of the most recent studies can be considered higher due to the availability of i) more detailed projections of the future sea level derived from high-resolution models, ii) high-resolution digital terrain models, and iii) advanced satellite-derived data analysis for the assessment of accurate VGMs. Thus, although there has not been a clear shift in the applied methodological approaches, more recent works are based on the use of more accurate and defined input data. The modelling approaches are highly exploitable in the case of limited areas to be investigated, due to the high computational efforts required for the analysis.

The Salento Leccese coast (southern Apulia, Italy) is marked both by primary and secondary coasts (cliffs and beaches); beaches, in particular, constitute about a quarter of the coastal perimeter. The Salento Leccese coast experienced dramatic change over the last two centuries due to natural and anthropic causes. This change was reconstructed through a geomorphological survey, historical cartography, and an aerial photo analysis. In particular, two case studies are described: the first one stretches along the Adriatic coast of the peninsula (Torre dell’Orso locality), and the second one is located along the Ionian coast (Torre Pali locality). For these coastal tracts, the main geomorphological features and the natural evolution that occurred during the Holocene are described, along with the anthropic modifications induced in the coastal landscape over the last two centuries. This study represents a useful knowledge background for coastal planners and decision makers, which will be utilized by the National Restoration Plans to be implemented in the near future, with the aim of restoring degraded ecosystems according to the recent Nature Restoration Law of the European Commission (2024).

The Lago del Capraro doline (Salento peninsula, southern Italy), a valuable Mediterranean Temporary Pond (MTP), has been investigated aiming to define its geomorphological features and to collect data about the local hydraulic regime. At the bottom of the Lago del Capraro doline, in fact, a small temporary pond appears soon after major precipitation events as that one of autumn 2013. The morphological survey shows that this solution doline is placed on a karst plain surface stretching at about 70 m of altitude; the doline has an elliptical shape with the major axis 130 m long whereas the length of the minor axis is about 100 m. It shows a flat bottom, placed at about 65 m above m.s.l., due to the presence of a colluvial sandy clays filling, bordered by steep limestone slopes about 5 m high. Geophysical surveys and a cone dynamic penetrometer test allowed a detailed geological model to be realized. In particular, ERT and seismic refraction models revealed the geometry and the thickness of doline filling deposits as well as the preferential infiltration zones of surface waters. Interestingly, the cone penetrometer test reveals that resistance decreases downward in the filling lower part, most likely because of the active solution process at the doline bottom. The results of this study suggest an increase of surface water infiltration at doline bottom in the next future so that the development of a pond will be an increasingly rare event, partly compensated by the clustering of rainy periods during autumn months as expected in the future by climate models.

Along the Ionian coast of Southern Apulia, a sand ridge has been detected at the inner border of a wide, low-elevated rocky platform. A multi-disciplinary analysis was carried out to define the main geomorphological and sedimentological features of this dune-like coastal deposit, to clarify its nature as well as to obtain chronological constraints for its development. The geomorphological survey reveals that the sand ridge is about 40–60 m wide, reaching a maximum elevation of 3.9 m above m.s.l., whereas its thickness can be estimated between 1.0 and 2.8 m. The sand ridge is in some places associated with large-size boulders. Grain size analysis shows that it is made up of poorly sorted coarse-medium sands with a gravelly fraction, without significant sedimentary structures, as confirmed by Ground Penetrating Radar survey. The micro and macro-faunal assemblage sampled in the sand ridge can be related to shallow-water environments with Posidonia oceanica meadows occurring offshore. The development of the studied sand ridge can be ascribed to a tsunami event able to mix up very coarse bioclastic sands placed at submerged platforms, storm beach deposits covering the low-elevated coastal platform in patches, and possibly older tsunami deposits. Accelerator Mass Spectometry radiocarbon age determinations on mollusc shells sampled from the sand ridge span from 929–1168 AD to 1707–1950 AD and cluster around the 18th–19th centuries, suggesting a possible association with a recent tsunami event. Data reported in the Euro-Mediterranean Tsunami Catalogue would indicate as the most likely event that one of the 25th April 1836, produced by a strong earthquake with its epicenter near Rossano village, on the Ionian coast of the Calabria region.

Background: At global level, the vulnerability of aquifers is deteriorating at an alarming rate due to environmental pollution and intensive human activities. In this context, Local Health Authority ASL Lecce has launched the M.I.N.O.Re. (Not Compulsory Water Monitoring Activities at Regional level) project, in order to assess the vulnerability of the aquifer in Salento area (Puglia Region) by performing several non-compulsory analyses on groundwater samples. This first paper describes the quali-quantitative approach adopted under the M.I.N.O.Re. project for the assessment of environmental pressures suffered by groundwater and determines the number of wells to be monitored in specific sampling areas on the basis of the local potential contamination and vulnerability of the aquifer. Methods: We created a map of the entire Lecce province, interpolating it with a grid that led to the subdivision of the study area in 32 quadrangular blocks measuring 10 km × 10 km. Based on current hydrogeological knowledge and institutional data, we used GIS techniques to represent on these 32 blocks the 12 different layers corresponding to the main anthropic or environmental type of pressures potentially impacting on the aquifer. To each kind of pressure, a score from 0 to 1 was attributed on the basis of the potential impact on groundwater. A total score was assigned to each of the 32 blocks. A higher number of wells was selected to be monitored in those blocks presenting higher risk scores for possible groundwater contamination due to anthropic/environmental pressures. Results: The range of total scores varied from 2.4 to 42.5. On the basis of total scores, the 10 km × 10 km blocks were divided into four classes of environmental pressure (1st class: from 0,1 to 10,00; 2nd class: from 10,01 to 20,00; 3rd class: from 20,1 to 30,00; 4th class: from 30,01 to 42,50). There were 11 areas in the 1st class, 9 areas in the 2nd class, 8 areas in the 3rd class and 4 areas in the 4th class. We assigned 1 monitoring well in 1st class areas, 2 monitoring wells in 2nd class areas, 3 monitoring wells in 3rd class areas and 4 monitoring wells in 4th class areas. Conclusion: The methodology developed under the M.I.N.O.Re. project could represent a useful model to be used in other areas to assess the environmental pressures suffered by aquifers and the quality of the groundwater.

The landscape of Murge Tarantine limestone ridge (southern Apulia, Italy) is marked by the presence of an isolated relief showing a singular shape and name, the Monte del Diavolo (i.e., the Devil’s Mount). The Monte del Diavolo is located in a very interesting area from a geological point of view since it shows an E–W trending high-fault scarp, the morphological effect of the right-lateral transtensive North Salento Fault Zone. The Monte del Diavolo is a small isolated conical relief reaching at its top 115 m above m.s.l.; it elevates about 20 m from the surrounding plain surface, stretching at about 95 m altitude. Its evolution has been influenced by the occurrence of strongly cemented breccia deposits, most likely due to cave roof collapse and calcite precipitation, which are more resistant to the karst denudation process than surrounding limestones. This paper would be the first step towards the cultural promotion of the Monte del Diavolo area, which is marked by geological and geomorphological peculiar features and by a relevant archaeological and natural heritage as well.

The presence of a pedestal rock, locally named Masso della Vecchia, marks a site of relevant geological interest (geosite) in the surrounding of Giuggianello village (Salento Peninsula, Apulia region, Italy). This unusual natural landform and similar others occurring in the same area gave birth to myths and legends. A detailed geomorphological analysis of Masso della Vecchia area has been carried out. The site is placed at about 100 m of altitude on a lower Pleistocene abrasion surface which constitutes the top of the Serra di Poggiardo morphostructural ridge. Locally, the Miocene Pietra Leccese Formation crops out. It is constituted by poorly consolidated, bioturbated, yellowish biomicrites at lower levels rapidly grading upward in massive grainstones rich in glauconite minerals. The entire sequence gently dips northeastward. The geomorphological analysis revealed that the Masso della Vecchia and similar landforms occurring in the area are karstic features produced under a soil cover. Pinnacles, channels, notches, subsoil scallops, half-bells and other typical features have been recognized. The peculiar assemblage of subsoil karst features can be explained taking into account the geological structure, subsoil karst processes and the geomorphological evolution of this area during the Late Pleistocene.Key words: subsoil karren, geoheritage, Salento, Italy.