The main aim of this study is to identify strategic groundwater resources belonging to the hydrostructure of the northern sector of Lauria Mountains, in particular, the groundwater of the La Spina—Zaccana Mounts limestone-dolomite aquifer, to allocate for drinking water supply during water emergency conditions. The investigations carried out highlight that the aquifer geometry, the groundwater circulation, and the groundwater emergencies are closely connected to the geostructural and karst arrangement. The structural elements present in the hydrostructure, such as faults, tectonic contacts, rock fissuring and fracturing, and karst evidence, define deep groundwater flow and determine hydrodynamic characteristics of the spring. The groundwater flow, predominantly in the NW–SE direction, feeds the several emergencies of the San Giovanni spring front located along a steep slope between 480 and 504 m a.s.l., with a discharge rate of around 550 L/s, of which only around 150 L/s are used for drinking purposes. The remaining rate is not captured and could be utilized as strategic groundwater resources.

This study is related to the activities carried out in the Pilot Project PP2 belonging to the Tech4You research project, still in progress, whose objective is to apply innovative methods and tools for the quali-quantitative assessment and protection to pollution of selected fissured aquifers' strategic groundwater resources of the Lucanian and Calabrian Apennines. The activities involved the definition of the geological setting of the northern sector of the Lauria Mountains; the Calabrian sector of the Pollino Chain, located in the area of the springs of the Raganello stream; the San Severino Lucano municipality area where the Pollino Massif ophiolites outcrop; the Lauria Mountains and the Pollino area hydrogeological characterization, and the geochemical characterization of the San Severino Lucano area.

Landslides represent one of the main processes affecting mountainous and hilly landscapes, and within the context of geological hazard, they can cause the damming of many paths and roads, hindering the movement of people and goods. Landslide inventory maps specifically created along roadways, serve as the fundamental knowledge tool for designing interventions. The paper deals with the mapping of landslides distribution along the roadway SS103 "Val d'Agri" which is a relevant thoroughfare crossing the Campania and Basilicata regions, in southern Italy. The mapping is realized in a 71 km long transect, considering a width of 2 km to allow for the complete mapping of landslide bodies intersecting with the road infrastructure. Field surveys and UAV images were used to map landslides, in a landslide inventory map at 1:5000 scale. Lithology and slope features were primarily considered to divide the transect into 15 homogeneous sectors. The investigation allowed us to detect more than 2300 landslides which were classified on movement types and state of activity. Results show that the largest number of landslides occurred in sandstone and clayey lithologies, both in mountain and hill landscapes. This landslides inventory map represents the basic tool for further hazard investigation.

The groundwater vulnerability assessment to seawater intrusion (SWI), applying the GIS-based overlay-index GALDIT method, is provided for the Metaponto coastal aquifer (Basilicata region, southern Italy). The method is based on six conditioning parameters: groundwater occurrence (G), aquifer hydraulic conductivity (A), groundwater level (L), distance from the shore (D), impact of the existing status of SWI (I), and aquifer thickness (T). Three vulnerability classes were detected: low, moderate, and high, covering 70.40%, 22.65%, and 6.95% of the study area, respectively. The highest class is located close to the coastal sector due to the proximity to the sea, the greater thickness of the aquifer, and the shallow freshwater-seawater interface. To evaluate the sensitivity of the method on the predictive analysis and the influence of the single parameter and weight on the final vulnerability, the sensitivity analysis was carried out. The single-parameter analysis indicated that the factors such as groundwater table above sea level (a.s.l.), aquifer type, and impact of SWI have the greatest influence on the vulnerability. The application leads to the vulnerability mapping to SWI in the coastal plain that results to be a promising tool for decision -making finalized to properly manage groundwater.

To assess the rockfall risk of a road infrastructure system, it is very important to obtain detailed information about the territory and the road. This paper aims to create a model for analyzing the vulnerability of a road infrastructure system. The new proposed approach consists in different phases linked to the different parameters contributing to the assessment of the final risk: the rockfall intensity, the susceptibility assessment (by using an Artificial Neural Network approach), the exposure to the risk and the value of the exposed elements (road and human life). Definitely, this paper deals with the development of an integrated numerical model allowing to obtain the vulnerability level of a road infrastructure system due to rockfall phenomenon. This approach can be used to obtain more useful information on a territory prone to mass movements allowing planners to manage emergencies in the best possible way.

Water scarcity and pollution have arisen as global issues in the twenty-first century [...]

This study aims at a groundwater vulnerability assessment of the Metaponto coastal plain, located in the Basilicata region (southern Italy). In the last century, intensive agriculture, zootechnical and industrial activities have significantly changed the plain. These changes led to negative impacts on the hydrogeological system intensifying the risk of the aquifer to pollution. The paper presents the assessment of the intrinsic vulnerability of the coastal aquifer carried out by the GIS-based application of the SINTACS method. It considers several aquifer parameters such as water table depth, effective infiltration, unsaturated conditions, soil media, aquifer media, hydraulic conductivity and topography. Furthermore, the anthropogenic influence in the study area was considered by applying the SINTACS-LU method, in which the parameter of land use (LU) was added. The SINTACS and SINTACS-LU vulnerability indexes were provided by summing the product of ratings and weights assigned to each parameter. The analysis of the intrinsic vulnerability map allowed for determining three classes ranging from low to high vulnerability. In both cases, the southeastern part of the coastal plain, closest to the sea, shows the highest vulnerability class, indicating that it is the most vulnerable to contamination due to the hydrogeological intrinsic factors. The wide central part of the study area shows a moderate class of vulnerability and the low class is scattered in small parts in the northern portion of the plain, which represents the areas less contaminable in space and time in the case of potential pollution. In the SINTACS-LU map, some areas classified as highly vulnerable in the SINTACS method show a minor vulnerability class. These areas are localized in natural and wooded sectors of the Metaponto plain, which are less populated, where human impact on the groundwater is minimal.

In recent years, the contamination of the underground resources from landfill leachates is recognised as a serious socio-economic and environmental problem in many countries. In fact, the existing not adequately controlled and abandoned sites, constitute a serious sanitary and environmental problems. The choice of the waste disposal site must necessarily arise from a rigorous study based on the joint assessment of the environmental hazard of the same plant and the hydrogeological characteristics and the degree of intrinsic vulnerability to pollution of the aquifers. In the present paper an integrated system for the assessment of the environmental risk from solid waste landfills is proposed. The integrated analysis of the intrinsic vulnerability of the aquifer system and the estimate of the intrinsic potential hazard caused by the landfill expressed in terms of danger index allow to evaluate the suitability of the sites to host a landfill and to define the reclamation priority and monitoring system for the existing landfills. As concerns new landfills, the proposed methodology could also support a better construction strategy and the protection of the surrounding environment. Finally, this methodological approach was applied in landfills located in different geological and hydrogeological contexts.

The Metaponto coastal plain extends about 40 km along the Ionian coast, between the Sinni and Bradano Rivers (southern Italy). During the 20th century, the increases in modern irrigation systems, land reclamation works, the overexploitation of wells, and agricultural and industrial activities have deeply modified land use and groundwater availability and quality along the plain. These modifications negatively impacted the natural systems in terms of groundwater and soil salinization, magnifying the risks due to seawater intrusion. In this study, we explored the proneness to seawater intrusion, testing a multidisciplinary approach based on hydrochemical and geophysical investigations. A significant portion of the coastal plain was selected for this purpose. A set of 49 groundwater samples was analyzed to define the chemical characteristics of the water and geoelectrical measurements were recorded along three long profiles. The geoelectrical surveys showed in detail the aquifer bottom pattern where it is deeply incised by paleovalleys, defining the main hydrostratigraphic features, as it is necessary to prevent seawater intrusion worsening. The hydrochemical data highlighted areas with higher seawater intrusion proneness. The acquired measurements show the high proneness to seawater intrusion, especially where the aquifer bottom is very deep below the sea level, also far from the coast, and the relevance of the detailed knowledge of the aquifer bottom in supporting any kind of management.

On 25 and 29 January 2019, a large landslide destroyed an important part of the town of Pomarico (Basilicata Region, Southern Italy). Geological and geomorphological investigations provided a detailed description of the landslide features. Several geophysical surveys were carried out to deepen knowledge of the landslide and the residual risk assessment. Detailed electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW), and seismic refraction tomography (SRT) have been used to analyze geomorphological evidences of the failure and the potential kinematic evolution of the landslide scarp, a crucial factor to assess landslide residual risk. The joint analyses of the geophysical results, compared with geological and geomorphological data, allowed to obtain detailed information about the stratigraphic contact between clayey and sandy deposits in the crown area of the landslide, and to identify the post-failure stability condition changes in sands. The geophysical analyses confirmed the presence of multiple old degraded scarps developed over time and provided information on the decompression state of the different areas of the landslide crown. The results highlighted a subparallel stratification consisting of an anthropic surface carry-over material, which covers a layer of sands with silty intercalations, overlying clayey material that represents the bedrock of the investigated area. Furthermore, natural and anthropogenic caves, mainly developed in well-cemented layers of sands, were identified. This study emphasized how the integration of different geophysical methods constitutes a capable tool for characterizing landslides, contributing to assessing the landslide residual risk of the slope mass and evaluating the suitability of the methods in relation to the investigated landslide conditions.

Pomarico is a very small town in Basilicata, South Italy, historically landslide prone. The latest main landslide started on 25th of January 2019, on the northern east side of the hill, rapidly evolving and causing, on January 29th, the collapse of the main road of the town as well as of the overlooked buildings and serious damages of several buildings of the town. This work introduces the main features of this landslide and the earlier results of the studies on this phenomenon. The main geological characteristics of the site and the morphological features of the landslide are presented. Moreover, the interpretation of the complex failure mechanism as well as an analysis of the singularity of the triggering rainfall event are shown. Finally, this work focuses on the terrestrial radar monitoring system, installed after the event, and its preliminary outcomes.

The High Basento River Valley, located in the central-western sector of the Basilicata region (southern Italy), is a productive carbonate hydrostructure of the Lucanian Apennines, which represents a strategic water resource for drinking purposes. Huge discharges, quantified at about 10 Mm(3)/y, flow from several exploited springs afferent to the groundwater system, many other springs are not picked up, even if characterized by a considerable amount of water. The aim of this study was to improve the understanding in the hydrogeological features of the aquifer system through performing geostructural field surveys finalized to define the effective hydraulic fracture permeability and the equivalent permeability of the carbonate hydrostructure. Furthermore, the application of an inverse hydrogeological water balance method to evaluate the effective recharge amount and the intrinsic vulnerability assessment of the hydrogeological basin were also performed. The purpose of these investigations was to obtain a detailed understanding of the carbonate hydrostructure, which may be useful in order to define integrated action criteria and safeguard strategies for the effective protection and sustainable management of groundwater resources.

This paper contains the application of a heuristic method allowing the assessment of the rockfall risk along a Provincial road in Basilicata (Southern Italy) leading to an important lucanian geosite of growing touristic interest. The rockfall risk evaluation has been performed using an already published method based on the application of an exponential scoring function to several parameters concerning the geological characteristics of the slope and road and traffic data. A specific intensity matrix allowing a better assessment of the parameters linked to the rockfalls is hereafter described. The study case concerns the analysis of a rockfall phenomenon located along a road artery climbing up an important geosite that is to say the Lucanian Dolomites (Southern Italy) and connecting two villages of significant touristic importance: Castelmezzano and Pietrapertosa. The application of the RHRS 2.0 method allowed to obtain a medium risk level.

Carbonate aquifer in karst systems are very important water reservoir and are recognized as the most difficult to characterize. Then, the purpose of this article is to present a PhD project aimed to understand the circulation of fluids in carbonate reservoirs through innovative hydrogeophysical methodologies both in the laboratory and in the field. In order to achieve the research objective, two phases will be analyzed. One of these phases will be characterized by laboratory experiments where different carbonate samples and analogic karstic model (from cm(3) to m(3)) will be observed by geophysical measurements. The other phase consists to transfer the laboratory experiences in a natural carbonate complex where it will be evaluated the effectiveness of a hydrogeophysical approach for monitoring carbonate karstic aquifer. The last phase will be applied in the carbonate karst area of Castel di Lepre (Marsico Nuovo, Basilicata, Italy).

In this study, the hydrogeological characterization of the northern sector of the Lauria Mounts carbonate hydrostructure (southern Apennines, Basilicata region) has been carried out and the hydrochemical properties of different collected groundwater samples have been characterized. Several normal springs drain the hydrostructure, some of them characterized by high annual mean discharges. Groundwater samples were collected from different springs; many parameters such as pH, electrical conductivity, and total dissolved solids have been measured, and major (cations and anions) elements and stable isotopes have been analysed following standard test procedures. Other chemical characteristics were derived from the analysed quality parameters. The results elucidate that the main hydrogeochemical processes control the chemical content and assess the quality of the groundwater within the hydrostructure. The analyses highlight that the chemical compositions of groundwater are strongly influenced by the lithology, especially limestones and dolomitic limestones; they explain and confirm the hydrogeological setting of the system. The groundwater system displays light different geochemical signatures. The processes contributing to the concentrations of major ions depend primarily on carbonate dissolution. The analysis, in all studied groundwater samples, shows that the facies groundwater type is Ca–HCO3, bicarbonate is the dominant anion, and calcium is the dominant cation with appreciable magnesium concentrations. To identify the aquifer’s recharge areas, the environmental stable isotopes oxygen and hydrogen, deuterium, and 18O were analysed. The unaltered δ18O and δD signatures for the groundwater of the major springs allows identifying the recharge area of these emergencies at elevations ranging from 900 m to 1000 m (a.s.l.), pointing out the presence of deeper flow regime feeding of these springs. The groundwater sample isotopic characteristics of D and 18O suggest that most of the groundwater is recharged directly by infiltration in a high-permeability medium.