Geomorphology of the Lower Calore River alluvial plain (Southern Italy)

Abstract

A 1:18,000-scale geomorphological map of the Lower Calore River alluvial plain (Southern Italy) is here presented. The area strongly suffered the dramatic effects of a destructive flood on 15 October 2015. The presented Map was produced in a GIS using topographic maps dating from 1870, 1909, 1936 and 1955 and 1:10,000-scaled colour orthophotos from 1998. All the maps and aerial photos were georeferenced in the UTM33 WGS84 coordinate system. The detected landforms were manually digitized and checked in the field. A geodatabase containing attributes such as type, age and surface area of each landform was created and progressively updated. The areal and unconventional map legend was designed to provide maximum readability. In the alluvial plain, five orders of river terraces were recognized. They are separated by strongly reshaped, gently sloping, inactive fluvial scarps (FS), less than 1.5 m high. Former channels, now abandoned, were also mapped. The confluence migrated eastward/east-northeastward between 1870 and 1955, followed by a north-northwestward migration between 1955 and 1998. Finally, numerous riverbank failures were observed and mapped along the active FS. A secondary map showing the age of the alluvial plain was also produced and showed that most of the investigated alluvial plain formed between 1909 and 1936. The study also shows the results of channel adjustments experienced by the river in ∼130 years. ARTICLE HISTORY

Flood hazard of major river segments, Benevento Province, Southern Italy

“…In the industrial area of Benevento, next to the confluence between the Tammaro and the Calore rivers, all of the factories were damaged or completely destroyed. It was estimated that the flood caused about €1 billion worth of damage to local agriculture (Magliulo & Cusano, 2016).…”

“…In the absence of historical data, it can be estimated on the basis of geomorphological field observations (e.g. Furdada et al, 2008;Magliulo & Cusano, 2016;Montané et al, 2017). If the evaluation is based on discontinuous short records and poorly constrained historical information, the extreme scenario could correspond to a well-known event selected because society wants to protect itself from against an event of corresponding magnitude (Garry & Graszk, 1999).…”

Post flash flood survey: the 14th and 15th October 2015 event in the Paupisi-Solopaca area (Southern Italy)

“…It comprises a morphostructural carbonate ridge, a thick Pleistocene talus consisting of carbonate breccias and three generations of telescopically arranged alluvial fans. It is made of carbonate gravels with a pyroclastic matrix, which passes to Holocene fans and reaches the alluvial plain through five orders of river terraces of the Calore River (CARG, 2010;Magliulo & Cusano, 2016). The Calore River valley between the towns of Telese and Paupisi (see Map1) covers about 3050 km 2 and is located within the axis of the Campanian sector of the Southern Apennines fold-and-thrust belt, which is the result of compressional tectonics mainly active during the Tertiary (Patacca & Scandone, 2007).…”

GIS-Based Geomorphological Map of the Calore River Floodplain Near Benevento (Southern Italy) Overflooded by the 15th October 2015 Event

“…In addition, it should highlight the spatial relationships of each landform with the adjacent ones and associated morphogenetic processes. In the legend review, two different approaches are possible: (a) the use of complete patterns [23] and/or of symbols, even if modified and adapted to GIS [10]; or (b) stressing the connections between each land surface discretized by GIS software and its morphogenetic process [16,24,25]. In the first approach, the legend combines lines, hatches, symbols and letters/figures with colors.…”