Evolution of the coastal zone from millennia to decades
Coastal sedimentary systems are ideal archives for the reconstruction of climatic changes, sea level fluctuations and sediment inputs at decadal to millennial time scales. The integrated study (also through GIS and SDIs) of high resolution geophysics, facies analysis of core samples, geochronology, and geo-referenced historical maps allow us to apply morfo-hyro-geological models to highly perturbed environments, like coastal and deltaic zones. In addition, the analysis of coastal water circulation and suspended solid dynamics, together with sedimentological and remote sensing investigations, provide significant indications both for long- and short-tem coastal trends, either natural or man-induced.
The main research activities in this field contribute to an improved understanding of:
- The response of coastal systems to forcing factors operating during the Anthropocene.
- The morpho-dynamic analysis of emerged and submerged coastal areas.
- The analysis of land subsidence process, both natural and man induced.
- The coastal hydrogeology and paleohydrology through an impproved characterization of aquifer systems and groundwater availability (surface-subsurface and fresh-salt water exchanges).
- The risk analysis related to extreme events (e.g., flood, erosion, tsunami) and trends (land desertification),
- The effects of relative sea level variations (i.e., RSLR) in coastal subsiding and non subsiding areas,
- The interactions between solid transport in estuarine-deltaic systems and the coastal marine environment.
Right image:
Environmental changes induced by anthropogenic diversion of the lower courses of the rivers from the lagoon to the sea. The shifting from delta to lagoon system is shown in the historical maps and evidenced by seismic investigation.
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Right image:
mean displacement rates between March 2008 and January 2009 from TerraSAR-X interferometry. a) at the Lido inlet (Venice), the mage background is an aerophotograph acquired in 2008. b) and c) detail of the movements at the lock on the northern side of the Lido inlet and displacement history for three point targets, respectively. Movements are in the satellite line-of-sight direction, negative values indicate settlement, positive mean uplift.
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The image to the right represents colour-shaded bathymetric maps of Lagoon of Venice (from left to right: 1927, 1970; 2002). Dotted red line indicates migration of 1.2m contour line, showing an overall increase in depth (progressively darker blue colour). Emergent areas are indicated in green.
(from Sarretta et al., Continental Shelf Research, v. 30, pp. 934-949, 2010)
Download PDF: Sarretta et al., Continental Shelf Research, v. 30, pp. 934-949, 2010
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